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Rhetoric

Rhetoric . The Art of Communicating Effectively. What is Rhetoric. It is NOT empty speech of language meant to trick an audience

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Rhetoric

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  1. Rhetoric The Art of Communicating Effectively

  2. What is Rhetoric • It is NOT empty speech of language meant to trick an audience • It IS: “The art that humans use to process all the messages we send and receive…a thoughtful, reflective activity leading to effective communication, including the rational exchange of opposing viewpoints. It is the art of analyzing all the language choices that writer, speaker, reader, or listener might make in a given situation so that the text becomes meaningful, purposeful, and effective.”

  3. Why is Rhetoric Important? • Ability to evaluate ideas of others and make sound arguments • Ability to break down a work into main points • Capacity to analyze a work for strategies of accomplishing a purpose • Capacity to plan compositions in order to accomplish a specific purpose in writing • Tools to examine a situation and determine what has been said, remains unsolved, and needs to be addressed in order to continue the conversation or persuade others to take action

  4. Benefits of Understanding Rhetoric • Improves academic success and opportunities in life • Helps you develop the ability to consider benefits and drawbacks of all possible courses of action

  5. What is a Rhetor? • A speaker or writer who uses elements of rhetoric effectively in oral and written text

  6. The Rhetorical Triangle • Speaker • Audience • Subject • Context • Genre • Purpose

  7. Rhetorical Triangle SPEAKER/WRITER/PERSONA CONTEXT CONTEXT GENRE GENRE INTENTION/ PURPOSE AUDIENCE/READER SUBJECT GENRE

  8. Speaker • The person who is trying to convince the reader of something about the subject • Controlling force • Tone • Authors adopt a tone toward the subject to affect audience reaction • Attitude • Author takes and attitude toward subject and audience • Attitude is suggested through tone • Diction • Author’s word choice • Denotation/Connotation • Logic • Author uses logic to convince point has validity • Persona • The character created by the author to tell the story

  9. Audience • Essential for a text to be considered rhetorical • Key to developing skill with rhetoric is to understand HOW a text appeals to an audience • Ethos (Ethical/Personal Appeal) • Evidence the speaker is credible • Appeals to shared values between speaker and audience • Logos (Logical Appeal) • Clear, logical, supported data • Appeals to sense of logic • Pathos (Emotional Appeal) • Draws on emotions of audience • Audience is empathetically inclined to accept central idea of argument

  10. Subject • The choice of topic • What the rhetor decides to include is directly connected with WHY one is writing, WHOM one is writing to, and WHAT kind of text one is composing • There are four essential concepts in dealing with subjects:

  11. Four Concepts of Subject • Any topic chosen must offer at least TWO paths ofdiscussion-must be an “open” topic • Capitalize on what the audience already knows, making them curious to know more, then satisfying their curiosity by providing facts, ideas, and interpretation that builds on what they already know • Claim+Support: Rhetor must make a claim then offer support (evidence) to back the claim up • Produce more material than will actually be use in order to choose the points and materials that will be most effective with the audience

  12. Context • Convergence of time, place, events, people, and motivating forces • Influences how the rhetor understands, analyzes, and generates the persona, appeals, and subject matter • If subject is taken out of context the entire message can change

  13. Intention • Also referred to as the AIM or PURPOSE • What the rhetor wants to happen as a result of the text • What he or she wants the audience to believe or do after hearing or reading the text

  14. Genre • Class or category of a work, having a particular form, content, or technique • Rhetor selects the appropriate genre base on what purpose they want to achieve • Which genre will reach the intended audience most effectively?

  15. Rhetorical Triangle • All aspects of rhetorical triangle work together to form complete body of work • Every body of work (fiction or non-fiction) uses rhetorical triangle • When writing about a text one must take into consideration all parts of triangle

  16. Compare Clinton Speeches After viewing two speeches, on the same topic, by Bill Clinton, identify the parts of the Rhetorical Triangle for each speech. In a well constructed essay, compare the speeches in terms of speaker, audience, subject, tone, and purpose. Refer to speeches as “Apology” and “I Have Sinned” respectively.

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