Study Guide: Rhetoric

Definition: Rhetoric is the art of using words in a certain way to influence (appeal to) or evoke emotions, opinions, attitudes, and behaviors in readers and listeners.

Key Appeals in Rhetoric:

1. ETHOS:

   • Definition: Appeal to credibility or image.

   • Connection: Ethos is related to the English word ethics and refers to the trustworthiness or credibility of the speaker/writer.

   • Example: A doctor giving health advice has high ethos due to their expertise.

2. PATHOS:

   • Definition: Appeals to our emotions or feelings.

   • Emotions: Such as fear, pity, joy, or anger, as well as humor or shock value.

   • Example: A charity advertisement showing the plight of animals to evoke sympathy.

3. LOGOS:

   • Definition: Related to logic or reasoning.

   • Function: Appeals to the audience's brains with logical arguments or research-based evidence.

   • Example: A debate using statistics to support a claim.

Study Guide: Parallelism

Definition: Parallelism is a literary device in which words and phrases of similar grammatical patterns repeat to connect ideas.

Purpose of Parallelism:

• Emphasize Key Ideas or Themes: By repeating similar structures, writers and speakers draw attention to important points.

Anaphora:

• Definition: A rhetorical device in which a word or sequence of words repeats at the beginning of consecutive clauses, phrases, or sentences.