...I have also examined two different case studies involving the application of Aristotle’s appeals to ethos (creditability), logos (logic), and pathos (emotion) in two different career fields. I evaluated these two studies as well as Aristotle’s Rhetoric as a whole in order to provide a better understanding of the theory. The reader is provided with a more artistic approach to Aristotle’s Rhetoric, in which the reader should be able to decide his/her own personal approaches towards persuasion, using Aristotle’s Rhetoric as the reader’s...
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...The Three Branches Rhetoric: The art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques. (Oxford Dictionary) Rhetoric is use of vocabulary and creative wording meant to have a persuasive or impressive effect on the audience, but is often considered as missing sincerity or purposeful content. This makes rhetoric one of the most widely utilized literary style. Both classic and modern rhetoric have their differences even though it still falls under the base category of rhetoric. Classical rhetoric has been identified as far back as when Homo Sapiens were first emerging. Rhetorical studies began in Greece around the fifth century, it became especially popular when Greece was progressing from an oral civilization to a literate one. Classical rhetoric was practiced and studied as a method of communication, persuasion, and manipulation. Classical rhetoric was traditionally divided into five parts; Invention, Arrangement, Style, Memory, and Delivery. Rhetoric also served the purpose of studying the effects of texts and other documents on audience, thus expanding literary knowledge and understanding. There are three branches of classical rhetoric; deliberative, judicial, and epideictic. The deliberative branch of rhetoric is legislative, an attempt to coax the audience to take (or not take) some sort of action. The Judicial branch of rhetoric is forensic, to accuse or defend, writing or speech that considers the...
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...John Staine Heinrich Critical Book Review 2/13/14 LSTU 261 Rhetoric in its most simplistic form is language; more specifically rhetoric is persuasive language. Rhetoric is something that we use every day whether we know it or not, we are always using it. In Jay Heinrich’s strong argumentative book, “Thank you for Arguing,” he stresses the importance of rhetoric heavily. Heinrich argues that rhetoric is the key component to arguing and everyone can benefit from knowing how exactly to use rhetoric. His main intent is to show how rhetoric has shaped this country and how history is formed from its critical use. My view on this importance of rhetoric is at the same levels of Heinrich’s. I do believe that rhetoric is key to arguing and even beyond arguing, with getting by in the society in which we live in. I also agree with Heinrich’s idea on not arguing for a win but for a purpose, for a goal. Argument in the future tense will help bring strength to the situation itself. In the book Heinrich uses real life examples, ranging from his personal life, to television, to music, all the way through our history as a country. I noticed that Heinrich doesn’t really state the opposition of his argument, one could assume that if you do not use rhetoric effectively then you will not succeed in our society and that is it. I would also have like to see examples of rhetoric stripped down in a less complex form, for example someone using it that doesn’t really know the depth of it...
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...What are some of the qualities of effective persuasive writing? How do Cicero’s strategies help to prepare us to address specific audiences? Please give examples to support your answers Rhetorical devices have proven to be quite useful in effective pieces of persuasive writing. Eloquence and assiduous choice of words, coupled with the principles rhetoric, can augment the persuasive nature of a piece of writing. To be effective, persuasive writing must contain purpose, context and exigency, tone, and a targeted audience. Of those qualities, a targeted audience is one the most essential. Exerting effort to persuade the wrong group of people would be a waste of time and effort, and most likely be ineffective in persuasion. In the height of the Roman republic, Cicero crafted many orations and pieces of writing with the principles of rhetoric. In his work On Rhetorical Invention, he stresses the importance of sculpting an argument based on the audience. Cicero believed that there was several causes a speaker must make based on their audience: honorable, astonishing, low, doubtful, and the obscure. For example, “The obscure cause addresses those who do not fully understand the issues involved” (Austin, 571). With this in mind, a speaker can adjust the content of their speech. If a writer knows how their audience is predisposed to respond to their work, they will know how to change their wording accordingly. Cicero explained that, “In the kind of cause I have called obscure, it...
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...The Rhetoric Rhetoric is the study of effective speaking and writing. (Rhetoricae, n.d.) Ideas of Rhetoric have been used for ages throughout history, but the philosopher, Aristotle was the one who discovered the three categories of the means of persuasion; ethos, pathos and logos in his work Rhetoric. (Rapp, 2002) According to Aristotle, ethos is the credibility. Using people who are familiar or already respected adds credibility to what the persuader is saying. Oftentimes companies will use celebrities to endorse their products, and this is because of ethos. Even if the product is new and the audience has no personal experiences with it, they are familiar with the celebrity, and that gives the product credibility. (Henning, 1998) The second...
