Rhetoric

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Rhetoric

• All you ever wanted to know and more about
  Rhetoric

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A few Definitions of Rhetoric

• Rhetoric is the art of winning the soul by
  discourse. Plato
• Wherever there is persuasion, there is rhetoric,
  and wherever there is rhetoric, there is
  meaning. Kenneth Burke
• Rhetoric is the art of dressing up some
  unimportant matter so as to fool the audience for
  the time being. Ezra Pound
• In short, rhetoric is a mode of altering
  reality, not by the direct application of energy
  to objects, but by the creation of discourse
  which changes reality through the mediation of
  thought and action. Lloyd Bitzer

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In other words

• Rhetoric is all about giving a name to something
  we already know a great deal about, and teachers
  who understand that are well on their way to
  teaching rhetoric effectively in their classes.

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• Rhetoric is all around us in conversations,
  movies, advertisements and books, in body
  language, and in art. We use rhetoric whether
  were conscious of it or not, but becoming
  conscious of how rhetoric works can transform
  speaking, reading, and writing, making us more
  successful and able communicators and more
  discerning audiences.

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Rhetorical Triangle Explanation

• Aristotle said that when a speaker begins to
  consider how to compose a speech, the speaker
  must take into account three elements
• The Subject
• The Audience
• And the Speaker
• These three elements are connected and
  interdependent hence, the triangle.

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Considering Subject

• The writer/speaker evaluates what he or she knows
  already and needs to know, investigates
  perspectives, and determines kinds of evidence or
  proofs that seem most useful.
• This is only one factor in the composing process,
  but the one you are most familiar with.

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Considering Audience

• This means speculating about the readers
  expectations, knowledge, and disposition with
  regard to the subject writers explore. When
  students respond to an assignment given by a
  teacher, they have the advantage of knowing a bit
  of what their audience expects from them. When
  there is no assignment, writers imagine their
  readers, and if they follow Aristotles
  definition, they will use their own experience
  and observation to help them decide on how to
  communicate with readers.

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Considering Speaker

• The use of experience and observation brings us
  to the speaker point of the triangle. Writers
  use who they are, what they know and feel, and
  what theyve seen and done to find their
  attitudes toward a subject and their
  understanding of a reader. Decisions about
  formal or informal language, the use of narrative
  or quotations, the tone of familiarity or
  objectivity, come as a result of writers
  considering their speaking voices on the page.

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The Rhetorical Transaction

• According to Aristotle, the rhetorical
  transaction consists of three basic components
  logos, ethos and pathos.

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What is Logos?

• A writer/speaker appeals to a readers sense of
  logos, when they offer clear reasonable premises
  and proofs, when they develop ideas with
  appropriate details, and when they make sure
  readers can follow the progression of ideas.
• The logical thinking that informs speakers
  decisions and readers responses forms a large
  part of the kind of writing students accomplish
  in school.

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• Facts
• Statistics
• Mathematical proofs
• Scientific evidence

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What is Ethos?

• Writers use ethos when they demonstrate that they
  are credible, good-willed, and knowledgeable
  about their subjects, and when they connect their
  thinking to readers own ethical or moral
  beliefs.

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• ReputationCredibilityExpertiseEducationCelebr
  ity

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What is Pathos?

• When writers draw on the emotions and interests
  of readers, and highlight them, they use pathos,
  the most powerful appeal and the most immediate-
  hence its dominance in advertisements.
• Figurative language is often used by writers to
  heighten the emotional connections readers make
  to the subject.

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• PridePityJoySympathyMoralityEnvyCompanionshi
  pCamaraderie

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Why all Equal?

• The equal sides and angles illustrate the concept
  that each appeal is as important as the others.
  It also suggests that a BALANCE of the three is
  important. Too much of one is likely to produce
  an argument that readers will either find
  unconvincing or that will cause them to stop
  reading.

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• All of the areas can potentially affect the
  others. An illogical argument may move us
  emotionally, but only in the sense that it makes
  us feel that the author is relying exclusively on
  emotions rather than offering solid reasoning.
  Finally, if an argument contains only facts and
  figures and no emotional appeals, we may simply
  get bored. All these defect may, in turn, affect
  the authors ethical appeal how can we trust a
  writer who appeals only to our emotions?

