Rhetoric is:

the art of finding ways to

persuade an audience.

Not just in speeches, but also in essays, political cartoons , photographs, and advertisements:

--all considered “texts”

RHETORICAL TRIANGLE

SPEAKER

AUDIENCE

SUBJECT

TEXT

SOAPS- identify these for each piece of writing:

SUBJECT

OCCASION

AUDIENCE

PURPOSE

SPEAKER

Arguments to:Convince:

• Arguing to convince

leads audiences

toward conviction,

toward arguing that a

claim is true or

reasonable orthat an

action is desirable.

Persu

ade:• Arguing to persuade

is to done to move

other from conviction

to action.

A combination of both is often used in academic arguments.

Other reasons for argument:

•To explore

•To inform

•To make decisions

•To meditate or pray

3 occasions for argument:1. Forensic: arguments about

the past

–What are its concerns?

• What happened in the past?

–What does it look like?

• Court decisions, legal briefs, legislative

hearings, investigative reports, academic

studies

2. Deliberative: arguments

about the future

–What are its concerns?

• What should be done in the future?

–What does it look like?

• Proposals, bills, regulations

3. Epideictic/Ceremonial: arguments about the present

–What are its concerns?

• Who or what deserves praise or blame?

–What does it look like?

• Eulogies, graduation speeches, inaugural

addresses, roasts

Assignment:

• In a recent magazine, newspaper, or blog, find three

editorials – one that makes a forensic argument, one a

deliberative argument, and one a ceremonial argument.

Analyze the arguments by asking these questions:

– Who is arguing?

– What purposes are the writers rying to achieve?

– To whom are they directing their arguments?

Then decide of whether the argument’s purposes have been

achieved and how you know.

Three major forms of argument:

Ethos

• “character”• Appeals to ethos demonstrate that

the speaker/writer is credible and trustworthy to speak on a given topic. It is established by who you are and what you say.

Pathos

• “emotion”• Appeals to pathos generate emotions

(fear, pity, love, anger, jealousy) that the writer hopes will lead the audience to accept a claim.

Logos

• “logic”• Appeals to logos include the

presentation of facts, statistics, credible testimony, examples or even a narrative or story that embodies a sound reason in support of an argument.

Assignment:

• Find three advertisements. (You may clip ads from a magazine, newspaper or online).

• On a separate piece of paper, list the title or brief description of the ad and explain whether it is an appeal to ethos, logos, or pathos .

• We will post the ads on a board in class according to their categories.