Soapstone, Rhetorical Analysis, Ethos, Pathos, Logos – Flashcards

a strategy for reading and writing

Speaker: person who tells the story (Who are you? What details will you reveal? Why is it important that the audience know who you are?)

Occasion: the time and the place of the piece; the context that prompted the writing (How does your knowledge of the larger occasion and the immediate occasion affect what you are writing about?)

Audience: the group of readers to whom this piece is directed (What are the characteristics of this group? How are they related to you? Why are you addressing them?)

Purpose: the reason behind the text (Explain to yourself what you hope to accomplish by this expression of opinion. How would you like your audience to respond?)

Subject (Just a few words. What are you talking about?)

Tone: the attitude of the author (What attitude do you want your audience to feel? How will your attitude enhance the effectiveness of your piece? Choose a few words or phrases that will reflect a particular attitude.)

An essay that breaks a work of non-fiction into parts and then explains how the parts work together to create a certain effect—whether to persuade, entertain or inform

The study of how writers and speakers use words to influence an audience

The author of a speech or document or to the creator of an advertisement, cartoon, or other visual work

A rhetorical analysis should explore the rhetorician's goals, the techniques (or tools) used, examples of those techniques, and the effectiveness of those techniques. When writing a rhetorical analysis, you are NOT saying whether or not you agree with the argument. Instead, you're discussing how the rhetorician makes that argument and whether or not the approach used is successful.

An artistic proof is created by the rhetorician and encompasses the appeals, canons, and most of the techniques given below. An inartistic proof is a proof that exists outside the rhetorician such as surveys, polls, testimonies, statistics, facts, and data. Either type of proof can help make a case.

An attempt to earn audience approval or agreement by playing to natural human tendencies or common experience. There are three kinds of appeals: the pathetic, the ethical, and the logical.

The pathetic appeal invokes the audience's emotion to gain acceptance and approval for the ideas expressed. (Pathos)

The ethical appeal uses the writer's own credibility and character to make a case and gain approval. (Ethos)

The logical appeal uses reason to make a case. Academic discourse is mostly logos-driven because academic audiences respect scholarship and evidence. (Logos)

In writing an effective rhetorical analysis, you should discuss the goal or purpose of the piece; the appeals, evidence, and techniques used and why; examples of those appeals, evidence, and techniques; and your explanation of why they did or didn't work.

The next step is to identify examples of these uncovered techniques in the text. For example, in discussing the use of a didactic tone, you might point to the following sentence as an example: "the anthropologist has become so familiar with the diversity of ways in which different people behave in similar situations that he is not apt to be surprised by even the most exotic customs." You should have multiple examples for each technique used.

Next, address the effectiveness of each technique. For example, in Miner's article, the didactic tone draws us in, but about halfway through the article we realize that Miner is talking about current American society and that "Nacirema" is "American" spelled backwards. We realize that the tone is ironic and that Miner is making a point about how Americans believe in magic and superstitions rather than being the enlightened, rational, and scientific creatures we imagine ourselves to be.

After brainstorming and doing the actual analysis, you are ready to write a thesis. Remember to choose the three (or four) techniques for which you can make the strongest case. Rhetoricians employ many techniques; focus on the ones that are the most prevalent or interesting and that you can describe persuasively.

The thesis statement is developed, supported, and explained in the course of the paper by means of examples and evidence. Ex. Thesis In his article "Body Rituals Among the Nacirema," Miner effectively convinces his reader of the ridiculous nature of America's obsession with the body's health and visual appeal by allowing his readers to form a third party opinion of themselves before realizing they are their own subject. Miner achieves this by employing an academic tone, detached diction, and superior common ground to place his reader on the level of a scholar observing a native "tribe."

An introduction should lead cleanly into your argument. If your argument involves an author's stance on the death penalty, you might begin by giving factual data and/or the history of the death penalty. Remember that your argument begins with the first words of your paper. Your introduction should provide background that will make the reader see your argument's relevance.

Each body paragraph should have its own topic sentence. Make sure every idea or sentence in a paragraph relates to its topic sentence; you don't want to jump between topics. It gives your paper a sense of cohesion to place your body paragraphs in the same order in which they're presented in your introduction. Consider how you will organize the paragraphs. Will you discuss each technique—every instance of ethos, then every instance of pathos, and finally every instance of logos—then end with a discussion of the overall effectiveness? Or will you review the essay in terms of the least effective technique to the most effective? Or will you use a chronological order, discussing each technique as it occurs sequentially? For the Nacirema paper, for example, the first paragraph could focus on the academic tone, the second on diction, and the third on common ground. For each paragraph, give several examples and explain how those examples illustrate the technique being discussed. At the end of each body paragraph, make sure you connect your topic sentence back to your thesis. This creates cohesion, solidifies your argument, and provides a transition to your next topic.

Your conclusion should briefly restate your main argument. It should then apply your argument on a higher level. Why does your argument matter? What does it mean in the real world? For example, the conclusion of the rhetorical analysis of the Nacirema article may point out Miner's underlying message of tolerance and appreciation of other cultures and how his authorial choices influenced the delivery of that message.

Ethos, Pathos, and Logos are modes of persuasion used to convince audiences. They are also referred to as the three artistic proofs (Aristotle coined the terms), and are all represented by Greek words.

Ethical appeal; means to convince an audience of the author's credibility or character An author would use ethos to show to his audience that he is a credible source and is worth listening to. Ethos is the Greek word for "character." The word "ethic" is derived from ethos. Ethos can be developed by choosing language that is appropriate for the audience and topic (also means choosing proper level of vocabulary), making yourself sound fair or unbiased, introducing your expertise or pedigree, and by using correct grammar and syntax.

The emotional appeal, means to persuade an audience by appealing to their emotions Pathos can be developed by using meaningful language, emotional tone, emotion evoking examples, stories of emotional events, and implied meanings.

The appeal to logic, means to convince an audience by use of logic or reason. To use logos would be to cite facts and statistics, historical and literal analogies, and citing certain authorities on a subject.

"I will end this war in Iraq responsibly, and finish the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. I will rebuild our military to meet future conflicts. But I will also renew the tough, direct diplomacy that can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and curb Russian aggression. I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation; poverty and genocide; climate change and disease. And I will restore our moral standing, so that America is once again that last, best hope for all who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, and who yearn for a better future."

"I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed."

"However, although private final demand, output, and employment have indeed been growing for more than a year, the pace of that growth recently appears somewhat less vigorous than we expected. Notably, since stabilizing in mid-2009, real household spending in the United States has grown in the range of 1 to 2 percent at annual rates, a relatively modest pace. Households' caution is understandable. Importantly, the painfully slow recovery in the labor market has restrained growth in labor income, raised uncertainty about job security and prospects, and damped confidence. Also, although consumer credit shows some signs of thawing, responses to our Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices suggest that lending standards to households generally remain tight."