1. What is Rhetoric?
APLAC Intro

2. Rhetoric is:
“The faculty of finding all the available means of persuasion in a particular case” -Aristotle

3. “Particular case” = rhetoric capitalizes on specific situations
“Faculty” = an improvable art
“Finding” does not necessarily mean using
“Available means” = EVERYTHING a writer/speaker might do with language
“Persuasion” = the writer’s/speaker’s aim to shape people’s thoughts and actions
“Particular case” = rhetoric capitalizes on specific situations

4. TO SUM IT UP:
Rhetoric is the art of being a critical reader in order to find the ways that a writer or speaker uses language to shape people’s thoughts and actions in a given situation.

5. What is Reading Critically??
Reading critically is searching for EVERYTHING the writer does in order to be persuasive in a given situation and striving to understand the impact these items have on the situation.
The place to start is with the situation.

6. The Situation
Exigence
Something sticking in the craw of the writer or speaker that needs speaking or writing about
Speaker
What we know about the speaker/writer and their personal situation must be considered in order to fully understand the use of rhetorical techniques
Audience
We must be certain that we consider ALL audiences. Most situations have both a primary and secondary audience in mind.
Purpose
What does the speaker/writer hope the audience will DO with the material presented.

7. EVERYTHING a writer may do with language…
The rhetorical appeals
Choices made by the writer/speaker
Parts of the text that work together to achieve meaning, purpose, and effect
Pathos
Ethos
Logos
Organization
Tone
Schemes
Tropes

8. The Rhetorical Appeals
Ethos: Credibility
Speaker/ Writer uses their authority or knowledge base
Use of research can substitute for a lack of ethos
Logos: Logical
The embodied thought of the text
ALL texts use logic
Enthymemes
Syllogisms
Pathos: Emotional
Tugging at the heart strings of your reader

9. TONE
Writer or speaker’s apparent attitude toward the subject matter and/or issue
Tone is established in the nuances of a text
You infer the tone by examining the arrangement and style of a text—diction, syntax, imagery, figurative language, etc.
Claims about the tone are an argument (created by you) which MUST be supported by evidence from the text.

10. ORGANIZATION
Arrangement, Organization, Structure—the way the text is set up.
How can the text be divided into parts?
What is the function of each part?
How are they the same?
How are they different?
Do they show progression?
Do they digress?
Is it logical? Illogical?
In all cases, we ask “SO WHAT”?

11. Tropes and Schemes
Tropes = Diction
Rhetorical techniques/strategies which impact the meaning of the words used.
> Alliteration > Metonymy > Repetition
> Aphorism > Oxymoron > Simile
> Euphemism > Parable > Synecdoche
> Hyperbole > Paradox
> Irony > Personification
> Metaphor > Pun
Schemes = Syntax
Rhetorical techniques/strategies which keep the traditional meaning of the words, but change, instead, the arrangement and structure.
> Alliteration > Parallelism
> Anaphora > Polysyndeton
> Asyndeton > Onomatopoeia
> Chiasmus

12. Things to Determine What the text means
What are the primary and secondary purposes
What effect the author intended
Why the author was compelled to write
Who are the primary and secondary audiences
HOW ARE THESE THINGS CREATED?? (The answer to this is your analysis!)

13. The Rhetorical Framework
EXIGENCE
RHETORICAL SITUATION
AUDIENCE
PURPOSE
LOGOS
APPEALS
ETHOS
PATHOS
ORGANIZATION/STRUCTURE/FORM
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
DICTION
SYNTAX
IMAGERY
SURFACE FEATURES