Look up online the words “rhetoric”

Define it then in your own words

Definition of rhetorical analysis:“A process that uses textual and

contextual information to break down HOW a particular example of communication achieves persuasion.”

Aristotle, a classical Greek philosopher, studied rhetoric and devised three categories of persuasive appeals: Ethos Pathos Logos

Credibility: convincing someone through your character. Good sense, good will, good character. Author wants greater good and is not manipulative.

How? Become an expert on the topic, be

likeable and worthy of respect, intelligent

Appealing to the emotions, values, and beliefs of an audience

How? Word choice Vivid examples and

details Tone

Reasoning Inductive: specific to broad

Deductive: broad to specific

All swans we have seen have been white; therefore all swans are white.

All known planets travel about the sun in elliptical orbits; therefore all planets travel about the sun in elliptical orbits.

All dogs are mammals. All mammals have kidneys. Therefore all dogs have kidneys.

Since all squares are rectangles, and all rectangles have four sides, all squares have four sides.

How? Use facts, research Logical thought process Use evidence to support claims

Love StatisticsBelief in fairnessExpert testimonyCredibilityPityReliable sourcesGreedExperiments

Determining how a text/author uses persuasive strategies

There are many different ways to communicate a message: through pictures, language, gestures, sound, etc.

Depending on what type of text you analyze, you will look at different elements to determine how they help communicate a message.

In order to perform rhetorical analysis, one must always think about the context (ie, the purpose of the text, the audience, etc)

writer

audience subject

Claim: The main idea, thesis, opinion, or belief of the argument. The claim answers the question, “What’s the point?”

Support : statements given to back up the claim. Facts, data, personal experience, expert opinion, evidence from other texts or sources, emotional appeals, or other means.

Warrant: connection, often unstated and assumed, between the claim and the supporting reason(s), or support. Or, in short, warrants are the beliefs, values, inferences and/or experiences that the writers/speakers assume they share with their audiences.

Pretend that you have had 3 absences to a class already and are only allowed 3 before your grade suffers. You don’t hear your alarm go off and oversleep on a day and earn a 4th. Use ethos, pathos and logos to appeal to your professor that she should not reduce your grade?

Pretend that your parents just helped you buy a new car. The first night out in it, you hit an icy patch and total it.

Write a letter to your parents explain the situation

Now write a letter to your friend telling them what happened

Please read Burton’s “What is Rhetoric and the excerpt from King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and do reading response