AP English Language and Composition
H. Rogers
Rhetoric Defined
 Aristotle: Rhetoric is "the faculty of discovering in any
particular case all of the available means of persuasion."
 Plato: [Rhetoric] is the "art of enchanting the soul."
(The art of winning the soul by discourse.)
 Philip Johnson: "Rhetoric is the art of framing an
argument so that it can be appreciated by an audience."
 Andrea Lunsford: "Rhetoric is the art, practice, and
study of human communication."
Lou Gehrig
 Nicknamed “The Iron Horse,”
Lou Gehrig was one of the
most talented and
accomplished men to ever
play the game of baseball. His
accomplishments on the field
made him an authentic
American hero and his tragic
early death made him a hero.
 http://www.americanrhetoric.co
m/speeches/lougehrigfarewellto
baseball.htm
Why is this an effective speech?
 Context (or occasion):Lou Gehrig
delivered this speech at an
Appreciation Day held in his honor
on July 4, 1939. He gave the speech
between games of a doubleheader.
 The more important context is the
poignant contrast between the
celebration of his athletic career and
the life-threatening diagnosis he
had received.
Why is this an effective speech?
 Purpose: Within the given context, Gehrig’s goal is to
remain positive by looking on the bright side – his
past luck and present optimism – an downplaying the
bleak outlook.
 Makes only one reference to his diagnosis

“bad break”
 Thesis (or claim or assertion): Gehrig’s is crystal clear:
“He’s the luckiest man on the face of the earth.”
 Subject: Gehrig knows his subject – baseball in
general, the New York Yankees in particular.
Why is this an effective speech?
 Speaker: Though Gehrig is a
baseball champion, he is not a
polished orator or a highly
sophisticated writer; therefore, as a
speaker, he presents himself as a
common man, modest and glad for
the life he’s lived.
 Audience: Fans and fellow athletes,
both those in the stadium and those
who will hear the speech from afar,
and people rooting for him on and
off the field.
Why is this an effective speech?
 Gehrig’s understanding of
how these factors – subject
(main idea), speaker, and
audience – interact
determines his speech: a
plainspoken, positive
appreciation for what he has
had, and a champion’s
courageous acceptance of
the challenges that lie before
him.
 One commentator wrote,
“Lou Gehrig’s speech almost
rocked Yankee Stadium off
its feet.”
The Rhetorical Triangle
 The
Rhetorical
Triangle or
the
Aristotelian
Triangle
Audience
Persona of
speaker/writer
Interaction
among subject,
speaker, and
audience
determines the
structure and
language of the
argument.
Subject
Appeals
 The writer/speaker uses appeals to support his/her
meaning:
 Ethos
 Logos
 Pathos
Ethos
 Names the persuasive appeal of one's character,




