The Rhetorical Triangle AP Language Pollack

Rhetorical Triangle Also known as the Aristotelian Triangle. Interaction among subject, speaker, and audience. This interaction determines the structure and language of the argument. If you change one thing in the triangle, everything changes.

Through the Writer’s Lens… Skilled writers consider this interaction as they are developing an essay, speech, letter, or other text. Considering the subject means that writers: Evaluate what they already know and need to know investigate perspectives and determine kinds of evidence or proof that seem most useful.

AUDIENCE Considering an audience means: Speculating about the reader’s expectations knowledge and disposition with regard to the subject writers explore.

SPEAKER The use of experience and observation brings Aristotle to the speaker point of the triangle: Writers use who they are what they know and feel and what they’ve seen and done to find their attitudes toward a subject and their understanding of a reader.

Examples: Formal or informal language? Use of narrative or quotations? A tone of familiarity or objectivity? These decisions come as a result of writers considering their speaking voices on the page.

The creation of that voice Aristotle called the persona: the character the speaker creates when he or she writes or speaks -- depending on the context, purpose, subject, and audience. Examples: Are you speaking as a poet, comedian, or scholar? Are you speaking as an expert in a field, a critic, or concerned citizen?

Let’s Practice For your assigned scenario, describe the relationship between subject, speaker, and audience using your knowledge of the Aristotelian Triangle. Remember to look at these concepts through a writer’s lens. Please complete your work on your own piece of paper. College Application Essay Asking for an extension of your curfew An inaugural address A Eulogy Best Man or Maid of Honor Toast Breaking up with a girlfriend/boyfriend