Analyzing texts or images is not something that is new to us. We are always taking in new information and processing it. Everything you take in makes you feel a certain way or think a certain way. If you learn how to think in a way where you ask why it makes you feel or think that way then you might not be as easily persuaded or dissuaded. There are many different tools that can help you think like this and each one can be applied differently or better in certain situations. Not only should you look at the rhetorical appeals in ethos, logos, and pathos, but you should look at the text’s context and ask yourself some questions. Who is the intended audience? What is the purpose of the text? You should also consider the time period and the genre of the piece in question. There are also theoretical lenses that you can consider, such as race, gender and sexual orientation, the discrimination towards the disabled, the role of social class, and the role of non-human elements.
I find myself usually analyzing music. Especially with certain rap songs it’s fun to analyze their choice of words and find out what they meant. Usually it is pretty straight forward but they have hidden meanings in their songs sometimes. Nowadays that has changed a bit with the rise of “mumble rap” (which is pretty much just straight trash) but that is something else for another day.