Mr. Coyne

 You need a section in your notebook for argument  To begin with, set up a page like this:

 Rhetoric is the art of persuasion; a set of tactics used to persuade  Short history of argument 

 Argument tactics ( the art of rhetoric) consist of  Author/Audience/Purpose, and  Logic, Ethics, and Emotion

 Who is speaking. What is their background?  Who are they at this moment, on this occasion?

 Who is listening?  Are they friendly or hostile to what the author has to say?  Is the author/audience a good match?

 What is the author trying to put forth to the audience?  Is she or he making an argument/trying to be persuasive?  Or simply “preaching to the choir”

 Greek word for Logical appeal  An argument tactic that would include facts, stats, and evidence.  “4 out of 5 doctors agree that…”  “But Captain…”

 Greek word for Ethical Appeal, or an appeal to character, morals, values  An argument tactic that would appeal to your sense of what is right and wrong

 Political speeches are filled with ethos: “A good American would…”  Sense of Credibility provides ethos as well, and this comes from your reputation or your performance  Ethos helps people believe you. If your argument is well written, this can help provide a sense of ethos

 Nobel Prize Winner 2003

 Ice T has credibility as a rapper, actor, and public figure.  This gives him Ethos.

 Pathos is a Greek word that means Emotion  This persuasive tactic might include pictures, words, etc. that appeal to your emotional side

 “Save the Arctic Seals!”

Context Topic/Message (Logical Appeals) Speaker/Writer (Ethical Appeals) Audience/Readers (Emotional Appeals)

 A good argument tries to have equal amounts of logos, ethos, pathos.  Too much or little of one of the 3 can make your argument unbalanced

 Bored to tears with facts/stats  Lose credibility by not seeming human (like Spock)  Not everybody understands the data  Data is not human, has no credibility on its own (without interpretation)

 Lose your audience by being too full of morals/values with nothing else  Your audience might think you are full of yourself  Relying too much on your credibility will diminish your credibility

 Pulling on heartstrings only without facts and judgment to back it up can lose your audience by  “Compassion fatigue…”  Where’s the data?  Who are you anyway?

 Takes into account Author, Audience, Purpose, Logos, Ethos, Pathos in EQUAL Measure  AAPPLE

 Try to think of everything that you read and write as an argument  It is making a case for something  A work of fiction is arguing for a certain reality

 Ads, movies, stop signs, anything visual uses the tools of rhetoric in the same way  Color, shape, background, imagery all add to an argument  Political propaganda tries to make a visual argument…

 Watch out for these elements when you are reading an ad, newspaper editorial, or  Listening to Political commentators and especially Politicians themselves!

 Sharpen your tools of rhetoric!