Rhetoric at Work

Rhetoric: art of communicating ideas

Methods: Speech, Writing, Art, Music, Advertising, and basically any way ideas can be shared

Purpose

Rhetorical Situation

Invention

Style

Speaker Audience

Subject

Arrangement

Three Main Ways to Persuade:

• Logos (Logical Appeals)

• Pathos (Emotional Appeals)

• Ethos (Ethical Appeals)

Purpose

Logos(Logic)

Ethos(Credibility) Pathos

(Emotion)

Rhetorical Situation

Invention

Style

SpeakerAudience

Subject

Arrangement

LOGOS (Logical Appeals)• convince audience using rational

arguments supported with objective evidence or reasonable assumptions

Example:Slavery should be abolished because “all men are created

equal” (reasonable assumption) and African people have the same brain capacity as European people (evidence).

PATHOS(Emotional Appeals)

• convince audience using specific examples of emotions such as happiness or suffering, or potential threats that cause fear– fear, pity, lust, happiness, worth,

belonging, patriotism

Example:Slavery should be abolished because no man should have

to feel the fear that he is ruled entirely by another man—whipped at a whim or seeing his children ripped from his eyes and sold like cattle. (pity/outrage/disgust)

ETHOS(Ethical Appeals)

• Convince the audience by the authority of a person or a group (credibility); relies on shared moral values and call forth the audience’s sense of right, justice, and virtue

Example:Slavery should be abolished because all of the great men

of our time (authority) realize the moral irresponsibility of attempting to justify that it is acceptable to treat another human being in a fashion different from how we would treat our brother (moral value).

Purpose

Logos(Logic)

Ethos(Credibility) Pathos

(Emotion)

Organization / Structure / Form

Rhetorical Situation

Diction(Word Choice)

Invention

Style

SpeakerAudience

Subject

Arrangement

DICTION(Word Choice)

• refers to the writer's or the speaker's distinctive vocabulary choices and style of expression

Purpose

Logos(Logic)

Ethos(Credibility) Pathos

(Emotion)

Organization / Structure / Form

Rhetorical Situation

Diction(Word Choice)

Invention

Style

SpeakerAudience

Subject

Arrangement

Syntax(Sentence Structure)

SYNTAX(Sentence Structure)

• Refers to the principles and rules for constructing sentences in natural languages (i.e. following grammatical rules! )

Purpose

Logos(Logic)

Ethos(Credibility) Pathos

(Emotion)

Organization / Structure / Form

Rhetorical Situation

Diction(Word Choice)

Imagery(Senses)

Invention

Style

SpeakerAudience

Subject

Arrangement

Syntax(Sentence Structure)

Imagery(Senses)

• Used in literature to refer to descriptive language that evokes sensory experiences

Purpose

Logos(Logic)

Ethos(Credibility) Pathos

(Emotion)

Organization / Structure / Form

Rhetorical Situation

Diction(Word Choice)

Imagery(Senses)

Invention

Style

SpeakerAudience

Subject

Arrangement

Syntax(Sentence Structure)

Figurative Language

(Englishy Terms)

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE(Englishy Terms)

• Language that communicates ideas beyond the literal meaning of words

"Mama said life was LIKE a box of chocolate,

you never know what you're gonna get!"

Jumping for joy!

(Think Beauty and the Beast!)

I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse!

Methods of Rhetoric

• Elevated Language—develop serious tone and help ethical appeals (credibility)

• Rhetorical Question—question where no answer is expected; posed to show arguments make the answer obvious

• Repetition—repeating a point tells the audience what is important

• Parallelism—ideas expressed in the same way to emphasize importance

• Allusion: indirect reference to a person, place, event, or literary work with which the author believes the reader will be familiar so that a point can be made