Introduction to Rhetoric

1. Introduction to Rhetoric Chapter 1 The Language of Composition

2. By the end of this lesson, you will be able to: • Identify the rhetorical situation of a written or spoken argument; • Analyze the relationship between speaker, audience, and subject; • Discuss the rhetorical appeals made by a speaker; and • Create an argument through conscious and deep consideration of the rhetorical situation, audience, and rhetorical appeals.

3. Important Terms • Rhetoric • Rhetorical Situation • Subject • Speaker • Audience • Occasion • Purpose • Aristotelian (Rhetorical) Triangle • Context • Rhetorical Appeals • Ethos • Pathos • Logos • Concede • Refute • Counterargument • Persona

4. What is Rhetoric?

5. What is Rhetoric? As Aristotle defined the term, “the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion.” In other words, it is the art of finding ways to persuade an audience.

6. Where is Rhetoric used? Not just in speeches… • Every essay • Political cartoon, photograph, advertisement • Documentary films (lighting, music, what to show, what to leave out, etc)

7. Types of Rhetoric • Manipulative rhetoric • Deceptive rhetoric • Civil and effective rhetoric It is a part of our job as informed citizens and consumers to understand how rhetoric works so that we can be wary of manipulation or deceit, while appreciating effective and civil communication.

8. Activity 1 (page 2) • Identify an article, a speech, a video, or an advertisement that you think is manipulative or deceptive and one that is civil and effective. • Write a short response explaining why for each example you provide.

9. Activity 1 examples: • Let’s look at the following political advertisement: VOTE President Lyndon Johnson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Id_r6pNsus Sample response: -Manipulative rhetoric Easily one of the most manipulative political advertisements in history, the “Daisy” ad from the Lyndon B. Johnson campaign preyed on the greatest fear of the American people at the time: nuclear war. The ad appealed especially to middle class families; this is why a young, innocent-looking girl was chosen as the ad’s primary focus.

10. Activity 1 examples continued Let’s look at another example of rhetoric: • Kindness Boomerang advertisement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwAYpLVyeFU Example response: -Civil rhetoric The video I chose as my civil rhetoric example shows how one completely random act of kindness can begin a domino effect. Not only is the video footage itself useful, but by using the song "One Day" by Matisyahu, the video also gives a message of utopia; a world where there is no longer war and children can live in peace and prosperity.

11. What kind of rhetoric is this?

12. manipulation rhetoric This is an example of a manipulative rhetoric because it is manipulating men into thinking that they are not men if they do not join the navy to help with the war efforts.

13. What about this?

14. deceptive rhetoric • My example of deceptive rhetoric is an advertisement I saw. The product, POM Wonderful, claims to have "lifesaving" capabilities and asserts that it can be used to treat or prevent heart disease and various cancers. As one might imagine, this began a craze over pomegranate juice, which is by no means a miracle drug. The Federal Trade Commission sought to protect consumers and demanded that POM Wonderful discontinue the manipulative advertisements and health "claims" because they had no support.

15. The Rhetorical Situation: Occasion, Context, & Purpose • Occasion—The time and place the text was written or spoken, more importantly what prompted the speaker to address this topic. • Context—The circumstances, atmosphere, attitudes, and events surrounding the text. • Purpose—The goal the speaker wants to achieve.

16. The Rhetorical Situation It is important to remember rhetoric is always situational

17. Let’s Practice! Let’s read Lou Gehrig’s farewell speech. As you read, identify the occasion, context, and purpose of the speech. (Rhetorical Situation) https://baseballhall.org/discover-more/stories/baseball-history/lou-gehrig-luckiest-man Part 1: 5 minutes Use post its to annotate the speech. • Identify the occasion, context, and purpose • Write words/lines that stood out to you as being effective. Part 2: 5 minutes Whole class discussion

18. The Rhetorical Situation Surrounding Lou Gehrig’s SpeechOccasion… The occasion is Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day. More specifically, his moment comes at home plate between games of a doubleheader.

19. The Rhetorical Situation Surrounding Lou Gehrig’s SpeechContext… The context is first and foremost Gehrig’s recent announcement of his illness (ALS) and his subsequent retirement, but as is often the case, the context goes beyond that. Gehrig is known as an Iron Horse, held the record for consecutive games played and was one of the greatest sluggers of all time. For such a durable and powerful athlete to fall victim to a disease that strips away strength and coordination seemed an especially cruel fate. Just a couple weeks earlier he was still playing ball; but by the time he gave this speech, he was so weak that his manager had to help him walk to the mound for the ceremony.

