INTRODUCTION TO
RHETORIC
Rhetoric Defined
 Merriam-Webster definition
 Aristotle: "the ability to discover, in any
given situation, the available means of
persuasion" [and, I would add, to use
those means effectively, which is the
theme of Aristotle's book Rhetoric as a
whole].
 Kenneth Burke: "the use of language as a
symbolic means of inducing cooperation in
beings that by nature respond to symbols."
The Rhetorical Situation
 Is a triangular relation among 3 elements:
SUBJECT/MESSAGE
SPEAKER
AUDIENCE
This relationship takes
place
in a particular social and physical
context.
Social context = the previous relations
between speaker and audience
Physical context = where and when the
relationship takes place
The same elements carry
different messages
Depending on what context they occur in.
For instance, if a woman talked to her
daughter about sex when she was 11, and
then again before the daughter moved away
to go to college, the rhetorical situations
would be very different.
The same woman would talk about sex very
differently with her husband, her female
friends, her minister, and her marriage
counselor.
Three Modes of
Persuasion
Defined by Aristotle, these are:
LOGOS – persuasion based upon
logic;
ETHOS – persuasion based upon
the credibility of the speaker; and
PATHOS – persuasion based on
emotion.
These three modes
 Also correspond to the points of the rhetorical
triangle:
Logos -- SUBJECT
Ethos -SPEAKER
Pathos -AUDIENCE
LOGOS
Appeals to logic
(The Mind)
 Uses definitions, analogies, factual data,
statistics, and quotations
 Causes a cognitive, rational response
FAVORED IN ACADEMIC SETTINGS,
BUSINESS DOCUMENTS, LAW
ETHOS Appeals to character,
group values (ethics)
 Presents author or speaker as being reliable,
interesting, intelligent: somebody worth
emulating
 Appeals to our herd instinct: desire to be
accepted in a group
OFTEN USED IN
POLITICS, ADS
PATHOS
 Emotionally loaded
language
 Emotional, personal
examples
 Evokes an emotional
response
MOST POWERFUL
APPEAL, BUT ALSO
MOST LIKELY TO
BACKFIRE
Appeals to
emotions
LOGOS/ETHOS/PATHOS
 These three basic tools are used in an
enormous number of different ways.
 For instance, think of all the ways you know to
present yourself differently to different
audiences: new acquaintance, friend, romantic
interest, professor, boss, somebody you don’t
really want to be friends with but need to
basically get along with, parent, priest or
minister or rabbi or imam or guru.
So: In a rhetorical (persuasive)
situation, what do you do?
 Figure out very clearly what your subject and
purpose are;
 Figure out as much as you can about your
audience;
 Think about exactly how to use the three basic
modes of persuasion to reach your goal with that
audience.
 Following these steps is ALSO how you start to
analyze the rhetorical techniques someone else
– a writer, salesman, politician, friend, enemy –
is using on you.