·
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