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...Rhetorical analysis, according to Susan-miller Cochran, Roy Stamper, and Stacey Cochran, is a form genre that analyze the text’s rhetoric context (30). Susan-miller Cochran, Roy Stamper, and Stacey Cochran states “In a rhetorical analysis, the writer uses rhetorical framework to understand how the context of the text help create meaning,” (30). The rhetorical framework writers use is rhetorical context that is; the author, the audience, the topic and the purpose (21,30). This is a key component in success for college because analyzing the text to understand the essential elements in the text, helps identify and “create” meaning (30). Rhetoric analysis will allow students to achieve a deeper comprehension of the text, contributing to students...
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...is also how that person tries to express his or her ideas or believes using other meanings. Gestures, signs, paintings photos e.t.c. are also different kinds of speech. There are three major classifications of speeches i.e informative, persuasive and commemorative. However this assignment is going to focus on two kinds of speeches, i.e. the informative speech and persuasive speech particularly on the differences. In order to fully understand the differences between the two I will explain briefly what each of them mean. According to ask.com, An Informative speech is one that is written to present fascinating and useful information to increase the knowledge of your audience. A good informative speech features a topic that should be fun and interesting, and one that makes it easier to capture the audience's attention. Persuasive speech comes from the word persuade or persuasion which implies an argument or other statement intended to influence one's opinions or beliefs. There are quite a number of differences between the two kinds of speech. One of the major differences can be highlighted from the purpose, fully understanding the information or purpose of the speech will help signify the difference because depending on the purpose different rhetoric speeches will be used. E.g. In an informative speech there is more evidence and less Pathos. Speaking in order to inform As the name suggests informative speeches have the main purpose of informing, however how this information is given...
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...Things got erratic for the Civil Rights movement in the late months of 1962 and the earlier months of 1963: “George Wallace, Governor of Alabama at the time, tried to stop the racial integration at the University of Alabama, Martin Luther King Jr. was thrown into jail in Birmingham, and civil rights leader, Medgar Evers, had been ruthlessly murdered outside his own home, ” writes Samuel G. Freedman of The New York Times. The demonstration, in particular, "turned the anger and frustration with which many arrived that morning into a sense of empowerment far more powerful than anything we had felt until that day," says Michael Wenger off the Huffington Post. We saw, through the Civil Disobedience, Persuasive Rhetoric and Demonstration, the March on Washington successfully and effectively reached its intended goal, but a question that needs to be asked is, ‘if the March on Washington had violent intention would it have achieved parallel success?’ “If the march had fizzled or turned violent, it might well have been the ‘the death knell for the the movement itself,” says John McWhorter, chief-editor of the Huffington...
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...Well known author and writer, Jay Heinrich writes an informative and persuasive book, thank you for arguing to imply what Aristotle, Lincoln and Homer Simpson can teach us about the art of persuasion. Heinrich’s purpose was to persuade readers on the different ways to argue using rhetoric and how to use the different argument tools such as ethos, logos and pathos to argue. Heinrich first began with a changed life when John Quincy Adams introduced him to rhetoric. After being introduced to rhetoric Heinrich saw rhetoric as a function of argument without anger. In terms of rhetorical strategy he defines seduction as manipulation which leads to consensus. According to Heinrich, a good tool for determining the outcome of an argument, is to not try to outscore your opponent, but try to instead get your way. In order to succeed that particular tool, you must have a personal goal in what you would want...
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...Thank You For Arguing, composed by rhetoric advocate Jay Heinrichs, is a popular persuasive work written in 2007 (but revised many times since then) that expounds over the art of persuasion. Jay Heinrichs was a previous journalist and publishing executive before studying and writing about the “lost art of rhetoric”. Heinrichs is also the author of many other great reads and the father of two children, Dorothy Jr. and George. Since his experience as a journalist, Heinrichs has taught persuasion to various companies and Ivy League universities in which he has gained a bit of fame from. Thank You For Arguing should still be kept as an assignment for this class due to Jay Heinrichs use of copious amounts of tools to best get his point across which is best seen in chapters such as chapter fourteen....
