Rhetoric,

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Rhetoric,

• the art of persuasion

Persuasion is a form of demonstration, for we
are most fully persuaded by something when we
believe it to have been clearly demonstrated."

Aristotle
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Rhetoric in history

•     Rhetoric--or the art of effective
  communication, whether written or spoken--was the
  cornerstone of classical education.
• Used in commerce
• ceremonial oratory
• diplomacy and public relations
• cultural and political debate.    

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Aristotle (384-322 BC)

• , defined rhetoric as the art of identifying (and
  applying), in any given situation, the most
  likely means of persuasion.

4
Many of the fundamental principles and practical
insights of the discipline

• be clear
• be forceful
• be concise
• be emphatic
• remain as valid and useful today as they did
  twenty-four centuries ago.

5
Rhetoricians also placed great emphasis on the
context of the message

• , with the main contextual concerns being
• the purpose of the message
• and the place in which it was to be heard or
  seen.
•    

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Speaker

• According to classical theory, the character of
  the speaker is all-important, for audiences tend
  to believe the testimony (no matter how unlikely)
  of familiar
• reliable
• and trustworthy speakers
• ______________________________________
• and to discredit the claims (no matter how
  reasonable) of
• Strange
• undependable
• or suspicious sources

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In the view of Aristotle and Quintillian,
effective speakers should make a special effort
to seem

• Polite
• friendly
• and well-disposed to the audience
• should take care to demonstrate common sense and
  good judgment
• and should have (or should at least appear to
  have) a spotless moral reputation.

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Message. As far as content and style are
concerned, classical rhetoricians taught that a
message should be composed so that it
reflects favorably on the character and
disposition of the speaker accords
appropriately with its audience, place, and
purpose. In short, every aspect of the
speech--from its characteristic images and turns
of phrase to the gestures and facial expressions
that accompany its delivery--should be contrived
to produce a particular pre-calculated effect.
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Audience. All classical authorities agree to
communicate effectively, you must tailor your
message (whether written or spoken) to the

• Size
• shape
• tastes
• expectations
• political interests
• cultural circumstances
• moral and social concerns
• and intellectual level of your audience.
• A corollary of this advice is The more you know
  about your audience, the more likely your chances
  of communicating successfully

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In the classical era, and even more so today, an
important consideration in message design is
where the communication will take place.

• Writers need to know where their message will be
  appearing
• a magazine?
• an academic journal?
• a bulletin board?
• a computer screen?
• This has an obvious bearing on its style,
  content, and presentation.

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But seldom did these three general types of
message exist in a pure form. Furthermore, for
any given communication task, classical speakers
were also advised to have a clear, definite,
practical purpose in mind and not lose sight of
that purpose during their presentation. Hence the
excellent rhetorical advice to all would-be
communicators today Have a point and stick to
it.

• Purpose. Classical rhetoric recognized three
  general goals or aims of communication to
  persuade, to inform, to entertain