Classical Rhetoric The Art of Persuading Your Audience

What is rhetoric? 4 Aristotle first defined rhetoric as “the power to see the possible ways of persuading people about a given subject.” 4 Teenagers are natural masters of rhetoric- they easily use language in hopes to persuade their friends, teachers and parents. 4 Rhetoric is everywhere! Whether it’s a politician using it for a vote, a teenager peer pressuring a friend or an adult writing a report at work- everyone uses rhetoric in some form or another. 4 If a students understand how they can use rhetoric in their assignments, they will have the power to write effectively.

Three ways to master rhetoric 4 Logos 4 Pathos 4 Ethos

Logos 4 Logos is the appeal for reason and logic 4 Everything has facts and everyone needs facts in order to be convinced 4 So, step one is to make sure you are using facts to back up your ideas when writing and speaking 4 For example, “Studies show 9 out of 10 teachers prefer students who participate in class.”

Reasoning with logos 4 A fact is simply something you know exists or something you can verify with experimentation 4 Two ways to use facts for your argument are inductive and deductive reasoning

Inductive Reasoning 4 Inductive reasoning is when you use specific facts to reason general conclusions or generalizations 4 Think of a triangle- you start with specific points and get broader with your statements 4 In science you might collect specific data during a lab and then write a summary or analysis at the end to explain your conclusions 4 As a child you might have liked how fire looked but after burning your hand while trying to touch it, you inductively reasoned that touching the fire equals pain.

Deductive Reasoning 4 When you reason deductively, you begin with a generalization and back it up with specific points. 4 In essays you may have a major premise or main idea that you want to back up with specific examples. 4 Think of an upside down triangle- you start broad and get into narrow details 4 As a teenager you may generalize that homework should not be given on the weekends. You may then support that statement with examples of how no homework on the weekend would allow you quality time with friends and family. You may even deductively reason that homework takes away from spending time with those you love.

Pathos 4 Pathos is the appeal toward emotions 4 In order to convince your audience you must appeal to your audience’s emotions 4 Even if you cannot convince the audience of your point, you must at least evoke some emotion, response, reaction or move/touch them in some powerful way 4 Chances are you only learn from teachers who make you feel something in class rather than teachers who bore you with facts in a monotone voice

Ethos 4 Ethos is the appeal to the audience 4 In order for your audience to believe your facts and be affected by emotions, they must believe that you are a credible and reliable source 4 There are many ways to show off your character or expertise: correct grammar, high diction (vocab), citing a credible source and explaining extensive background knowledge on a subject 4 Yoo probabley woudnt lissen to a english teacher if he wroat licke this 4 Bottom line: if you don’t sound like you know what you’re talking about, no one will listen

Audience 4 In order to have ethos and appeal to the audience, you must first understand who your audience is and for what purpose you’re writing. 4 If you were writing a high school sweetheart in class it might read “Hey baby, I dig you” 4 If you wrote a different letter to your grandparents it might start with “Dear grandma and grandpa,” 4 And if you wrote a business letter for a class assignment, it would probably read “Dear Hiring Official” 4 As you can see, you must, must, must, must understand who you are writing to and why you are writing- even for essays and lab reports

Using logos, pathos and ethos on your audience 4 Depending on your audience, some will appeal more to logos rather than pathos and visa versa but a mixture of both need to be included 4 If you were trying to convince your parents for a later curfew, they most likely will be persuaded by logos: facts about where you’ll be going, who you’ll be going with, what you’ll be doing and how they can reach you. However, even though they may appeal more to logos, it’s not a bad idea to throw a little pathos in as well. 4 On the flip side, if you are trying to peer pressure your friend who is afraid of heights to go on a high roller coaster, statements full of pathos will work best: “Come on chicken…bawk, bawk, bawk, bawk” Even though peer pressure is just a manipulation of emotions, some teens might need some logos thrown in (like the safety facts etc)