Elements%20of%20Rhetoric

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Elements of Rhetoric
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Definition

• Rhetoricis the art of using language to
  communicate effectively and has been a major part
  of Western education since the Ancient Greeks.

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Appeals in Writing

• Three Types of Appeals Exist
• These are rhetorical devices used to enhance
  observations in research papers
• A. logos (rational)
• B. pathos (emotional )
• C. ethos (ethical )

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Purposes

• These are similar to the different purposes for
  papers
• inform, persuade, speculate, entertain,
  incite, instigate
• All three of these purposes (logos, pathos,
  ethos) can be merged into one paper the longer
  the work, the greater the necessity for multiple
  intentions.
• Likewise, just as one essay can fulfill multiple
  purposes, one essay can use multiple appeals the
  purpose of the work controls the type of appeal
  in use.

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Pathos (emotional)

• When using a persuasive purpose, an
  emotional appeal works best.
• Emotional, personal writing produces a reaction
  from the audience.
• In this fashion, for personal essays, pathos
  works best to connect with readers.
• When analyzing an emotional appeal, look
  carefully at the writers emotionally charged
  words and the nature of their use.

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Pathos (emotional)

• When reading an emotional appeal, be sure to
  determine
• What emotion is the writer wanting you to
  feel?
• What manner is figurative language being
  used?
• Is the audience being manipulated?
• Is the emotion consistent with the
  purpose?
• Is the emotion appropriate to the
  audience, the situation, and the subject?
• Is the emotion a dominant part of the
  essay (which shows a bias) or do rational
  arguments appear the main focus?
• Is the emotional material used to clarify
  a complex argument?

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Pathos (emotional)

• Some theorists believe emotional defenses are
  stronger than logical defenses.
• When used appropriately the audience
  feels sympathy to the writers cause.
• However, it is best to avoid loaded
  language or emotionally charged phrases.
• If used incorrectly, the material shown
  can be seen as sentimental and forced.
• If over-used, the audience may feel
  manipulated.
• Do not over exaggerate in order to build
  a sense of empathy.

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Pathos (emotional)

• Example of pathos-driven material
• The wrath of God is like great waters that are
  dammed for the present they increase more and
  more, and rise higher and higher, till an outlet
  is given and the longer the stream is stopped,
  the more rapid and mighty is its course, when
  once it is let loose. It is true, that judgment
  against your evil works has not been executed
  hitherto the floods of God's vengeance have been
  withheld but your guilt in the mean time is
  constantly increasing, and you are every day
  treasuring up more wrath the waters are
  constantly rising, and waxing more and more
  mighty and there is nothing but the mere
  pleasure of God, that holds the waters back, that
  are unwilling to be stopped, and press hard to go
  forward. If God should only withdraw his hand
  from the flood-gate, it would immediately fly
  open, and the

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Pathos (emotional)

• fiery floods of the fierceness and wrath of
  God, would rush forth with inconceivable
  fury, and would come upon you with omnipotent
  power and if your strength were ten thousand
  times greater than it is, yea, ten thousand
  times greater than the strength of the stoutest,
  sturdiest devil in hell, it would be
  nothing to withstand or endure it.
• Jonathan Edwards, Sinners in the Hands
  of an Angry God delivered July 8, 1741 in
  Enfield, Connecticut

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Logos (rational)

• Using a rational appeal requires a burden of
  proof, or claim.
• Academic writing requires evidence to back up
  observations
• records, statistics, facts, quotes from
  authorities
• Your thesis statement is logos-driven.
• Your evidence is fact-based, without an overt
  bias, shown in clear language.

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Logos (rational)

• Most importantly, avoid fallacies mistaken
  logic, based on a flawed argument
• Avoid
• faulty ad hoc reasoning
• present only one side to an argument
• falsify information (fake credentials)
• provide weak induction or deduction
• red herrings (mislead or distract reader from
  main point of discussion) or straw man
  techniques.

