Rhetorical Analysis in Serial

Rhetoric Definition: the art of persuasion through speaking and writing. Five Components: 1. invention (the argument itself or its supporting evidence) 2. disposition (arrangement of the evidence) 3. style (diction, style, pattern, rhythms of speech, etc.) 4. memory 5. delivery

Rhetoric Three types: 1. deliberative (to persuade toward a course of action regarding public policy) 2. epideictic (to praise or blame) 3. forensic (to establish a positive or negative opinion of someone’s actions – such as in a court of law)

Rhetorical elements Exigence Audience Definition: issue, problem, or situation that causes someone to speak Purpose What does the speaker wish to happen? What does the speaker wish his/her audience to feel? Audience "The meanings of 'audience' . . . tend to diverge in two general directions: one toward actual people external to a text, the audience whom the writer must accommodate; the other toward the text itself and the audience implied there, a set of suggested or evoked attitudes, interests, reactions, [and] conditions of knowledge which may or may not fit with the qualities of actual readers or listeners." (Douglas B. Park, "The Meaning of 'Audience.'" College English, 44, 1982)

Appeals: Logos, Pathos, Ethos A speaker appeals to an audience’s logos when he/she “clear, reasonable premises and proofs, when they develop ideas with appropriate details, and when they make sure readers (audience) can follow the progression of ideas.”

Appeals: Logos, Pathos, Ethos A speaker uses pathos to “draw on the emotions and interests of readers (audience), and highlight them.” “Figurative language is often used by writer (speaker) to heighten the emotional connections readers (audience) make to the subject.”

Appeals: Logos, Pathos, Ethos Writers or speakers use ethos to “demonstrate that they are credible, good-willed, and knowledgeable about their subjects, and when they connect their thinking to readers’ (audience’s) own ethical or moral beliefs.”