The Rhetorical Triangle
According to Aristotle, rhetoric is defined as “the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion”--- in any particular case, using whatever is going to work
Using language effectively to persuade, inform, education, or entertain Rhetoric is always situational
The set of circumstances out of which a text (written or spoken) arises. Any time anyone is trying to make an argument, one is doing so out of a particular context, one that influences and shapes the argument that is made
What is Rhetoric
What is said (message)Who is saying it (speaker)Who is listening (audience) Where I when it is being said (context, appeals) How it is being said (tone, style)
Author Importance
The Author/Speaker Gender/racial/geographical/socioeconomic/political orientation of author Author Bias/hidden agenda Other important biographical information may affect text
Audience
Hostile or sympathetic How will they receive the message? How will they affect tone? Style? Who is the intentional audience? (You are NOT the intentional audience)Who is the unintentional audience? (you are; pieces aren’t written for you; might accidentally become the audience)
The Message
What is the main point being made? In other words, what is the writer’s/speaker’s thesis? Look at the message as an argument/position being sold to the audience. What is the author trying to convince the audience of? Message: Concrete information
Purpose
Author’s intent What does the author/speaker hope to achieve through his message Abstracts that come out of the message Implications *Everything’s an argument; You always have to KNOW the purpose; Don’t talk about logos, ethos, and pathos
Tone
What is the author’s attitude about their subject/message What words in the message let you know the tone? How does the selection of the tone affect the audience’s reception of the message? Is it appropriate for the occasion/subject matter? Caustic: Poisoning; meant burning- come to mean bitingly sarcastic or hurtful Tone can only be created through diction
The Style
What strategies does the author employ in order to get his/her message across? These strategies may include: ethos, logos, pathos; organization; diction;syntax; figurative language; grammatical structure; selection of details; imagery; source material (quotes) from an expert source Don’t ever say: Author uses diction
Ethos
Established credibility and knowledge of subject Ethics/morals
Pathos
Emotional appeal
Logos
Logical appeal Statistics, facts, data
The Rhetorical Situation
Exigence Audience Author Purpose Context
The Exigence
The part of a rhetorical situation that inspires, stimulates, provokes, or prompts writers to create a text; what sparks us to act
The Rhetorical Context
Under what circumstances is the author addressing his/her audience? In other words, what is going on in the world at the time this text was composed, and how do those events affect the text? *Might not always know context
Rhetorical Techniques
Effective use of words to persuade or influence---PERSUADE Includes THE CONSIDERATION of ethos, logos, and pathos (Don’t WRITE it ethos, logos, and pathos- not techniques; info about message and speaker and audience) Don’t say: establishes credibility or provides a logical argument Includes FIDDS: Figurative Language, Imagery, Diction (Tone), details, structure (syntax), etc. ANYTHING that CREATES MEANING Anything used to deliberately create effect
Rhetorical Analysis
What, How, Why What is the writer doing? What are they doing to convey the purpose? How does the author achieve purpose? Why? Why did the author choose to convey the purpose in the manner that they do?
Elaborating on Analysis
HOW = What techniques does the writer choose to present the material? WHY = Are the choices effective and appropriate for the intended audience SO WHAT = What is accomplished or created
SOAPS
Speaker, Occasion (Context), Audience, Purpose, Subject (What is it about-objective): INTRODUCTION---Know them quickly!!!
Rhetorical Strategies-
What is the author doing (Verbs) to create meaning (ex. exemplifies, accuses, etc.) Strategies: What the author DOES and HOW does the author do it VERBS: THINK ONLY WITH VERBS DUDE Ex. He narrates the concept a moment; so you don’t use device talk actively of what the author’s strategies What is the tool doing→ helps come up with the verb
Rhetorical Devices-
What tools is the author using (noun) to create meaning? Statistics, anaphora (repeat), antithesis (counter/refutes/contrasts), alliteration (repeat), antimetabole (structures), anecdote (narrates, tells, illustrates), Allusions (alludes), Zeugma
ANalysis:
Why the author chooses to do those things and use those devices for a particular purpose: *don’t use Shows, use/employs/utilizes, don’t say audience or reader (MENTION SPECIFIC AUDIENCE DUDE, don’t just say AUDIENCE, don’t say the reader) HOW did the rhetorical strategies/devices help the author achieve his/her purpose
Thesis: How to Write it
In the (Genre) (Title of the Piece), (Contextual Information about Author and/or TExt), (Author’s Name) (Rhetorical Choice 1), (Rhetorical Choice 2), (Rhetorical Choice 3) in order to___(Answer: What is the audience supposed to understand after experiencing the text?)___ultimately moving (insert audience) to ___(what is the audience supposed to do after experiencing the text)
Introduction
Put SOAPS in your introduction and follow this format: First sentence = DRAMATIC and Hooks people (ex. MLK, champion of segregation, spent his life fighting for civil rights, but was assassinated. Once such an experience….) Speaker, Occasion and Subject (Writer’s credentials) (writer’s first and last name) (In his/her type of text) (title of text) (strong verb) (writer’s subject)
Conclusion
How rhetorical strategies achieve the purpose → 2-3 sentences Body Paragraph Commentary (analysis) : Commentary explains the significance and relevance of evidence in relation to the line of reasoning