20. The Rhetorical Situation Surrounding Lou Gehrig’s SpeechPurpose… One of Gehrig’s chief purpose in delivering this speech is to thank his fans and his teammates, but he also wants to demonstrate that he remains positive: he emphasizes his past luck and present optimism and downplays his illness. He makes a single reference to the diagnosis and does so in the strong, straightforward language of an athlete: he got a “bad break”. There is no blame, no self-pity, no plea for sympathy. Throughout, he maintains his focus: to thank his fans and teammates for their support and get on with watching the ballgame.

21. The Rhetorical Triangle aka Aristotelian Triangle Another important aspect of the rhetorical situation is the relationship among the speaker, audience, and subject. Why are these elements important? What is the relationship between these elements?

22. SPEAKER The Rhetorical Triangle TEXT AUDIENCE SUBJECT

23. Rhetorical Triangle • The speaker is the person or group who creates a text. It is important to not only think of the speaker as a name, but to consider the description of the speaker. Who is the speaker of the farewell speech? • The audience is the listener, viewer, or reader of a text or performance, but it is important to note that there may be multiple audiences. Who is Lou Gehrig’s audience? • The subject is the topic. What is the subject of Gehrig’s speech?

24. Rhetorical Triangle to Analyze Gehrig’s Speech • Speaker: baseball hero and ALS victim, Lou Gehrig • Audience: his teammates, fans in the stadium, fans listening on the radio, and also the teams he played against. • Subject: the lucky breaks that preceded his diagnosis.

25. SPEAKER:baseball hero and ALS victim, Lou Gehrig TEXT: Lou Gehrig’s Farewell Speech SUBJECT: the lucky breaks that preceded his diagnosis. AUDIENCE: : his teammates, fans in the stadium, fans listening on the radio, and also the teams he played against.

26. Let’s Practice! Activity 2: (page 4) Construct & analyze a rhetorical situation for writing a review of a movie, video game, or concert. Be very specific in your analysis: • What is your subject? • What is your purpose? • Who is your audience? • What is your relationship to the audience? Remember, you need not write a full essay; just analyze the rhetorical situation.

27. Activity 2 Examples: 1. My review will be on the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's. The purpose is to convince my friends that Breakfast at Tiffany's is a movie worth watching. The audience is my friends. The relationship between the audience and myself is they are my friends therefore increasing my credibility. 2. The subject of my rhetorical situation is the movie Mean Girls. My purpose is to convince people that it is a funny movie. My Audience is primarily teenage girls in high school. The relationship between my audience and I is that we are both teenage girls in high school.

28. Continued… 3. Subject- My Sister's KeeperPurpose- To convince my best friend that a dramatic movie is entertaining and heart warming. Audience- My audience is my best friend, because I want her to like "chick flicks" and enjoy a movie with emotion. She usually doesn’t like “chick flicks.”Relationship- The relationship with my best friend is strong, and she can trust me because no one knows her better than me.

29. Let’s Review! • What is rhetoric? • What are the components of the rhetorical situation? • What is the relationship between subject, speaker, and audience? • Why is it important to identify the purpose of a text?

30. SOAPS When analyzing the rhetorical situation of a piece, just remember: S ubject O ccasion A udience P urpose S peaker

31. Let’s Practice! Read the letter from Albert Einstein to Phyllis Wright. As you read, identify SOAPS.

33. Activity 3, (page 6)Using SOAPS, analyze the rhetorical situation in George W. Bush's 9/11 Speech found on pages 6 + 7 of your textbook. Your response should be formatted as follows:Subject: Occasion:Audience:  Purpose:Speaker: 

34. Rhetorical Appeals

35. Three Rhetorical Appeals Rhetorical Appealsare the tools a speaker uses to persuade an audience. Aristotle, the father of the Classical Argument model (that which we study in this class), identified three rhetorical appeals: • Ethos: credibility • Logos: reason • Pathos: emotion

36. Ethos “establishing credibility” Speakers appeal to ETHOS (establish credibility) to demonstrate that they are credible and trustworthy. • Think of a speech discouraging teenagers from drinking. How might a speaker make him/herself credible to an audience of teenagers? • Establishing credibility often emphasize shared values between the speaker and the audience.

