Rhetorical

Strategies

Persuasive Speech:The Power of Language

•Clearly states the issue and a position

•Gives an opinion and supports it with facts and reasons

Takes opposing views into account

Uses sound logic and effective language

Concludes by summing up reasons or calling for action

Power of Language Con’t:

Rhetoric:• It is an artistic form

of communicating ideas

• 3 Divisions–Logos, or the appeal

to reason; –Pathos, or the appeal

to emotion; and –Ethos, or the appeal to

character.

Designing the Speech• His or her position has a

firm moral basis and sound logic.

• Deductive: Begins with a generalization of issue , or premise, supported by facts (like our essay format)—linear thought

• Inductive: Begins with examples and facts from which the writer draws conclusions about the issue—circular thought

Appealing to Your Audience• Emotional Appeal:

Focused on specific examples of suffering –

finding common experiences

• Ethical Appeal:

Based on a sharing of moral values; taps into audience’s sense of right, wrong, justice, and virtue

Loaded Language:• Deeply detailed

descriptions evoking vivid imagery; also rich in connotation—reference to words possessing multiple meanings and having command of this

Styles to Consider:• Elevated Language: Carefully chosen words

create mood and tone of speech—always consider the audience and the tone which must be used

• Rhetorical Questions: Questions that do not require answers, because the answer is obvious

• Repetition: Repetition of a point or expression of a point in new ways emphasizes the importance of the issue

Other Devices:• Allusions: an indirect reference

to a person, place, event, or literary work with which the author believes the reader will be familiar(i.e. “Plan ahead: it wasn't raining when Noah built the ark.” --Richard Cushing

Other Devices Con’t:• Antithesis: establishes a

clear, contrasting relationship between two ideas

(i.e. “That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” --Neil Armstrong)

Con’t Devices:• Parallelism—a sentence or several sentences are expressed similarly to show that the ideas in the parts or sentences are equal in importance (I.e. To think accurately and to write precisely are interrelated goals.

“Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”-JFK

"In a democracy we are all equal before the law. In a dictatorship we are all equal before the police." -Fernandes

Syllogism• Major premise: All women are too chatty.• Minor premise: Mrs. Villasenor is a woman.• Conclusion: Mrs. Villasenor is chatty.• Based upon relationships between the major

and minor premises, conclusions may be derived; each premise has something in common in the conclusion