Rhetoric and Persuasion

Ms. JacksonEnglish II

February 2010

Rhetoric--A Rudimentary Definition

“the energy inherent in emotion and

thought, transmitted through a system of

signs, including language, to others to

influence their decisions or actions”

--George Kennedy

(Rhetorical) Discourse

• Definition• Six characteristics– Planned– Adapted to an audience– Shaped by human motives– Responsive to a situation– Persuasion seeking– Concerned with contingent issues

Discourse—•a mode of organizing knowledge, ideas, or experience that is rooted in language and its concrete contexts

What about that other word?

•Contingent issues are those which confront everyone but for which no definite or unavoidable answers exist.

Really Old ...Classical Period

Sophists (Blame them,especially this cat)

He didGorgias

Plato

Aristotle

• Enthymemes• Common topics• Logical fallacies

Remember his name and all that he did.He is pretty much the father of rhetoric as we know it.

Enthymeme—

• a rhetorical argument based on a heartfelt premise shared by speaker and audience to such a degree that it need not even be stated in the discourse (i.e. War is a destructive force.)

Common Topics

• (also called common places because of the Greek translation)—arguments and strategies useful in any rhetorical setting (i.e. working with a crucial word, turning the tables, or reasoning from general to particular)

Logical Fallacies

• enthymemes that seem reasonable but are not (Aristotle cited among these wordplay, fallacy of reasoning from part to whole, and even the use of indignant language such as “Why it’s just plain rude to make such claims!”)

More Aristotle

Artistic Proofs—proofs taught especially by the art of rhetoric•Ethos—the sociology of good character•Pathos—the psychology of emotion•Logos—the logic of sound arguments

...and Relatively New

• Bitzer and the Situation– Exigency– Audience– Constraints

• Burke and the Dramatistic Pentad– Act– Agent– Agency– Purpose– Scene

Exigence(y)—

• Bitzer defines it as “an imperfection marked by urgency...a defect, an obstacle, something waiting to be done, a thing which is other than it should be.”

Constraints—

• “persons, events, objects, and relations which are parts of the situation because they have the power to constrain decision and action needed to modify the exigence.”

rhetor(ician)

•someone engaged in rhetorical discourse (Don’t get cocky. They get harder.)

argument

• discourse characterized by reasons advanced to support a conclusion; reasoning made public with the goal of influencing an audience.

appeals

•symbolic methods that aim either to elicit an emotion or to engage the audience’s loyalties or commitments

motives

•commitments, goals, desires, or purposes when they lead to action

metaphor

•You tell me, and you’d better be right!

arrangement

•the planned ordering of a message to achieve the greatest persuasive effect

symbol•any mark, sign, sound, or gesture that represents something based on social agreement

Conclusion

• Descartes said, “I think, therefore I am.” Understanding rhetorical devices and engaging in rhetorical discourse improves your ability to think, thus, creating a better you.