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The Rhetorical Act. Chapter 2. What is a rhetorical critic? What is criticism?. Criticism is a thinking, speaking, and writing skill that occurs in three stages:. * Description * Interpretation * Evaluation. Criticism requires a desire to decipher the many ways rhetors try to persuade us.
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The Rhetorical Act Chapter 2
Criticism is a thinking, speaking, and writing skill that occurs in three stages:
Criticism requires a desire to decipher the many ways rhetors try to persuade us.
In other words, how to avoid being a sucker. Do you enjoy it when someone tries to “play” you? Of course, not. You need to learn to be a rhetorical critic.
To be a rhetorical critic, you need to be able to hear someone’s message, interpret what they said, and then evaluate, or break down exactly what the speaker meant.
A critic needs to be able to:* know about the subject* communicate clearly about it* be passionate about the subject* tell us the nonobvious* educate listeners about it
You, as a rhetorical critic, can analyze a speech using the following seven categories:
1. Purpose: What does the speaker want of the audience? Some purposes are instrumental: the speaker wants direct action from the audience. Some purposes are consumatory: the speaker wants appreciation, contemplation, to confer blame or honor. The purpose is the conclusion argued(thesis).
3. Persona: what is the role of the speaker? teacher, reporter, politician? What is the speaker-audience relationship?
4. Tone: what is the speaker’s attitude toward the subject, toward the audience? 5. Evidence: what kinds of evidence does the speaker provide? Visuals, analogies, stories, experts, statistics?
6. Structure: how are the materials organized to gainattention? How does the material develop a case? How does the speaker create emphasis?
7. Strategies: How does the speaker use language and argument to overcome the obstacles to persuasion?
Bottom Line: The rhetor needs to know his/her exact purpose and determine just whom the audience members are for a particular speech.
How was it said? Why? Motive Implicit Analysis Depth Detective Persuasive Moral A Critic A Reporter • What was said? • Where, whom, when? • Facts • Explicit • Paraphrase • Surface • Police Officer • Informative • Amoral
The Critical EquationClaim + Proof + Analysis= CriticismA claim is a conclusion reached by the rhetor.