rhet?o?ric

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rhet?o?ric
the art or skill of speaking or writing
formally and effectively especially as a way to
persuade or influence people
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New Vocabulary

• Rhetorical triangle
• Rhetoric
• Argument
• Rhetorical context
• Purpose
• Writer/Speaker (Ethos)
• Audience (Pathos)
• Message (Logos)

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Rhetoric Elements of Argument First,
understand that argument is not simply a dispute,
as when people disagree with one another or shout
at each other. Argument is about making a case
in support of a claim in everyday affairsin
science, in policy making, in school, in
courtrooms, and so forth.
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Argument Persuasion

• Persuasion and argument are often used
  interchangeably
• Persuasion is a broad term, which includes many
  tactics designed to move people to a position, a
  belief, or a course of action.
• Persuasion relies much less on facts (logos) and
  more on emotions (pathos).
• Argument is a specific kind of persuasion based
  on the principles of logic and reasoning (logos).

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The Importance of Argument and Persuasion

• In everyday life
• Appealing a grade, asking for a raise,
  applying for a job, negotiating the price of a
  new car, arguing in traffic court
• In academic life
• Defending your ideas, engaging
  intellectual debate
• On the job
• Getting people to listen to your ideas,
  winning buy-in, getting your boss to notice,
  getting cooperation, moving people to action
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The Importance of Argument and Persuasion

• In writing
• Irrefutably making your point, writing to
  be read
• In reading and listening
• Critically evaluating others arguments,
  protecting yourself from unethical persuasive
  tactics, recognizing faulty reasoning when you
  see it.
• TO CREATE CHANGE/AWARENESS

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Analyzing Argument
In an argument essay, the writer selects
evidence, and uses logical appeal to structure an
argument to prove a position on the topic. The
single purpose is to argue a position and defend
it with evidence in any discipline. When you
evaluate an argument or set of claims, you
determine its value or persuasiveness.
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Rhetorical TriangleWhile reading analyzing
arguments, address these 5 rhetorical elements
Audience (Pathos)
Rhetorical Context
Purpose
Writer/Speaker (Ethos)
Message (Logos)
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Writers Claim (Thesis)

• Identify the claim
• main idea, thesis, or the point the author is
  making it may be directly stated or implied.
  Further, it may come early in the writing or near
  the end. What is the point of the argument?

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Writers Purpose

• While reading or writing an argument, identify,
  the purpose of the communication this is the
  rhetorical goal.
• In other words, what is the author trying to
  achieve in his or her message?

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Rhetorical Context

• is the political, historical, social, cultural,
  and economic setting for a particular idea or
  event. In order to better understand the
  rhetoric, readers must look at its context--those
  things which surround it in time and place and
  give it its meaning.

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Audience (Pathos)

• While reading, identify who the intended or
  target audience is. Consider the rhetorical
  context when identifying this.
• As a writer, you must ask, What values and
  belief do I appeal to in the audience? How can I
  engage both the audiences heart and mind?
• To have your message accepted by an audience, the
  writer should try to appeal to their emotions,
  which is why the audience is often linked with
  pathos in the rhetorical triangle.

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Writer/Speaker (Ethos)

• While reading, identify what the writer is using
  to build credibility and trust with their
  audience. Consider their inherent background.
• They can build their ethos
• through the choices they
• make in terms of tone,
• style and addressing
• counter arguments.

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Message (Logos)

• In the rhetorical triangle, the message is often
  linked with logos, the content of the
  communication.
• Logos is the logical use of evidence the author
  uses to support their message (or claim).
• As a reader, you must ask yourself, What
  assumptions support the reasoning? What is the
  evidence?

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• Evidence can be any fact, statistic, or quote
  from provable sources. Evidence, to be useful,
  must be relevant and verifiable.

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Rhetorical Strategies

• Cause and effect (logos) - These claims argue
  that one person, thing, or event caused another
  thing or event to occur.
• Analogy (logos) - This is an argument in which a
  conclusion is drawn about a situation based on
  similarities of this situation (analogies) to
  previous situations. It is considered the weakest
  of all of the techniques.
• Stylistic Devices
• repetition, figurative language, sarcasm,
  symbolism, anecdote, and many more

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Evidence vs. Opinion
Some authors word their argument so subtly
that the reader may confuse what is actually
evidence vs. opinion. It takes a careful
analysis to determine the difference.
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Expectations for YOUR Analysis

• 3 paragraphs in length (intro p analysis
  conclusion)
• Include the following elements in your intro
• Hook
• Author/Speaker and Title Information
• 1 sentence summary of text
• Audience/Persona/Tone
• Authors claim and strategy

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Analysis Paragraph

• Topic Sentence (refers to strategy chosen)
• Introduction of Evidence
• Evidence of Strategy (cite)
• Analysis of Evidence (How does this strengthen
  the argument?)
• Concluding Sentence

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Conclusion Paragraph

• Reword your claim (highlighting the strategy
  used)
• Final thought
• What was the author/speakers goal?
• What was the call to action?
• What was the author/speaker trying to
  accomplish?

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Rules of Analysis (BE CAREFUL)

• Avoid outwardly stating the author used
  pathosethoslogos be SPECIFIC!
• The author uses a personal anecdote to establish
  his credibility
• ALWAYS analyze these pieces using the
• present tense
• INSTEAD of saying pathos identify a SPECIFIC
  emotion that an author appeals to
• Discuss the STRONGEST strategies used (and
  provide proof)

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Preview Structure of Classic Argument

• Introduction
• Authors Claim
• Background Information (narration)
• Reasons and Evidence (confirmation)
• The Opposing View and the Refutation
• Conclusions