1. INTRODUCTION TO RHETORIC

2. Rhetoric Defined Merriam-Webster definition
Aristotle:  "the ability to discover, in any given situation, the available means of persuasion" [and, I would add, to use those means effectively, which is the theme of Aristotle's book Rhetoric as a whole].
Kenneth Burke:  "the use of language as a symbolic means of inducing cooperation in beings that by nature respond to symbols."

3. The Rhetorical Situation
Is a triangular relation among 3 elements:
SUBJECT
SPEAKER AUDIENCE

4. This relationship takes place
in a particular social, and physical context.
In other words, it happens in a particular point in our relationships with other people (social context), and a particular place and time (physical context)

5. The same words carry different messages
Depending on what context they occur in. For instance, if I spoke to you about the subject of grading at the beginning of the semester, and then again at the end of the semester, the rhetorical situations would be very different.

6. Three Modes of Persuasion
Defined by Aristotle, these are:
LOGOS – persuasion based upon logic;
ETHOS – persuasion based upon the credibility of the speaker; and
PATHOS – persuasion based on emotion.

7. These three modes
Also correspond to the points of the rhetorical triangle:
Logos SUBJECT
Ethos Pathos --
SPEAKER AUDIENCE

8. LOGOS Appeals to logic (The Mind)
Uses definitions, analogies, factual data, statistics, and quotations
Causes a cognitive, rational response
FAVORED IN ACADEMIC SETTINGS,
BUSINESS DOCUMENTS, LAW

9. ETHOS Appeals to character, group values (social relations)
Presents author or speaker as being reliable, interesting, intelligent: somebody worth emulating; or someone that cares about us
Appeals to our herd instinct: desire to be accepted in a group
OFTEN USED IN
POLITICS, ADS

10. PATHOS Appeals to emotions
Emotionally loaded language
Emotional, personal examples
Evokes an emotional response
MOST POWERFUL
APPEAL, BUT ALSO
MOST LIKELY TO
BACKFIRE

11. The most effective messages
Use all three of these “artistic appeals” (as Aristotle calls them).
IMPORTANT: These three appeals are, in many ways, artificially separated.
Ethos and pathos are especially hard to separate sometimes.
Brain/heart problem