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...accompanied by a grainy black-and-white photograph of Reiner (whom you may remember from reruns of the popular 1960s TV show All in the Family) that brought to mind a police mug shot. Now, when others want us to do something or want to influence our attitudes or beliefs, they may use an argument. That is, they may offer a reason why we should or shouldn’t do or believe or not believe whatever it is. They might also use threats, bribery, or even more extreme measures. But the passage quoted above illustrates a technique that is used much more frequently: the persuasive power of words, or what we have called their rhetorical force or emotive meaning—their power to express and elicit images, feelings, and emotional associations. In the next few chapters, we examine some of the most common rhetorical techniques used to affect people’s attitudes, opinions, and behavior. Rhetoric refers to the study of persuasive writing. As we use the term, it denotes a broad category of linguistic techniques people use when their primary objective is to influence beliefs and attitudes and behavior. Is Rob Reiner “a perennial political activist millionaire”? Or is he an “untiring advocate of social reform willing to spend his considerable fortune for just causes”? The different...
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...practitioners fall back on the four key theories of public relations – discourse, rhetorical, ethical and critical. These theories help in defining the public relations plan and strategy by assisting in evaluating, examining, planning and performing public relations activities such as gaining publicity, providing entertainment, disseminating information and developing national public information campaigns. Depending on the outcome the organization hopes to achieve and its current circumstances, professionals would seek to apply the most appropriate theory applicable to their situation. Rhetorical theory Rhetoric is defined as the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing. (Online Oxford Dictionaries, 2012) Rhetorical theory, examines the various methods in which language, signs or symbols are carefully selected and organized by the practitioner to produce persuasive and meaningful messages in order to better the organization’s position in the eyes of its publics. (Toth, 1992) The practitioner uses persuasion to soften hostile opinions during crisis management; reinforce latent opinions and positive attitudes and behaviors as well as maintain such favorable...
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...custom speeches. Indeed, the allegiance is not with respect to age alone, but mainly the ability to hold the audience and grab their attention amid profound linguistic skills. It is equally significant to comprehend that the primary reason for the speech was to persuade his “comrades” to understand the need to rebel against humans. It was, therefore, his obligation to possess the full attention of the audience throughout the session. Hence, this paper uncovers fundamental language concepts that he employed in his speech to keep the listeners’ attention glued to him. Indeed, Old Major’s listeners would follow every sentence of his address due to the outstanding oratory and persuasive techniques he employs in almost each of them. The techniques involves the use of emotional language, repetitions, hyperboles, rhetorics and mutually imperative phrases. To start with, he repeatedly uses the language of emotions in his sentences. For instance, “…and to the very instant that our usefulness has come to an end, we are slaughtered with hideous cruelty” (Orwell, George. 2). This technique makes the listeners become more affectionate and feel more concerned about the sense of the speech. On...
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...Jason Francis Herbert Pimlott Rhetorical Analysis November 13, 2012 This essay argues that the Globe and Mail (G&M) article, ‘Don’t Teach Until You See the Whites of Their Eyes’ (18 August 2012), is persuasive with its primary target audience of G&M readers. Clifford Orwin, the author of this article, is a professor of political science at the University of Toronto. Furthermore, the main focus of this article deals with the fact that: “Real education requires real teachers and students, not disembodied electronic wraiths.” Through the rhetorical analysis of this editorial, this paper will demonstrate that its persuasiveness can be attributed to four key aspects: through an emphasis on the use of deliberative stasis; its use of ethos and logos; and through its effective use of rhetorical imagery. Before the case can be made for understanding how and why this article is persuasive, we need to begin with setting the context of the issue or exigence to which the article was responding and whether that response was timely and appropriate. To understand the exigence of this article, the interpretation of Orwin’s implied audience is necessary to grasp how the two concepts within exigence, kairos and phronesis, both link text, context and audience together. Through an extensive analysis of the assumptions made by Orwin, the implied audience consists predominantly of instructors. Moreover, Orwin’s motto: “Don’t teach until you see the whites of their eyes.” Also used as...
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...The timeless playscript Julius Caesar, written by the famed Shakespeare, is notable for its riveting plot, thoughtfully-planned characters, and most of all its use of rhetorical devices and persuasive appeal. Following the assassination of Julius Caesar, two funeral speeches are given at the leader’s memorial- one by Brutus, who was a main conspirator against Caesar, and one by Caesar’s closest friend, Antony. Within Antony’s speech, the mourning friend of the late leader of Rome uses multiple strategies to win the public over in support of Caesar, including pathos, aposiopesis, and rhetorical questions. By effectively doing so, Antony establishes himself as a successful orator and the majority of the Roman republic began to believe in Caesar’s...
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