The Art of Persuasion: An Introduction to Rhetoric

Mrs. Pelletier

verbal and non-verbal messages more or less intentionally influence

social attitudes, values, beliefs, and actions

Before Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC), a Greek philosopher, rhetoric was viewed only descriptive language that made words sound pretty, but was not important.

Aristotle changed this view. He was the first to define rhetoric as “the art of persuasion.”

Today, there are many focuses in the study of rhetoric, but the most important is the study of how to effectively communicate with one another.

VERBAL Newspaper/

magazine Television Billboards Advertisements Stories Text messages E-mail / internet Etc.

NON-VERBAL

Gestures Facial expressions Images/pictures Sign language Etc.

3 Ways to Appeal to an Audience Aristotle reviewed many great speeches

of his time and discovered that the speakers appeal to the audience in 3 ways:EMOTIONLOGICSPEAKER’S CHARACTER/ETHICS

Aristotle thought that the use of logic or reason was most important, but recognized that human beings needed emotion to be persuaded.

1) Ethos (credibility) - persuading by using the good/ethical character of the speaker*character - who the person is and anything that makes him/her look good in front of others (a degree, many years of experience, good morals, etc.)

*Ex.: A Coke commercial that emphasizes how long the company has been around.

2) Pathos (emotion) - persuading by appealing to the audience’s emotions

*Ex.: A Hallmark commercial that shows a mother crying out of happiness over a Hallmark Mother’s Day card.

3) Logos (logic) - persuading by the use of logic or reasoning (evidence such as facts and statistics)

*Ex.: A Crest toothpaste commercial that states, “4 out of 5 dentists recommend Crest.”

Speaker

audience message

CONTEXT