AP Lang: Intro To Rhetoric

Rhetoric refers to

the art of finding and analyzing all the choices involving language that a writer, speaker, reader, or listener might make in a situation so that the text becomes meaningful, purposeful, and effective for readers or listeners.

Aristotle defined rhetoric as:

Rhetoric is “the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion”

Rhetoric is always situational. (True or False)

TRUE:

-Rhetoric is always situational.

-To begin looking at these choices is to look at the interaction between the speaker, the subject, and the audience.

Context includes

Occasion: Time, Place

Exigence: A direct response to…

Purpose includes

The speaker’s goal or intention

Win an agreement? Persuade to action? Evoke sympathy? Make someone laugh? Inform? Provoke? Celebrate? Repudiate? Propose? Secure support?

What is the purpose of the rhetorical triangle?

It is meant to capture the necessary consideration a speaker/writer must make as they tailor their subject for the intended audience.

Ethos (credibility)

-The credibility of the speaker: established through status, awareness, professionalism, endorsement, research, etc.; convince audience they can trust the speaker

Refers to the trustworthiness or credibility of the writer or speaker.

The speaker’s reputation.

Immediately establishes ethos

The speaker’s expertise, knowledge, experience, training, sincerity

Through the discourse/information itself

The way the speaker causes the audience to consider the “fairness” of a situation

Pathos (emotion)

-How the audience feels or experiences the message: excited, sad, angry, motivated… How is the audience persuaded to react?

-An appeal to the audience’s sympathies or emotion and imagination.

-Established through language in the form of figurative language, vivid description, and personal anecdotes.

-Established through diction with strong connotation, either negative or positive

-Considered weak on its own (propagandistic, polemical); rarely effective in the long term

Logos (Logic)

-Facts, research, message elements that provide proof or evidence to a claim; convince your audience what they are reading is well-researched and reasoned

-An appeal to logic or reason through offering clear, rational ideas

-Clear main idea (thesis) is supported through effective evidence:

-Specific details, examples, facts, statistical data, expert testimony

-Appeal to logos by addressing counter argument: anticipate objections and opposing viewers

-Concede (agree)

-Deny (refute)

When we are considering the rhetorical effectiveness of a text, we are considering…

1)How well the rhetor’s (writer, speaker) product (text, speech) demonstrates skilled negotiation between speaker, subject, and audience

2)Evidence in the product that the rhetor considered his context and purpose in the crafting of the piece

3)How the rhetor establishes credibility and trustworthiness through her appeal to the audience’s sense of ethics

4)How the rhetor appeals to the audience’s reason through the logical design of her product and the use of logical

evidence supporting her claims

5) The ways in which the rhetor balances her product with carefully selected elements that appeal to the audience’s emotions

Analyzing these elements: (Speaker, Audience, Subject) (Context, Purpose)

(Appeals to Ethos, Logos, Pathos) is the beginning of analyzing the...

...rhetorical effectiveness of a text or speech.

Arrangement:

How a piece is organized

What is the purpose of SPACE CAT?

It is a starting place for rhetorical analysis.

It will not take readers to deep layers of analysis, but it reminds us of some of the elements we should begin considering.

Tone:

the author’s attitude towards the subject; madeterm-25 evident through diction

Paradigm:

Acceptable/accepted way of thinking in a given time period: social constructs

S in SPACECAT

SPEAKER:

Who is the speaker/writer? What do we

know about them? What can you tell or

what do you know about the speaker that

helps you understand the point of view

expressed?

P in SPACECAT

PURPOSE:

What is the speaker/writer hoping to

accomplish? What is the reason behind

this piece? What do they want the

audience to do after having listened?

A in SPACECAT

AUDIENCE:

Who is the speaker/writer trying to reach?

How do we know? Do they indicate a

specific audience? What assumptions exist

in the text about the intended audience?

C in SPACECAT

CONTEXT:

What is the time and place of this piece?

What is happening in the world as it relates

to the subject of the speech or the

speaker/writer?

E in SPACECAT

EXIGENCE:

What was the spark or catalyst that moved

the speaker/writer to act/write? How did

that event impact the speaker/writer?

C in SPACECAT

CHOICES: choices" refers to the rhetorical moves a speaker or writer makes to achieve a purpose. These choices are guided by the rhetorical situation and can include:

diction, syntax, examples, anecdotes, descriptions, and different types of evidence.

A in SPACECAT

AUDIENCE:

Who is the speaker/writer trying to reach?

How do we know? Do they indicate a

specific audience? What assumptions exist

in the text about the intended audience?

T in SPACECAT

TONE:

What is the speaker/authors attitude

toward the subject? Is the tone the same

throughout the whole piece? Where does it

shift? What evidence is there to

demonstrate the tone?

5 Part Structure: Classic Model

1.Introduction (exordium) - ethos

“Beginning the web”. Piques interest; introduces subject

2.Narration (narratio) - pathos

Factual information; background

Evokes emotional response about the importance of the issue

3.Confirmation (confirmatio) - logos

Development of proof

4.Refutation (refutatio) - logos

Addresses counter-argument

5.Conclusion (peroratio) - pathos, ethos

Closes; brings all ideas together. Answers “so what?”

Narration

-Telling a story; recounting series of events

-Based on personal experience or knowledge of experience

-Chronology

-Concrete detail

-Point of View

-Dialogue

-Crafting of a story to support a thesis

-Way to enter/introduce the main topic

Description

-Emphasizes the senses by painting a picture

-Sight

-Sound

-Smells

-Tastes

-Feels

-Establishes mood or atmosphere

-Clear and vivid details to persuade; build empathy and connection

-Works with narration

Process

-Explains how something works, how to do something, how something was done

-Clarity: Explain clearly and logically

-Transitions are a must!

-Clear verbs

Examplification

-Providing a series of examples to turn a general idea into a concrete one

-Examples: facts, cases, instances

-Extended example or series of related examples helps to illustrate a point

-Induction: logical proof

-Examples lead to conclusion

Compare + Contrast

-Juxtaposing two things to highlight similarities and differences

-Used to analyze information carefully

-Organization:

Subject by Subject: all elements of one subject discussed first, then the other subject is discussed

Point by Point: discusses an aspect of both subjects, and then another aspect and so on…

Classification + Division

-Sorting material or ideas into major categories

-“What goes together and why?”

-Make connections between seemingly unrelated things

-Sorting into pre-made categories

-Creating new categories to break down larger concepts into parts

-Use examples and analysis

Definition

-Defining key terms lays the foundation to establish common ground for the author’s main argument/claim

-First step in a debate or disagreement

Cause & Effect

-Analyzing the causes that led to a certain effect

-Analyzing the effects that resulted from a cause

-Causal analysis depends on clear logic, tracing a chain of cause and effect; it’s easy to run into logical fallacies