Rhetorical Analysis of an English Essay

I decided to write about Jeremy Page’s essay Freudian Theories Present in Leroux's "The Phantom of the Opera." Page’s thesis statement, which can be found in the first sentence of the second paragraph (which, according to what we are normally taught in school, is the ‘incorrect’ place to put it), is, “Contemporary adaptations of The Phantom engage with several key Freudian concepts in order to explain and justify the development and motivation of the protagonist”. Page’s purpose in this essay is basically to reveal to readers how integrated Freud’s concepts are in popular culture by demonstrating that some Freudian beliefs are in The Phantom of the Opera.

His intended audience is probably people who are at least slightly aware of Freud’s ideas and are somewhat familiar with the play The Phantom of the Opera, however Page seems to be aware of his audience since he explains concepts and parts from the play. For instance, he uses the first paragraph of the essay to give some background to the play, which helps to broaden the audience that can read this article and actually understand what is going on.

The concept that Freud’s ideas are integrated into pieces of work without any attempts to do so could possibly cause some disturbance in the target audience because many people seem to scoff at Freud’s beliefs when applied to real life. However, since the author proves his points through the use of a widely known play, even those who may not themselves accept Freud’s views may find the essay interesting because of the connections that Page reveals between the play and Freudian concepts.

Page arranges his ideas in a certain way. He presents one of Freud’s ideas and then follows it with an explanation of how it fits in with The Phantom of the Opera. This arrangement simplifies the task of understanding the connection because he provides accurate details in order to support the Freudian concepts that he introduces. The reader does not have to figure out himself how the concepts could possibly by connected to the play just through the background information given, Page clearly lays out every point.

The diction of the essay does not suggest informality because Page does not use any sling or casually used words. He uses terms that his intended audience can easily understand, since there are a few psych terms, but he generally explains them so even those that have no knowledge of psychology can follow his essay. The language that he uses shows that he seems to know about what he is talking about and that he has some understanding of psychology, which supports his claim because it gives him credibility.

By reading this, I learned that essays should not be about meeting rules, but be about proving a point in whatever way that works for you. The author did not organize his essay with the taught introduction, three body paragraphs, and conclusion set up, nor did he form his paragraphs using the TS, CS, CM, CM restriction, however his point is still adequately made. So, instead of focusing on the rules that you may have been taught over the years, use them as mere guidelines, and go from there using your own methods of proving your point.

The article can be found at:  http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/332/freudian-theories-present-in-lerouxs-the-phantom-of-the-opera