AN INTRODUCTION TO ARGUMENT AND RHETORIC

1. AN INTRODUCTION TO ARGUMENT AND RHETORIC AP LANGUAGE & COMPOSITION Compiled by Dawn Moss from various sources

2. What Is an Argument? • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQFKtI6gn9Y

3. ARISTOTLE’S RHETORICAL TRIANGLE (Verbal Arguments) LOGOS Rhetorical Context Kairos ETHOS PATHOS

4. THE VISUAL RHETORICAL TRIANGLE Argument in images is related to textual argument in that all elements are purposive. Logos Rhetorical Context Kairos Type Color Graphics Layout/Design Pathos Ethos

5. Political Cartoons as Rhetoric Political cartoons make a point about a political issue/theme, literary/cultural/ current event, or personal character traits. They can be very funny, especially if you understand the issue, but their main purpose is to persuade you.

6. Political Cartoons (contd.) 3 major conventions of political cartoon rhetoric: • Political commonplaces—some agreed component of politics (i.e., economy, defense, foreign relations, process, electoral framework, etc.). • Literary/cultural allusion—any fictional/mythical character; to interpret the cartoon, the reader must be somewhat familiar with the literary or cultural source to which it refers. • Personal character traits—no traits, whether physical or psychological in nature, can be totally manufactured by the cartoonist. The trait must exist to some extent before it can be amplified and caricatured by the artist (i.e., Obama’s ears, Newt Gingrich’s ego, John Kerry’s long face).

7. Political Cartoons (contd.) Style • Use of line and form—create tone and mood • Relative size of objects—within the frame, size embodies value statements and values invite judgments • Exaggeration/amplification of physical features/symbolism—caricature is the essence of visual style and the foundation of graphic rhetoric • Placement—where an object is located may indicate attitude or value judgment which cartoonist offers reader • Relation of text—2 basic types: Words attributed to characters within the cartoon and labels provided by cartoonist to help explain his/her creation. All texts serve 3 major functions: commentary, explanation, & revelation • Rhythmic montage—the way meanings evolve from the whole

8. Questions for Cartoon Analysis • What is the cartoon about (issue, event, etc.)? • Who is the intended audience? • What conventions is the cartoonist employing? • What elements of style does the cartoonist employ? • What is the cartoonist’s opinion on the issue? In other words, what argument is the cartoonist making? • What might other opinions be on the issue? • In what ways is the argument effective or not?

11. TYPOGRAPHY Type can also affect ethos ALL CAPS IS LIKE SCREAMING Too small can seem evasive or timid Sans Serif is playful and more fun Script seems more formal and more serious Decorative fonts are appropriate for special uses, but not for extended texts.

12. THE COLORWHEEL Warm Colors: stimulate and arouse Cool Colors: calm and relax

13. Color Meanings (short version) • Red is a color that symbolizes action, warmth, power, aggression, excitement, drama, fire, blood, passion, love, danger, anger, and heat. It is a highly visible color that will always attract attention. Red will also stimulate several emotions. • Orange is a vibrant and fun color. It improves mental clarity, promotes warmth and happiness. Orange also increases the oxygen’s flow to the brain. Contentment, fruitfulness, and wholesomeness are qualities that are also associated with orange. • Yellow is a perfect color for sunny, happy, bright, cheerful, playful, easygoing, and optimistic advertisements. Ideal for florists, candy shops, toy stores, amusement parks, and discount stores. Yellow is the first color the eye processes. It is also the most visible color to the human eye. This is why it grabs attention faster than any other color. Yellow is also a color of caution.

14. Color Meanings (contd.) • Green symbolizes life, nature, environment, youth, money, renewal, hope, and power. It is a color that soothes people, reduces pain, and makes us feel safe. • Blue makes people feel calm, relaxed, tranquil, peaceful, wise, loyal, and trustworthy. It helps people accept themselves and resolve their problems. On the other hand, the color blue can also symbolize sadness, and depression. Since most foods are not blue, the color blue is an appetite suppressant that can help people lose weight! • Purple is a sophisticated, creative, luxurious, and wealthy color. It is also associated with royalty. A bluish shade of purple tends to create mystery, while a reddish shade of purple is sensual, and creative. • Brown symbolizes coffee, lumber, and earth-tone products. It is a reliable, solid, strong, mature, and comfortable color. Brown is now considered a rich and robust color.

15. Color Meanings (contd.) • Black symbolizes power, prestige, elegance, style, reliability, simplicity, and sophistication. It is a trendy color that keeps consumers up to date with technology. It is also a very informative color. Black used to be viewed as the color of death, witches, demons, and evil. • White symbolizes purity, cleanliness, virtue, innocence, and freshness. However, white is a color of death and mourning in China, Japan, and some Middle East countries.

16. Graphics: Image Selection • Not for decoration • Meant to illustrate content, gain attention, establish tone • Freshness is important (i.e., unusual angle or perspective) • Used for: Example/ Symbol, Evidence, or Expression

17. Layout and DesignRule of Thirds First Glance Call to Action Focal Point

18. Analyzing Visual Arguments • How does the visual draw the viewer in? • How does it lead the viewer through?” • What is emphasized? Why? • What tone is set? • How does it build credibility? • How is it memorable? • How does it create balance between text and visual? • What is the argument being made?

21. What emotions are aroused? How do words and image(s) clash? Is this an appeal to logos, ethos or pathos? How do you know (evidence)?

22. Argument – the point is “to discover some version of the truth using evidence and reasons…lead[ing] audiences toward conviction, an agreement that a claim is true or reasonable, or that a course of action is desirable.” Persuasion – the point is “to change a point of view or to move others from conviction to action.” “…[A]rgue to discover some truth; …persuade when [you] think [you] already know it.” Everything is an Argument Source: Lunsford, Andrea A., John J. Fuszkiewicz, and Keith Walters. Everything’s an Argument., 4th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007. p. 8.

