1. Components of Rhetoric – Aristotle’s Triangle Speaker MessageAudience

2. Components of Rhetoric – Aristotle’s Triangle with modifications Speaker MessageAudience Context—A convergence of time, place, people, events, and motivating forces that influences how the speaker or writer understands, analyzes, and generates the persona, the appeals and the subject.

3. Components of Rhetoric – Aristotle’s Triangle with modifications Speaker MessageAudience Intention—Every communication is designed to achieve an aim, a purpose or an intention.

4. Writers use appeals Ethos (the ethical appeal)--Writers create a relationship with readers that is based on a kind of trust. Logos (the logical appeal)--Writers use logical reasoning in order to appeal to a readers’ sense of objectivity and reason. Pathos (the emotional appeal)--Writers use emotional appeals to reach readers because this appeal is the strongest, most direct.

5. Components of Rhetoric – Aristotle’s Triangle Speaker MessageAudience Ethos The writer establishes credibility by: 1.Demonstrating knowledge about the topic 2.Establishing common ground with the audience through respect and concern 3.Demonstrating fairness and evenhandedness. Is the evidence presented in full, not tailored to the author’s position? 4.Demonstrates that the writer is honest, wise, and trustworthy. Are the sources documented? 5.Pay attention to the diction choices. Hot and extreme language can signal a writer is passionate or loony. 6.Pay attention to technical terms or abstract phrases that can make the writer seem knowledgeable or pompous.

6. Components of Rhetoric – Aristotle’s Triangle Speaker MessageAudience Logos The argument’s reasoning is underscored through: 1.examples, precedents, and narratives 2.Citing authority and testimony 3.Establishing causes and effects 4.Using inductive and deductive reasoning 5.Don’t be misled. A good argument may be involve the telling of a story that infers the thesis. 6.But other arguments use a claim and supporting reasons. 7.Be prepared to analyze the validity of the evidence.

7. Components of Rhetoric – Aristotle’s Triangle Speaker MessageAudience Pathos The writer appeals to readers by: 1.Using description and concrete language 2.Using figurative language 3.Shaping appeal(s) to a specific audience 4.Do the emotions that are stirred advance the claims offered? 5.Does the use of pathos distract or convince you?