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The Readers Rhetorical Triangle

• Logos
• Note the claims the author makes
• Note the data the author provides in support of
  the claims
• Note the conclusions the author draws.

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• Ethos
• Note how the author establishes a persona.
• Note how the author establishes credibility.
• Note any revelation of the authors credentials
  or personal history.

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• Pathos
• Note the primary audience for the text.
• Note the emotional appeals the author makes.
• Note the authors expectations of the audience.

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The Writers Rhetorical Triangle

• Logos
• Have I established the purpose for my text, and
  have I utilized the most effective genre?
• Have I established a clear, reasonable, and
  logical progression of my ideas?
• Have I addressed opposing arguments or
  perspectives?

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• Ethos
• Have I established the appropriate persona?
• Have I established my credibility?
• Have I expressed my knowledge and expertise of
  the topic?

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• Pathos
• Have I considered the primary audience, the
  background they have?
• Does my audience agree with me or will I have to
  persuade them of the validity of my argument?
• How will I make my text appeal to my audience?

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Expanded Rhetorical Triangle
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Intention of Rhetoric

• Rhetoric should be a study of misunderstandings
  and their remedies.
• I.A. Richards

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• Rhetoric is the way to connect intentions with
  responses, the way to reconcile readers and
  writers. Intention is sometimes embodied in a
  thesis statement certainly, students get lots of
  practice making those statements clear. Intention
  is carried out throughout a pieces, and it often
  changes.

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Rhetorical Modes

• Following are listed seven rhetorical modes of
  communication.  Some of these you are do doubt
  familiar with. We will not specifically address
  each, but you are expected to be able to
  recognize the form.  Please note that the
  following are not definitions.  They are
  examples.
• Narration    "I was seven years old when I first
  became aware of the terrible power of guilt.  For
  piling our toys into a box, Mother rewarded my
  brother and me with five shiny pennies.  If I had
  ten pennies instead of five, I could have bought
  a gingerbread man with raisin eyes and
  sugar-frosted hair."

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• Description    Never before had Pedro experienced
  such a depth of despair and such a sense of
  isolation.  he began to avoid those nearest to
  him, returning their friendly greetings with
  rough and indifferent replies. Often he sat in
  his room staring vacantly into space with hollow
  eyes.  His hands were cold and clammy most of the
  time yet his forehead burned hot with a
  mysterious fever.
• Example    Seneca once said, "Every guilty person
  is his own hangman."  The truth of this
  observation can be illustrated by the lives of
  countless villains.  Once such is Macbeth, from
  Shakespeare's tragedy of the same name.  At the
  instigation of his wife, Macbeth kills the king
  of Scotland and usurps his throne - an act of
  treachery for which Macbeth and his wife suffer
  torments of guilt.

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• Definition    Guilt is the remorse that comes
  from an awareness of having done something
  wrong.  The origin of guilt is psychological. 
  From childhood, we have all been conditioned by
  family and society to act within defined
  standards of reasonableness and decency.
• Comparison and Contrast    Although the first two
  words may seem to share some connotations, guilt
  is not a synonym for blame.  Guilt must be felt
  blame must be assessed.  Guilt implies
  self-reproach that comes from an internal
  consciousness of wrong.  Blame hints at fault
  that has been externally assessed.

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• Division and Classification    The Bible
  identifies three kinds of guilt  guilt of the
  unpardonable sin, redeemable guilt, and guilt of
  innocence.  First, the guilt of the unpardonable
  sin...Second, redeemable guilt is guilt that can
  be erased...Finally, the guilt of innocence is
  the guilt that Jesus bore...
• Causal Analysis    Guilt is caused by the failure
  of the will.  The human mind, according to
  Freudian theory, is delicately balanced between
  the drive for instant gratification that comes
  for the id, and the desire for regulation and
  postponement that originates in the superego,
  which is sometimes identified with what we call
  he conscience.

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Questions for Discussion

• Can rhetoric be something you have?
• Can rhetoric be something you do?
• What makes a piece of writing rhetorical? Is all
  writing rhetorical?How will we read and analyze
  rhetorically? How will we write rhetorically?