The Art of Rhetoric
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the study of effective
speaking and writing and the art of
persuasion.
We study rhetoric in order to:
1) perceive how language works
orally and in writing
2) become proficient in applying the
resources of language in our own
speaking and writing.
Persuasive Appeals
Persuasion, according to Aristotle, is
brought about through three kinds of
persuasive appeal:
• Logos ~ appeal to reason
• Pathos ~ appeal to emotion
• Ethos ~ appeal to one's own character
Although they can be analyzed separately,
these three appeals work together in
combination toward persuasive ends.
Aristotle calls these "artistic" or "intrinsic"
proofs—those that could be found by
means of the art of rhetoric—in contrast
to "nonartistic" or "extrinsic" proofs such
as witnesses or contracts that are simply
used by the speaker, not found through
rhetoric.
LOGOS = REASON
Aristotle wished that all communication could be
transacted only through this appeal, but given
the weaknesses of humanity, he laments, we
must resort to the use of the other two
appeals. The Greek term logos is laden with
many more meanings than simply "reason,"
and is in fact the term used for "oration."
Sample Rhetorical Analysis:
When Descartes said, "I think; therefore, I am,"
his statement reflected in its pure concision
and simple logical arrangement the kind of
thought and being he believed to be most real.
He did not claim, as Pascal would later do, that
our being has as much to do with feeling as it
does thinking. Descartes here equates pure
rationality and pure being, persuading us of the
accuracy of this equation by the simplicity of
his statement. There is no room for the clouds
of emotion in this straightforward formula; it
makes a purely logical appeal.
Figures of Logos
In Logos, speech is used to make an argument
more reasonable.
• Sorites ~ chain of claims and reasons which
build upon one another.
• Syllogismus~ the use of a remark or an
image which calls upon the audience to draw
an obvious conclusion.
• Aetiologia ~ figure of reasoning by which
one attributes a cause for a statement or
claim made.
• Ratiocinatio ~ reasoning (typically with
oneself) by asking questions.
• Anthypophora ~ one asks and then
immediately answers one's own questions.
• Apophasis~ the rejection of several reasons
why a thing should or should not be done
and affirming a single one, considered most
valid.
Figures of Logos, cont…
• Contrarium ~ juxtaposing two opposing
statements in such a way as to prove the one
from the other.
• Expeditio ~ after enumerating all
possibilities by which something could have
occurred, the speaker eliminates all but one.
• Proecthesis ~ when, in conclusion, a
justifying reason is provided.
• Prosapodosis ~ providing a reason for each
division of a statement with the reasons
usually following the statement in parallel
fashion.
• Paromologia ~ admitting a weaker point in
order to make a stronger one.
• Dirimens Copulatio ~ a figure by which one
balances one statement with a contrary,
qualifying statement
• Commoratio ~dwelling on or returning to
one's strongest argument.
PATHOS = EMOTION
We see the close relations between assessment of
pathos and of a given audience. Pathos is the
category by which we veiw the psychological aspects
of rhetoric.
Sample Rhetorical Analysis:
Antony, addressing the crowd after Caesar's murder in
Shakespeare's play, manages to stir them up to anger
against the conspirators by drawing upon their pity.
He does this by calling their attention to each of
Caesar's dagger wounds, accomplishing this pathetic
appeal through vivid descriptions combined with
allusions to the betrayal of friendship made by
Brutus, who made "the most unkindest cut of all":
Look, in this place ran Cassius' dagger through;
See what a rent the envious Casca made;
Through this the well-beloved Brutus stabb'd,
And as he pluck'd his cursed steel away,
Mark how the blood of Caesar followed it,
As rushing out of doors to be resolv'd
If Brutus so unkindly knock'd or no;
For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar's angel.
Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar lov'd him!
This was the most unkindest cut of all;
—Shakespeare, Julius Caesar 3.2.174-183
Figures of Pathos
In Pathos, speech is employed to evoke an
emotional response.
• Adhortatio~ comandment, promise, or
exhortation intended to move one's consent or
desires.
• Aganactesis ~ an exclamation proceeding from
deep indignation.
• Apagoresis ~ a statement designed to inhibit
someone from doing something.
• Aposiopesis ~ breaking off suddenly in the middle
of speaking, usually to portray being overcome
with emotion.
• Apostrophe ~ turning one's speech from one
audience to another.
• Cataplexis ~ threatening or prophecying payback
for ill doing.
• Conduplicatio ~ the repetition of a word or words
in adjacent phrases or clauses, either to amplify
the thought or to express emotion.
• Deesis ~ the vehement expression of desire put in
terms of "for someone's sake" or "for God's sake."
• Descriptio ~ vivid description, especially
of the consequences of an act, that stirs
up its hearers.
• Diacope ~ repetition of a word with one
or more between, usually to express deep
feeling.
• Ecphonesis ~ An emotional exclamation.
• Energia ~ the vigor with which one
expresses oneself.
• Epanorthosis ~ mending a first thought
by altering it to make it stronger or more
vehement.
• Epimone ~ persistent repetition of the
same plea in much the same words.
• Epiplexis ~ asking questions in order to chide,
to express grief, or to inveigh.
• Excitatio ~ excites an audience, especially out
of a stupor or boredom.
• Exuscitatio ~ stirring others by one's own
vehement feeling.
• Inter se Pugnantia ~ using direct address to
reprove someone before an audience openly.
• Mempsis ~ expressing complaint and seeking
help.
• Ominatio ~ a prophecy of evil; "ominous" in
tone.
• Paenismus ~ expressing joy for blessings
obtained or an evil avoided.
• Perclusio ~ a threat against someone, or
something.
• Synonymia ~ the use of several synonyms
together to amplify or explain a given subject
or term; adds force.
ETHOS = CHARACTER
Ethos refers especially to how character is
established by means of the speech or
discourse. Aristotle claimed that one needs to
appear both knowledgeable about one's
subject and benevolent. Cicero said that in
classical oratory the initial portion of a speech
was the place to establish one's credibility with
the audience.
Sample Rhetorical Analysis:
In Cicero's speech defending the poet Archias, he
begins his speech by referring to his own
expertise in oratory, for which he was famous
in Rome. While lacking modesty, this tactic still
established his ethos because the audience
was forced to acknowledge that Cicero's public
service gave him a certain right to speak, and
his success in oratory gave him special
authority to speak about another author. In
effect, his entire speech is an attempt to
increase the respectability of the ethos of
literature, largely accomplished by tying it to
Cicero's own, already established, public
character.
Figures of Ethos
In Ethos, speech is used to promote
the authority and credibility of the
speaker.
• Anamnesis ~ calling to memory
past matters.
• Litotes ~ deliberate
understatement, especially when
expressing a thought by denying its
opposite.
Serves as a means of downplaying
one's accomplishments in order to
gain the audience's favor.