Aristotle's Rhetorical Triangle

Created by Brett Oppegaardfor Washington State University Vancouver's

CMDC 375 class, spring 2011

Aristotle’s Rhetorical Triangle

discourse,design and

context

Author / Encoder / Ethos

Audience / Decoder / PathosPurpose / Message / Logos

Author / Encoder / Ethos

Who created this “text”?What do we know about the author / creator?

What authority does that encode in the message?

What credibility does that encode?

What common ground does that encode?

What level of fairness is encoded?

What questions does that raise in the message?

Purpose / Message / Logos

What is the logical structure of the “message”?What exactly is being communicated, from each individual element (take it apart and look at the pieces) to the whole?

Is an idea (or are ideas) presented? Identify those.

Is the information more specific or abstract? Why?

Are you being led a particular direction? How and why?

What examples are used, including precedents?

Who are the sources of information?

Are you being asked to use inductive (collective facts

lead to a conclusion) or deductive reasoning (the law

or general principle leads to a specific example)?

Audience / Decoder / Pathos

Who is this “text” aimed at and through what emotional connections?

What does the audience know, and need to know?

What emotional appeals are used – from benevolence (love, pity, belief in fairness, etc.) to malevolence

(greed, lust, envy, etc.)?

What descriptive and metaphoric uses of language appear? And why were those chosen?

How does the audience feel now, and how is it supposed to feel after decoding the message?

What response is expected, or hoped for?

In what ways do the raw materials coalesce and then interact with time and space?

How does it matter that this communication is happening right now, in this form, in this place?

How does the selection of parts and the assembly and manipulation techniques add to the discourse (internal

factors, such as fonts, cropping, colors)?

What cultural, social and/or historical context adds to or shapes the direction of the discourse (external factors, such

as current events, institutional knowledge)?

discourse, design and

context

Aristotle’s Rhetorical Triangle

discourse,design and

context

Author / Encoder / Ethos

Audience / Decoder / PathosPurpose / Message / Logos

When these are in balance, the rhetoric usually is effective

When these are not in balance, the ability to persuade diminishes …

Rhetorical NoiseWhen messages really go awry …

Source: Deborah Barrett