Logos The Appeal to the Rationale of the Work

A Word of Advice Students would do well (very well) to treat substantially pathos and ethos when they analyze. Students would do well (yes, quite well) to use pathos and ethos when they construct their arguments. I advise students not to mention logos in their analyses: logos is quite general and large and meaningless unless it is treated specifically. Pathos and Ethos are little bitty and focused (and very important) appeals. Logos is everything else.

Main Ideas and Details Differentiate between main ideas and details. Aim for granularity (levels of specificity). Use the rule of three: Three supporting details are preferable to one or two.

Main Ideas and Details Arrange details according to your purpose and your audience: –From most important to least important (as in an executive summary) –From least important to most important (as in building a case) –From earlier to later (chronologically)

Categories of Support: Use of Testimony Researched facts Statistics Testimony from personal experience Expert testimony The text before our eyes

Thesis Implied thesis –The paragraph conveys the thesis implicitly. Summarize the paragraph to capture the main idea of the paragraph, i.e., the thesis. The thesis is not stated explicitly in most mature compositions. Thesis statement (explicit) –One of the sentences of the paragraph captures the essence of the paragraph.

Opposing Ideas Counterarguments Counterfactuals (What-ifs) Concession to the opposition –Straw-man fallacy –“Even though” strategy –Paradox that concession to the opposition strengthens one’s argument Refutation of the opposing argument

Rhetorical Modes—1 Definition –Exemplification –Contrast –Convention (dictionary, thesaurus) –Genus and differentia Genus and species: Homo sapiens General and specific (Classification and Division, Exemplification)

Rhetorical Modes—2 Causal Reasoning –Simple causation (often fallacious) –Multiple causation (used and observed by mature thinkers) –From cause to effect –From effect to cause –Cyclical causation (See “Politics and the English Language”) –Chain of causation: An effect becomes a cause.

Rhetorical Modes—3 Comparison –Similarities (comparison) –Differences (contrast) –Point by point –Topic by topic

Rhetorical Modes—4 Classification and Division –Categories of thought Analogy –Extended analogy Description –Sensual imagery Exemplification –Induction: from the specific to the general –Deduction: from the general to the specific

Conceptual Hierarchy of Rhetoric Evaluation –Judging the validity and effectiveness of an argument Interpretation –Explaining ideas about the argument Analysis –Breaking down the logic of the argument Summary –Stating the main ideas of the argument –Discarding, without disregarding, details –Involving knowledge and comprehension.

How to Borrow Information and to Incorporate Information into a Text Summary –Reducing the original to a size that still captures its essence (20:1?, 10:1?, 5:1?) Paraphrase –Capturing the essence of the original in the capturer’s own language, without a significant change in size (5:4?, 5:6?) Direct quotation –Capturing, precisely, the original quotation, with ellipses, where appropriate What do ellipses signal to an AP Reader? (T) –Providing a context for the quotation, introducing and concluding, like a setting for a diamond