The Rhetorical Situation: Five Components of Persuasion

1. The Rhetorical Situation: Five Components of Persuasion Preparation for Rhetorical Analysis Rhetorical Analysis

2. Rhetoric • The study of effective speaking and writing • The art of persuasion Rhetorical Analysis

3. The Rhetorical Situation • P: purpose • A: audience • P: pathos • E: ethos • L: logos Five concepts to help explore any rhetorical situation Rhetorical Analysis

4. Purpose • What change does the writer/speaker want to effect? • IMPORTANT: To ensure you have a clear understanding of purpose, you should be able to express this in terms of physical, tangible action. • A writer may have multiple purposes Rhetorical Analysis

5. Audience • All attempts to persuade must take into account the audience • “Audience” includes three things: • knowledge of audience’s values • opportune timing • proper fit with situation Rhetorical Analysis

6. Appeals • Definition: Approaches to or ways of persuading a reader or listener • Aristotle listed three appeals: • Logos • Pathos • Ethos Rhetorical Analysis

7. Logos • Appeal to logic or reason; logical • Very rarely effective in persuasion • “Reason is, and ought only to be, slave to the passions.” —David Hume Rhetorical Analysis

8. Common Logical Appeals • Incontrovertible, indisputable facts • Statistics • Syllogistic structure • CAUTION: Many appeals are clothed in logical apparel but are NOT pure reason. • Evidence that relies on interpretation is not, strictly speaking, an appeal to logos. Rhetorical Analysis

9. Ethos • Appeal of the writer’s character, credibility, trustworthiness (ethical) • Attempts to gain the respect of the audience • Often appeals to shared values—i.e., says “I’m one of you.” Rhetorical Analysis

10. Common Ethical Appeals • Levels of diction: how a writer/speaker chooses words to address a particular audience • Citing authorities (e.g., Einstein) • Appearing humble, down to earth • Employing humor • Alluding to cultural, religious, literary values held by the audience Rhetorical Analysis

11. Pathos • Appeal to emotion; passionate (pathetic) • Attempts to draw on an audience’s pity, anger, hatred, etc. • Powerful, truly persuasive speaking and writing is always filled with pathos Rhetorical Analysis

12. Common Emotional Appeals • Diction • Imagery • Metaphor • Syntax (*especially if syntax supports meaning) Rhetorical Analysis

13. Using It All • It is possible—even preferable—for a writer or speaker to make multiple appeals at the same time. • Use information about the rhetorical situation to analyze rhetoric question and to create your own arguments Rhetorical Analysis