1. Rhetoric and the Rhetorical Situation Professor Josie Decatur

2. What Is Rhetoric? Rhetoric is a technique of using language effectively and persuasively in spoken or written form. It is an art of discourse, which studies and employs various methods to convince, influence, or please and audience. Most writers create a story, essay, article, or poem with at least one general purpose in mind. Usually, this purpose will fall into one of three broad categories: to inform, to entertain, or to persuade.

3. To Inform, Entertain, or Persuade An author whose purpose is to inform readers with knowledge and information. Information is presented in an objective and neutral manner and is logical. An author whose purpose is to entertain will tell a story or describe something in an interesting way. He/she will appeal to his/her audience’s imagination, sense of humor, etc. Persuasion goes beyond informing a reader or entertaining him or her. The goal of persuasive writing is to change a reader’s opinion by appealing to the readers emotions or intellect.

4. Five Basic Elements of the Rhetorical Situation Each individual rhetorical situation shares five basic elements with all other rhetorical situations: A text (i.e., an actual instance or piece of communication) An author (i.e., someone who uses communication) An audience (i.e., a recipient of communication) Purposes (i.e., the varied reasons both authors and audiences communicate) A setting (i.e., the time, place, and environment surrounding a moment of communication)

5. Aristotle’s Rhetorical Strategies Ethos is frequently translated as some variation of “credibility or trustworthiness,” but it originally referred to the elements of a speech that reflected on the particular character of the speaker or the speech’s author. Today, many people may discuss ethos qualities of a text to refer to how well authors portray themselves. But ethos more closely refers to an author’s perspective more generally. In this resource, ethos means “author.” Pathos is frequently translated as some variation of “emotional appeal,” but it originally referred to the elements of a speech that appealed to any of an audience’s sensibilities. Today, many people may discuss the pathos qualities of a text to refer to how well an author appeals to an audience’s emotions. Pathos as “emotion” is often contrasted with logos as “reason.” But this is a limited understanding of both pathos and logos; pathos more closely refers to an audience’s perspective more generally. In this resource, pathos means “audience.”

6. Aristotle’s Rhetorical Strategies Telos is a term Aristotle used to explain the particular purpose or attitude of a speech. Not many people use this term today in reference to rhetorical situations; nonetheless, it is instructive to know that early rhetorical thinkers like Aristotle actually placed much emphasis on speakers having a clear telos. But audiences can also have purposes of their own that differ from a speaker’s purpose. In this resource, telos means “purpose.” Kairos is a term that refers to the elements of a speech that acknowledge and draw support from the particular setting, time, and place that a speech occurs. Though not as commonly known as logos, ethos, and pathos, the term kairos has been receiving wider renewed attention among teachers of composition since the mid-1980s. Although kairos may be well known among writing instructors, the term “setting” more succinctly and clearly identifies this concept for contemporary readers. In this resource, kairos means “setting.” Example here:here

7. Rhetorical Methods "Narration" or a "narrative" provides details of what happened. It is almost like a list of events in the order that they happened, except that it is written in paragraph form. A narration or narrative doesn't have to show any cause and effect; it only needs to show what happened in the order that it happened. "Comparison/contrast" means to show how subjects are alike and/or different. A simple comparison/contrast paper often has two subjects and describes how they are alike and then how they differ. An extended definition simply defines a subject in a fuller or more extended--more thorough--way than does a dictionary. Typically an extended definition has a brief introductory paragraph of a few sentences, a body of one or several paragraphs, and a brief concluding paragraph. Assume, when you write an extended definition, that you are defining something for a student or perhaps a foreigner who never has heard the term before.

8. Rhetorical Methods (Continued) "Cause and effect" simply means that you start with a subject (an event, person, or object) and then show the causes (reasons) for it, and/or the effects (results) of it. "Cause" means the reasons why or for something, or the source of something. "Effects" simply are results or outcomes. Cause-and-effect writing shows a chain of connected events, each the logical result of the one before it. A simple cause-and-effect paper discusses the chain of events related to a person, event, or object, showing what are the causes and what are the results. An "argument" is, simply, an educated guess or opinion, not a simple fact. It is something debatable: "Men have walked on the moon" is a fact, but "People will walk on Venus in the next ten years" is an opinion. Anything that reasonably can be debated is an argument. A simple argument paper usually presents a debatable opinion and then offers supports in favor of it, or sometimes an argument paper will discuss both sides of an issue and then give good reasons for choosing one side over the other. Read more on rhetorical methods here:here