Silva Rhetoricae The Forest (and Trees) of Rhetoric

What is Rhetoric? Rhetoric, Content, Form, Relationship between content and form

Rhetoric “The whole process of education for me was learning to put names on things I already knew” (as said by Kinsey Millhone in Sue Grafton’s novel, C is for Corpse) You already ‘know’ rhetoric, you just might not know the terms Rhetoric is all around us in conversation, in movies, in ads, in books, in body language, and in art

Your Job as AP Students is: 1) to perceive how language is at work orally and in writing, and 2) to become proficient in applying the resources of language in your own speaking and writing 3)in other words, to become a rhetorician

Rhetoric The study of effective: –Speaking –Writing What is said (content) How it is said (form)

How vs. What how one says something conveys meaning as much as what one says Don’t be mislead by the saying “mere rhetoric” “R hetoricians divided form and content not to place content above form, but to highlight the interdependence of language and meaning, argument and ornament, thought and its expression. “[This] means that linguistic forms are not merely instrumental, but fundamental—not only to persuasion, but to thought itself.”

Content vs. Form “ornament”-two definitions “superficial” “inessential decoration” OR “to equip” equipment required to achieve the intended meaning

Speaker Audience Subject Aristotle’s Rhetorical Triangle

Speaker and Subject Rhetor = speaker or writer Subject = what the writer knows and needs to know

Audience Often neglected by the rhetor Involves speculating about reader’s expectations, knowledge and disposition relating to the subject Often teacher-driven (write 5 pages about…) More on audience in a little while……..

Speaker Audience Subject Aristotle’s Rhetorical Triangle 8 year old boy, 7 th grade science teacher, youth pastor, AIDS counselor Context SEX

Encompassing Terms Kairos, Audience, Decorum

Kairos exigencies and constraints of place, time, culture, and audience that affect choices made by speakers and authors to influence that moment considers the opportunities within this specific context for words to be effective and appropriate to that moment In its most simple form: I see you getting bored so I cut out part of my lecture or add something funny to get your attention

Halloween is coming up…

Audience Those who will hear or read your work The stylistic choices you make depend on the audience you are writing to

Decorum Decorum = good manners, appropriate behavior Words and subject must fit with the audience and occasion If they match, your speech will be successful Speech to school board about frosted animal cookies in vending machine? Slang? Logos, ethos, etc.

What students need to know Read the following three slides that contain an introduction to an essay that answers the question: “What do AP students need to know about rhetoric?” Which one is best?

What do students need to know? The AP Exam places a strong emphasis on students’ ability to analyze texts rhetorically. It’s an important question for teachers to consider what students need to know about this often misunderstood term in order to write confidently and skillfully.

What do students need to know? The traditional definition of rhetoric, first proposed by Aristotle, and embellished over the centuries by scholars and teachers, is that rhetoric is the art of observing in any given case the “available means of persuasion.”

What do students need to know? “The whole process of education for me was learning to put names to things I already knew.” That’s a line spoken by Kinsey Millhone, Sue Grafton’s private investigator in one of her series of alphabet mystery novels, C is for Corpse. When I began a graduate program that specialized in rhetoric, I wasn’t quite sure what that word meant. But once I was introduced to it, I realized rhetoric was something I had always known about.

So…which one is best? It’s a rhetorical decision based on what the writer knows about: herself her subject her audience

Persuasive Appeals Pathos, Logos, Ethos

Pathos Appeals to emotion Anger, love, hate, sympathy

Logos Appeals to logic authority Statistics, facts reasoning

Ethos Relates to writer’s ‘character’ Credibility of speaker or writer Must appear both knowledgeable and benevolent Also appeals to audience’s ethics, sense of right and wrong, sense of duty, sense of patriotism

What appeal is it? “Because so much is riding on your tires.”

What Type of Appeal? 1.Brand XLNT tires had 50% fewer blowouts than Brand SCK 2. Don’t let this happen to you!

Canons of Rhetoric

Canons of Rhetoric “Cannons” Invention Arrangement Style Delivery Memory

Invention Having something to say The art of finding and developing materials The ability to discover ideas Relates closely to memory

Arrangement Organization How do I put my ideas together? Selecting evidence and ordering it with a purpose

Arrangement Aristotle’s Classical Arrangement Excordium—introduction Narration—background info/ context Partition—outlines and defines scope of argument Confirmation—offers evidence

Arrangement Basic 4-part structure assertion (I think…) concession (Others may think…) evidence/rebuttal (However, here’s why I’m right) Conclusion (Therefore…agree with me)

Arrangement Modes of development - Example/illustration - Classification - Comparison and contrast - Analogy - Process analysis - Cause and effect - Definition - Description - Narration

Style Artful expression of ideas To equip one’s thoughts with verbal expression for a purpose Includes figures of speech (lit. terms), appeals, diction, syntax Also includes elements of persuasion

Delivery How it appears on the page Spelling, grammar and punctuation Neatness counts!!!!!

Memory You have to know stuff Refers to what students know, can access, and use Mature Academic Perspective Read widely—books, newspaper, periodicals like Time or Newsweek, political cartoons

Rhetorical Pedagogy Rhetorical analysis Imitation

Rhetorical Analysis Looking at both content and form Analyzing grammar, logic, rhetoric

Imitation imitate/copy the form of something but use new content Imitate/copy the content but use a new form you will be asked to do this by writing a descriptive essay; then, using the same topic, you will be asked to write a cause/effect essay (or some other form)

Categories of Change Tropes and Schemes

Tropes Trope: An artful deviation from the ordinary or principal signification of a word. i.e. figurative, not literal, language Metaphor, simile, etc.

schemes An artful deviation from the ordinary arrangement of words. Having to do with syntax (arrangement of words) Very similar (almost interchangeable with trope)