Rhetoric
What do we mean by it?
What the experts say…
Aristotle: “Let rhetoric be defined as the faculty of
observing in any case all of the available means of
persuasion.”
Bizzell & Herzberg: “Rhetoric has a number of
overlapping meanings…the use of language, written or
spoken, to inform or persuade; the study of the
persuasive effects of language; the study of the relation
between language and knowledge; the classification
and use of tropes and figures…Nor does this list
exhaust the definitions that might be given. Rhetoric is
a complex discipline with a long history.”
And More…
Anne Morrow Lindbergh: “I must write it all out, at
any cost. Writing is thinking. It is more than living, for
it is being conscious of living.”
Sizer: “Writing is the litmus paper of thought…the very
center of schooling.”
Stephen Colbert: “My rhetoric teacher, Professor
Crawley, ordered my mind.
Simplicity of language, supporting ideas, synthesizing
an effective conclusion—that’s what I learned from
him.”
Definitions
The term rhetoric refers to the study, uses, and
effects of written, spoken, and visual language
(DRWS)
the study of/ability to use language effectively
Aristotle: “the faculty of observing in any case all of
the available means of persuasion”
Rhetorical Analysis
Rhetorical analysis looks not only at what a text says,
but at what it does.
It includes consideration of the claims, devices and
strategic “moves” an author makes in hopes of
persuading an audience.
Performing rhetorical analyses on texts helps us to get a
better sense of how, why, and to what extent an
argument is effective. Consider how a text works to
convince its audience of the argument at hand.
Words to Use..
Argues, appeals to authority, assumes, challenges,
complicates, constructs an analogy, contrasts, presents
counterexamples, defines, distinguishes (between),
extends, forecasts, frames, implies, parodies,
problematizes, qualifies, rebuts, ridicules, stresses,
supports, synthesizes, theorizes
Entry points for analysis:
writer- age, experience, gender, locations, political beliefs,
education, etc.
purpose- to persuade, entertain, inform, educate, call to
action, shock, etc.
audience- age, experience, gender, locations, political beliefs,
education, expectations, etc.
text/subject- broad, narrow, depends on situation
context- the “situation” generating need; time, location,
current events, cultural significance
PACES:
Project
Argument
Claims
Evidence
Strategies
Project
An author’s project describes the kind of work she sets
out to do – her purpose and the method she uses to
carry it out. It is the overall activity that the writer is
engaged in--researching, investigating, experimenting,
interviewing, documenting, etc. Try to imagine what
the author’s goals or hypotheses were as she wrote the
text. To articulate a project—and to write an account—
you need a verb, such as “researches,” “investigates,”
“studies,” “presents,” “connects A with B,” etc.
Argument
In the broadest sense, an argument is any piece of
written, spoken, or visual language designed to
persuade an audience or bring about a change in
ideas/attitudes. Less broadly, in academic writing the
argument often refers to the main point, assertion or
conclusion advanced by an author, along with the
evidence and reasoning by which this is established.
Arguments are concerned with contested issues where
some degree of uncertainty exists (we don’t argue about
what is self-evident or agreed upon).
Claims:
To make a claim is to assert that something is the case, and
to provide evidence for this. Arguments may consist of
numerous claims and sometimes also sub-claims.
Claims in academic writing often consist of an assertion, the
staking out of a position, the solution to a problem, or the
resolution of some shortcoming, weakness or gap in existing
research. Often comes with self-identification (“my point
here is that…”) emphasis (“It must be stressed that…”)
approval (“Olson makes some important and long overdue
amendments to work on …”) or a problem/solution
framework.
Evidence:
The component of the argument used as support for
the claims made. Evidence is the support, reasons,
data/information used to help persuade/prove an
argument. To find evidence in a text, ask what the
author has to go on. What is there to support this
claim? Is the evidence credible? Some types of
evidence: facts, historical examples/comparisons,
examples, analogies, illustrations, interviews, statistics
(source & date are important), expert testimony,
authorities, anecdotes, witnesses, personal experiences,
reasoning, etc.
Strategies:
Rhetorical Strategy: a particular way in which authors craft
language—both consciously and subconsciously—so as to
have an effect on readers. Strategies are means of
persuasion, ways of gaining a readers’ attention, interest, or
agreement. Strategies can be identified in the way an author
organizes her text, selects evidence, addresses the reader,
frames an issue, presents a definition, constructs a persona
or establishes credibility, appeals to authority, deals with
opposing views, uses “meta-discourse,” makes particular use
of style and tone, draws on particular tropes and images, as
well as many of the other textual choices that can be
identified.
Rebuttals
Writers often try to anticipate objections to their arguments
– they understand that their audience, and other authors,
may not agree with them. They may thus address
counterarguments and objections, and provide rebuttals to
these objections/counterarguments. This is often a clever
rhetorical strategy. Introducing the reader to positions
opposed to your own, and showing you can deal with them
can work to 'inoculate' the reader against counterarguments.
It demonstrates that the author is aware of opposing views,
and is not trying to 'sweep them under the table'. It is also
likely to make the writer's argument seem 'balanced' or 'fair'
to readers, and as a consequence be more persuasive.
The Purpose Of Education
by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,
Morehouse College Student Paper, The Maroon Tiger, in 1947
As I engage in the so-called "bull sessions" around and about the school, I too often find that
most college men have a misconception of the purpose of education. Most of the "brethren"
think that education should equip them with the proper instruments of exploitation so that
they can forever trample over the masses. Still others think that education should furnish
them with noble ends rather than means to an end.
It seems to me that education has a two-fold function to perform in the life of man and in
society: the one is utility and the other is culture. Education must enable a man to become
more efficient, to achieve with increasing facility the legitimate goals of his life.
Education must also train one for quick, resolute and effective thinking. To think incisively and
to think for one's self is very difficult. We are prone to let our mental life become invaded by
legions of half truths, prejudices, and propaganda. At this point, I often wonder whether or not
education is fulfilling its purpose. A great majority of the so-called educated people do not
think logically and scientifically. Even the press, the classroom, the platform, and the pulpit in
many instances do not give us objective and unbiased truths. To save man from the morass of
propaganda, in my opinion, is one of the chief aims of education. Education must enable one
to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the
facts from the fiction.
The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically.
But education which stops with efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society. The most
dangerous criminal may be the man gifted with reason, but with no morals.
The late Eugene Talmadge, in my opinion, possessed one of the better minds of Georgia, or
even America. Moreover, he wore the Phi Beta Kappa key. By all measuring rods, Mr.
Talmadge could think critically and intensively; yet he contends that I am an inferior being. Are
those the types of men we call educated?
We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character--that is the
goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only power of concentration,
but worthy objectives upon which to concentrate. The broad education will, therefore,
transmit to one not only the accumulated knowledge of the race but also the accumulated
experience of social living.
If we are not careful, our colleges will produce a group of close-minded, unscientific, illogical
propagandists, consumed with immoral acts. Be careful, "brethren!" Be careful, teachers!
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