Reading and Writing Analytically Rhetoric and The Rhetorical Situation

What is Rhetoric? Rhetoric –The faculty of finding all the available means of persuasion in a particular case. Breakdown

Rhetoric Breakdown The faculty (ability) of finding (Aristotle’s Heuresis)of finding Aristotle’s Heuresis all the available means (everything a writer or speaker might do with language) of persuasion (writers and speakers aim to shape people’s thoughts and actions) in a particular case (rhetoric capitalizes on specific situations)

Rhetorical Analyst “Analysts ought to be able to determine, by drawing inferences, 1. the exigence [motivation to right], 2. the primary and secondary audiences, and 3. the intention or purpose of any text they analyze.”

Exigence (the need to write) Ethos Purpose (intention) Audience Logos Pathos Organization/Structure/F orm DictionImagerySyntaxFig. Language Speaker SubjectAudience Rhetorical Situation AppealsAppeals Surface Features Tone

Heuristic Merriam-Webster Main Entry: heuristic Function: adjective Etymology: German heuristisch, from New Latin heuristicus, from Greek heuriskein to discover; akin to Old Irish fo-fúair he found Date: 1821 : involving or serving as an aid to learning, discovery, or problem-solving by experimental and especially trial-and-error methods ; also : of or relating to exploratory problem-solving techniques that utilize self-educating techniques (as the evaluation of feedback) to improve performance Wikipedia Heuristic (pronounced /hj ʊˈ r ɪ st ɨ k/, from the Greek "Ε ὑ ρίσκω" for "find" or "discover") is an adjective for experience-based techniques that help in problem solving, learning and discovery. A heuristic method is particularly used to rapidly come to a solution that is hoped to be close to the best possible answer, or 'optimal solution'. Heuristics are "rules of thumb", educated guesses, intuitive judgments or simply common sense. Heuristics as a noun is another name for heuristic methods. In more precise terms, heuristics stand for strategies using readily accessible, though loosely applicable, information to control problem solving in human beings and machines. Example Diagram

Heuristic Example Perhaps the most fundamental heuristic is "trial and error", which can be used in everything from matching bolts to bicycles to finding the values of variables in algebra problems. Here are a few other commonly used heuristics, from Polya's 1945 book, How to Solve It:[2]How to Solve It[2] If you are having difficulty understanding a problem, try drawing a picture. If you can't find a solution, try assuming that you have a solution and seeing what you can derive from that ("working backward"). If the problem is abstract, try examining a concrete example. Try solving a more general problem first (the "inventor's paradox": the more ambitious plan may have more chances of success). Diagram

Of Finding “to discover” “all the things a writer or speaker has done (in a text being analyzed) or might do (in a text being produced) to shape people’s thoughts and actions – that is, to achieve meaning, purpose, and effect.” Finding What? So, What is That?

Exigence Main Entry: ex·i·gen·cy Pronunciation: \ ˈ ek-sə-jən(t)-sē, ig- ˈ zi-jən(t)-\ Function: noun Inflected Form(s): plural ex·i·gen·cies Date: : that which is required in a particular situation —usually used in plural 2 a : the quality or state of being exigent b : a state of affairs that makes urgent demands Diagram

Audience “people, either immediate or mediated over time and place, capable of responding to this exigence” Diagram

Purpose (Intention) “what the writer or speaker hopes the audience will do with the material presented: make meaning, realize its purpose, recognize its effect” Diagram

Logos The logical appeal – the “embodied thought” of the text – the central and subsidiary ideas that the text develops for the reader to “take home.” Build Logos by –Facts, data, reasoning, and perspectives about the issue from experts –Substantiate the claim, a generalization, or a point about the issue –Acknowledge a counterargument: concede a point but refute the argument Analyst must be able to show how the speaker capitalizes on unspoken assumptions he or she thinks the audience already believes about the issue at hand. Diagram

Ethos “Showing how a text can emphasize the good sense, the good will, and the good character of the writer and thereby become more credible.” Appeals to ethos often emphasize shared values between the speaker and the audience Diagram

Pathos Appeal to the emotions or states of life of readers Use of figurative language, personal anecdotes, and/or vivid, concrete description Words with strong connotations Visual images often carry strong emotional appeal Diagram

Tone The writer or speaker’s apparent attitude toward the subject matter and issue at hand. Tone is established somewhere between logos and ethos and logos and pathos Diagram

How to Detect Appeals Analysts detect appeals by drawing inferences based on the arrangement and style (diction, syntax, imagery, figurative language) Analytic claims about the appeals/tone are ARGUMENTS and need to be supported with evidence (details) from the text. So, analysts must focus on and scrutinize words in the text to see how they forge logos, ethos, pathos, and tone Diagram

Organization/Structure/ Form What is the function? –To introduce a central idea –To narrow a text’s focus –To divide text into small parts –To compare/contrast before and after –To address objections to what has been said –To promote author’s credentials –To add emotionally charged material In other words … What difference does the structure of the text make on meaning? How does the organization influence the appeals to logos, pathos, and ethos and the establishment of tone? Diagram

So What? So how do the diction, syntax, imagery, and figurative language, mediated through the organization of the whole text, establish logos, ethos, pathos, and/or tone? Diagram How to … Goal of an Analyst

How to … Part One  Determine what the text means?  What are its primary and secondary intentions or purposes?  What effect you think its author intended it to have on its audience?  Why was the author compelled to write it?  Who are its immediate and mediated audiences? So what I am doing?So what I am doing? DiagramDiagram Part Two  How does the text mean what you say it means?  How does the text realize its purpose?  How does the text achieve it effects?  How does it make clear its exigency?  How does it address or evoke its audience?  How does it announce its intentions?

So what I am doing? If, during an analysis, you decide to start your discussion with logos, ethos, pathos, or tone – you need to drill down through organization/structure/form to the surface features that you believe create the appeal or tone in question in order to achieve the author’s purpose. If you start with a surface feature like diction, syntax, imagery, or figurative language then you need to show how these elements, mediated through the organization of the text, constitute logos, ethos, pathos, and/or tone achieve the author’s purpose. PART 2PART 2 DiagramDiagram

So what I am doing? Part 2 Regardless of the starting point, the writer needs to show how these elements provide clues about the exigency, audience, and intention – even though sometimes these things are plainly stated. You will probably focus on the text’s most salient aspects – diction and ethos, intention and details of imagery. PART 1 PART 1 Diagram GoalDiagramGoal

Diction, Syntax, Imagery, Figurative Language (Schemes and Tropes) Is the diction formal or informal? Does the writer use I or we or you? Are there contractions? Does the text use any specialized jargon? Are the sentences long, short, varied, periodic, loose, standard-subject-verb-object or subject- verb-complement? Are they primarily in active voice? How do the passive sentences function? Are there any visual, auditory, or tactile images? Are there any schemes? What do the schemes do - add, omit, provide parallel balance, provide antithetical balance? Are there any tropes? What are the principal metaphors being used? How are comparisons and contrasts brought about by tropes other than metaphor? Can we detect any irony or sarcasm? Diagram

Goal As an analyst, a rhetorical analyst, you must establish a dialectic (investigation of truth through discussion) between what you conclude is the meaning/purpose/effect of the text and how you perceive its parts, working together to achieve these ends. Diagram