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Logos (rational)

• Red Herrings see Texas State University
  web site for examples
  http//www.txstate.edu/philosophy/resources/fallac
  y-definitions/Red-Herring.html
• Straw Man misrepresent your opponents view
  points or draw attention away from your weaker
  argument by pointing out other issues commonly
  used with an audience with limited information on
  the full argument

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Logos (rational)
Example of logos-driven material Mark Anthony Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your earsI come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.The evil that men do lives after themThe good is oft interred with their bonesSo let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus 5Hath told you Caesar was ambitiousIf it were so, it was a grievous fault,And grievously hath Caesar answer'd it.Here, under leave of Brutus and the restFor Brutus is an honourable man 10So are they all, all honourable menCome I to speak in Caesar's funeral.He was my friend, faithful and just to meBut Brutus says he was ambitiousAnd Brutus is an honourable man.He hath brought many captives home to RomeWhose ransoms did the general coffers fillDid this in Caesar seem ambitious?When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath weptAmbition should be made of sterner stuffYet Brutus says he was ambitiousAnd Brutus is an honourable man. You all did see that on the LupercalI thrice presented him a kingly crown,Which he did thrice refuse was this ambition? Yet Brutus says he was ambitiousAnd, sure, he is an honourable man. I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke,But here I am to speak what I do know.You all did love him once, not without causeWhat cause withholds you then, to mourn for him? O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts,And men have lost their reason. Bear with meMy heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,And I must pause till it come back to me. William Shakespeare, The Life and Death of Julius Caesar Act III, Scene II Yet, notice although Anthony begins to seemingly open a logical argument against Caesar, by line thirteen, he shifts to using a heavy pathos-driven value claims to manipulate and incite the crowd against Brutus.
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Logos gt Five Types of Claims

• Rational appeals utilize different types of
  claims.
• 1. factual claim declarative sentence that
  states
• a current reality
• Austin is the capital of Texas.
• a future condition
• The US plans to colonize Mars by 2030.
• a past event
• Vikings discovered the New World hundreds of
  years before Columbus.

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Logos gt Five Types of Claims

• 2. value claim opinion based declarative
  promoting personal feelings or tastes,
• detailing preference between two objects, people,
  situations.
• The book, Ulysses, is James Joyces strongest,
  and most complex, novel.

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Logos gt Five Types of Claims

• 3. a moral claim is made on the basis of a
  prescribed code of values
• (not necessarily religious)
• Despite the school boards intentions, teaching
  creationism in a high school science class does
  not offer a well-rounded education.

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Logos gt Five Types of Claims

• 4. causal claims asserts and defines causes for
  an event or situation
• Slavery was only one cause of the American
  Civil War.

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Logos gt Five Types of Claims

• 5. deliberative claim a declarative sentence
  which asserts something shouldor should not be
  done.
• Capital punishment is a necessary deterrent to
  crime and should continue as a part of Texas
  legal process.

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Ethos (ethical)

• Ethos is the most complicated portion of the
  rhetorical process
• applies to good debate tactics and public
  speaking
• borders on philosophical approaches to your
  particular life values and at the same time
  establishes your tone of authorityin an honest
  fashion
• you display ethical behavior while presenting the
  various sides of an argument
• avoidance of plagiarism or theft of another
  writers ideas

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Ethos (ethical)

• An Ethical Writer
• presents both sides of the issue in a parallel
  fashion seeks out a compromise between the two
  sides and allows equal time for different points
  of view (see Rogerian Method)
• provides multiple resources in accurate fashion
  to show a sense of authority
• when appropriate, supplies credentials as defense
• does not sentimentalize the argument with
  excessive pathos
• can challenge other ideas in non-offensive manner
• maintains good intentions throughout paper
• presents tone of honesty and good-will, avoiding
  sarcasm, condescension, and bullying

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Logos, Pathos, Ethos

• Using as an example Mortimer Adlers essay How
  to Mark a Book, notice how he combines all three
  types of appeals in his argument
• Logos defines reading process, ownership of
  books, active reading, and also supplies seven
  steps for marking books
• Pathos states reading is conversation implies
  you are what you read
• Ethos establishes himself as authority on
  reading compromises in friendly fashion