especially how this character is established by means
of the speech or discourse.
Speakers appeal to ethos to demonstrate that they are
credible and trustworthy.
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 (its exordium or introduction) was the
place to establish one's credibility with the audience.
A person’s reputation or background might provide
them ethos. The writing itself might provide ethos by
being balanced, reasonable, sincere, knowledgeable,
etc
Logos
 Names the appeal to 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.
Pathos
 Names the appeal to emotion.
 Cicero encouraged the use of pathos
at the conclusion of an oration, but
emotional appeals are of course more
widely viable.
Identifying Ethos, Logos, and
Pathos
 \\oglethorpe\shares\HS Faculty\hlawrence\My
Documents\AP\We Can Afford to Give Parents a
Break.docx
Arrangement
 Another element of rhetoric is the organization of a
piece, what classical rhetoricians called arrangement.
 The Classical Model:
 Introduction
 Narration
 Confirmation
 Refutation
 Conclusion
Introduction
 Exordium
 Introduces the reader to the subject
 In Latin, exordium means “beginning a web”
 Should draw in the readers by piquing their interest
 Often establishes ethos
Narration
 Narratio
 Provides factual information and background material
on the subject at hand
 Begins the developmental paragraphs, or establishes
why the subject is a problem that needs addressing
 Level of detail of this section depends on audience’s
knowledge of subject
 Appeals to logos and pathos
Confirmation
 Confirmatio
 Usually the major part of the text
 Includes the development or the proof needed to make
the writer’s case – the nuts and bolts of the essay,
containing the most specific and concrete detail in the
text
 Usually makes the strongest appeal to logos
Refutation
 Refutatio
 Addresses the counterargument
 Is a bridge between the proof and conclusion
 Usually recommended to be at the end, but not a hard-
and-fast rule
 If opposing views are well known or valued by the
audience, a writer/speaker will address them before
presenting his/her own argument.
 Mostly appeal to logos
Conclusion
 Peroratio
 May be one paragraph or several
 Brings the essay/speech to a satisfying close
 Usually appeals to pathos and reminds audience of the
ethos established earlier
 Rather than simply repeating what has gone before,
the conclusion brings all the writer’s ideas together
and answers the question, so what?
 The classical rhetorician’s advice is that the last words
and ideas of a text are those the audience is most likely
to remember.
The Classic Model at Work
 Not By Math Alone
Patterns of Development
 Another way to consider arrangement is according to
purpose.
 These patterns of development include a range of
logical ways to organize an entire text or, more likely,
individual paragraphs or sections.
Narration
 Refers to telling a story or recounting a series of events.
 Can be based on personal experience or on knowledge




from reading or observation.
Chronology usually governs narrations
Includes concrete detail, a point of view, and
sometimes dialogue
Narration is not simply crafting an appealing story; it’s
crafting a story that supports your thesis.
Writers often use narration as a way to enter their
topics.
Description
 Closely related to narration because both include
many specific details.
 Unlike narration, description emphasizes the senses
by painting a picture of how something looks, sounds,
smells, tastes, or feels.
 Often used to establish mood or atmosphere
 Rarely is an entire essay descriptive, but clear
descriptive writing can make an essay more persuasive
Process Analysis
 Explains how something works, how to do something,
or how something is/was done.
 The key to successful process analysis is clarity: it is
important to explain a subject clearly and logically,
with transitions that mark the sequence of major
steps, stages, ,or phases of the process.
Comparison and Contrast
 A common pattern of development; juxtaposes two
things to highlight their similarities and differences.
 Used to analyze information carefully, which often
reveals insight into the nature of the information
being analyzed.
 Often required on examinations where you have to
discuss various aspects of two pieces of text
 May be organized subject-by-subject or point-by-point
Classification and Division
 By answering the question, What goes together and
why? Writers and reader can make connections
between things that might otherwise seem unrelated.
 Most of the time a writer’s task is to develop his or her
own categories, to find a distinctive way of breaking
down a larger idea or concepts into parts.
Definition
 To ensure that writers and their audiences are
speaking the same language, definition may lay the
foundation to establish common ground or identifying
areas of conflict.
 Defining a term is often the first step in a debate or
disagreement.
 In some cases, the definition is only a paragraph or
two; in other cases, it takes up the whole essay.
Exemplification
 Providing a series of examples – facts, specific cases, or
instances – turns a general idea into a concrete one;
this makes your argument both clearer and more
persuasive to a reader.
 A writer might use extended examples or a series of
related ones to illustrate a point.
 Aristotle taught that examples are a type of logical
proof called induction.
 That is, a series of specific examples that leads to a
general conclusion.
Cause and Effect
 Analyzing cause and effect can be a powerful
argument.
 It is important to carefully trace a chain of cause and
effect and to recognize possible contributing factors.
 Cause and effect is often signaled by a why in the title
or opening paragraph.
Sources
 The Language of Composition by Renee H. Shea,
Lawrence Scanlon, and Robin Dissin Aufses
 http://rhetoric.byu.edu/canons/Canons.htm
 http://www.americanrhetoric.com