Monday, August 20, 2012

Chapter one notes



·      Key Elements of Rhetoric
o   Rhetoric is a thoughtful, reflective activity leading to effective communication, including rational exchange of opposing viewpoints.
o   Context- The occasion or the time and place it was written or spoken.
o   Purpose or goal that the speaker or writer want to achieve.
o   Know your subject, have clear and focus thesis
o   Persona- the character a speaker create when he or she writes or speaks
o   Audience- Know your audience, how they feel about the subject, their attitude etc.
·      Appeals to Ethos, Logos, and Pathos
o   Ethos- Character
§  Speakers and writers appeal to ethos to demonstrate that they are credible and trustworthy
§  Ethos often emphasize shared values between the speaker and the audience
§  Speakers’ ethos, expertise, knowledge, experience, training, sincerity, gives audience a reason to listen
o   Logos- Logic
§  Writers and speakers appeal to logos by offering clear, rational ideas
§  Having a clear main idea with specific details, examples, facts, statistical data, or expert testimony as support
§  Acknowledge a counterargument to anticipate opposing views
§  Acknowledging a counterargument you agree that the argument may be true, then you deny the validity.
·      It appeals to logos by showing you considered your subject carefully before arguing
o   Pathos- Emotion
§  Choosing language that engages the emotion of the audience can add important dimension
§  Emotional appeal usually include vivid, concrete description and figurative language.
§  Visual elements often carry a strong emotional appeal
·      Arrangement
o   The Classical Mode
§  Introduction
·      Introduces the reader to the subject
·      Introduces ethos were
§   The narration
·      Factual information and background material, beginning development of paragraphs
·      Establish why the subject is a problem that needs addressing
·      Detail depends on the amount of info the audience has
§  The confirmation
·      The proof needed to make a writers case
·      The confirmation generally makes the strongest appeal to logos
§  The refutation
·      Addresses the counterargument
§  The conclusion
·      Writers appeal to pathos and reminds the reader of the ethos established earlier
·      Patterns of Development
o   Narration
§  Narration refers to telling a story or recounting a series of events
§  Chronology usually governs narration which includes concrete detail, point of view, and sometimes dialogue.
o   Description
§  Emphasizes the sense by painting a picture of how something looks, sounds, smells, tastes, or feels.
§   Description is often used to establish a mood or atmosphere
o   Process Analysis
§  Explains how something works, how to do something, or how something was done
§  Clarity is key. Explain things clearly and logically, with transitions that mark the sequence of major steps, stages, or phrases of the process
o   Exemplification
§  Providing a series of examples, facts, specific cases, or instances, turns a general idea into a concrete one.
§  Makes your argument both clearer and more persuasive to a reader
o   Comparison and Contrast
§  Putting together two things to highlight their similarities and difference
§  Use compare and contrast to analyze information carefully, which often reveals insight into the nature of the information being analyzed.
§  Point by point is organized around the specific points of a discussion
§  Subject by subject the writer discusses all the elements in one subject then turns into another
o   Classification and division
§  Most of the time, a writer’s task is to develop his or her own categories to find a distinctive way of breaking down a larger idea or concept into parts
o   Definition
§  To ensure that writers and their audiences are speaking the same language, definition may lay the foundation to establish common ground or identifying areas of conflict
o   Cause and effect
§  Analyzing the cause that lead to a certain effect or, conversely, the effects that result from a cause is a powerful foundation for argument.
§  Carefully trace a chain of cause and effect and to recognize possible contributing causes

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