37. Let’s Practice! Let’s look back at Lou Gehrig’s farewell speech… How does Gehrig appeal to ethos in his speech?

38. Automatic Ethos In some cases, a speaker’s reputation immediately establishes credibility. We call this AUTOMATIC ETHOS. Read “The King’s Speech” given on September 3, 1939 by King George VI. How does King George VI appeal to ethos in this speech?

39. Let’s Listen! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHY2UzOonig

40. Let’s Practice! Now read the passage from Judith Ortiz Cofer’s “The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria.” Here, the speaker does not have automatic ethos. So, how does she make this appeal? Note: Pay particular attention to how she draws on her own Puerto Rican heritage as she describes her experiences with prejudice as a young Latina.

41. Let’s Practice! Think of a situation in which you are presenting your view on the same subject to two different audiences. For instance, you might be presenting your ideas on ways to stop bullying (1) to the School Board or a group of parents and (2) to a group of middle schoolers. Discuss how you would establish ethos in each situation.

42. Activity 4, Student Example 1: 1. A way I will establish ethos for stopping bullying to the School Board is I will talk about the horrible effects bullying has on children and how they are affected in the long term. I will also bring teens or kids who have been/are being bullied and feel like committing suicide because of it. This will allow the message of stopping bullying to get through to the School board and how it is a serious matter because kids are thinking of taking their lives due to the fact that they are being bullied and nothing is being done. In addition to doing this, I will bring up articles and research I have done online to show the long term effects bullying has had on children. This will increase my credibility, because all the things I am saying have been thoroughly investigated and published online.
2. On the other hand, to a group of middle schoolers I will build up my ethos differently. I will first mention my own experience of bullying, and how I was bullied as a middle schooler and have seen people be bullied. This will cause the students to recognize that I am credible because I personally have witnessed/experienced bullying. In addition to this, I will call on people in the audience who have been bullied and have them talk about their feelings about bullying. Having the kids hear their own peers talk about their feelings towards bullying will cause them to realize bullying isn’t right. I will then present my ways in which we can stop bullying.

43. ….Student Example 2 My situation would be owning a pet. My audience would be parents and kids. 
1. For the parents , I would tell stories of kids who grew up with pets and everything they've learned due to it. I would also present stories of rescue dog who save kids in trouble. This would make parents feel relief and happy that their kids would learn how to take care of another living thing.
 2. For the kids , I would show how fun pets are and how the owner and pet friendship will last forever. This would have kids hooked on how much fun a pet as a playmate is.

44. The speaker’s ethos—expertise, knowledge, experience, sincerity, common purpose with the audience, or a combination of these factors—gives the audience a reason for listening to this person on the subject.

45. Let’s Review Discuss how you would establish your ethos in the following situation: You are trying to persuade your skeptical parents that a “gap” year—taking a year off between high school graduation and college—will be beneficial.

46. Logos, reasoning or rationalizing Speakers appeal to LOGOS, or reason, by offering clear rational ideas. • Appealing to logos means thinking logically—having a clear main idea and using specific details, examples, facts, statistics, or expert testimony to back it up.

47. How does one create a logical argument? • Creating a logical argument often involves defining the terms of the argument and identifying connections such as causality. • It can also require considerable research. • Evidence from expert sources and authorities, facts, and quantitative data can be very persuasive if selected carefully and presented accurately.

48. Let’s look back again at Lou Gehrig’s speech. Though, at first glance, his speech may seem largely emotional, it is actually based on irrefutable logic. How does Gehrig make appeals to logos?

49. How does Gehrig appeal to logos? • Begins with a clear thesis statement: • “the luckiest man on the face of the earth” • Supports this thesis statement with two points: • The love and kindness he’s received in his seventeen years of playing baseball; and • A list of great people who have been his friends, family, and teammates in that time.

50. How else can a speaker appeal to logos? CONCEDE and REFUTE • Acknowledge a counterargument: anticipate the objections or opposing views. • Your argument will be vulnerable if you ignore ideas that run counter to your own. • In acknowledging the counterargument, you agree (concede) that an opposing argument may be true or reasonable, but then you deny (refute) the validity of all or part of the argument.