23. Purposes/Goals of Argument • To Inform – about something audience doesn’t know; to advise of something’s existence • To Convince audience of your point of view • To Explore – personal reflections, serious problems in society, presenting and defending solutions • To Make Decisions – may be the result of an exploratory argument • To Meditate or Pray – often for the purpose of transforming something in oneself or reaching a state of equilibrium or peace of mind Examples of each one?

24. Occasions for Argument • About the Past – forensic arguments (history, law, business, academia) • About the Future – deliberative arguments (what will or should happen in the future) • About the Present – contemporary values (ethical premises and assumptions that are widely held or contested within society

25. Components • Logos – logical appeals; these appeal to an audience’s intelligence and use credible evidence such as facts, examples, precedents (specific examples from the past), authority (must be timely and qualified to judge topic), deductive or inductive reasoning

26. Types of Logical Appeal • Provide testimony, evidence, facts • Cite commonly held beliefs • Allude to history, the Bible, or great literature • Draw analogies or create metaphors • Cite authorities or research • Cite precedents • Cite traditional culture

27. Components (contd.) • Ethos – establishing credibility with the audience. The writer must be deemed believable and trustworthy and often uses outside authorities who are also deemed credible to avoid making the argument look too personal.

28. Types of Ethical Appeal • Claim authority • “Coming clean” about motives • Make audience believe writer is trustworthy • Demonstrate that writer put in research time • Present a carefully crafted and edited argument • Demonstrate that writer knows and respects the audience • Show concern about communicating with the audience • Convince the audience that the writer is reliable and knowledgeable (credibility)

29. Components (contd.) • Pathos – using emotional appeals to engage the audience. This should not be overdone, but it can be effective because humans are emotional as well as intellectual beings. A writer’s word choices, use of figurative language, detail, and imagery, and tone help to create emotional appeals.

30. Types of Emotional Appeal • Use language that involves the senses • Appeal to biases or prejudices • Focus on basic needs of people • Physical needs—life and health of the body • Psychological needs -the need for love, respect… • Social needs—the need for freedom, status, acceptance • Use euphemism or figurative language • Experiment with informal or colloquial language

31. Components (contd.) • Rhetorical context – the situation that surrounds the act of writing or speaking. Includes subject, purpose, audience, and occasion. What am I writing about? What is my purpose? For whom am I writing?

32. Components (contd.) • Kairos – The right moment, the opportune time. The right or critical place. The speaker’s ability to understand and use the contingency of context and to make decisions about the appropriateness of rhetorical choices. Relies on “exigence” – what happens or what fails to happen, reason why one is compelled to speak at that moment.

33. Father and Son: Then and Now

34. Flower Power Taken on October 21, 1967 during a march to the Pentagon, the photo shows a Vietnam placing carnations into the barrel of a rifle of a National Guardsman.

35. QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER ABOUT PHOTOGRAPH • What overall impression does the visual text create in you? • What feelings or emotions does the visual intend to evoke in viewers? • How is the photo composed? What draws your eye? Are there patterns, repetitions, exaggerations? What is foregrounded and backgrounded? Why? • What is the argument the photographer intends to convey?

36. Effective Advertising • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=443Vy3I0gJs • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUrf6Qg4T4E • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQB7QRyF4p4 • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GRwtIIOjsQ Assignment: Select one of the ads and view it several times, making notes using the Multimedia Rhetorical Analysis worksheet. Then, write a well developed paragraph (9-11 sentences minimum) discussing the specific elements of the ad and how and why they appeal to the viewer’s emotions.

37. Challenger Disaster

38. President Ronald Reagan’s Speech on the Challenger Disaster • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEjXjfxoNXM

39. Analyzing President Reagan’s Speech • After watching the video about the Challenger disaster and viewing/listening to President Reagan’s speech later that night, consider the following: • What was President Reagan’s original purpose for giving a speech that night? Why would he and his staff have thought it appropriate to change the topic? • What is the president’s tone? Identify several examples of his diction that help to convey that tone. • How does the president try to reassure Americans in his speech? Be specific. • How does Reagan incorporate parallelism and restatement into the speech, and what are their effects in creating mood and conveying his point of view? • How does Reagan’s delivery fit his topic? Be specific.

40. When Rhetoric Misses the Mark • Understanding the audience is vital to the success of an argument. • Consider President Clinton’s address to the nation concerning Monica Lewinsky: • Why did it “miss the mark”? • How was it different from speech as originally written? • What would the audience think/feel while listening to it? • Why did he give the speech he did instead of the original?

41. Clinton’s Apology?

42. Homework Writing AssignmentHas the dog ever eaten your homework?  Did your computer crash before you had a chance to print your essay?  Did you have to babysit and couldn't finish your assignment?  Do these sound like any excuses you have ever used on a teacher?  Everyone loves a good excuse.  Well, here is your chance to get really creative in writing an excuse note (though it should be significantly longer than a note).Select a famous or infamous person who is in desperate need of a good excuse (think Lee Harvey Oswald, John Wilkes Booth, Vlad the Impaler (Dracula), Charles Manson, Osama bin Laden, Jerry Sandusky - you get the picture); do some research on that person's actions; and write a really good, well organized excuse letter for that person.  Requirements:Make sure you organize your paper into cohesive paragraphs.Make sure it is clear to whom the letter is being written (audience) and from whom (speaker).Provide good arguments and supporting evidence from your research.  Include MLA parenthetical citations for your resources within your paper.  Include a correct MLA Works Cited at the end.Proofread for spelling and grammar.