What is Rhetoric?

Ethos, Pathos, & Logos

Why should I care about writing?
Cicero once wrote:

The one point in which we have our very
greatest advantage over the brute
creation is that we hold converse one
with another, and can reproduce our
thought in a word. Who therefore
would not rightly admire this faculty,
and deem it [their] duty to exert
[themselves]to the utmost in this field.
What is rhetoric?
Rhetoric is the study of how we
construct effective written, visual,
and oral discourse.
We use rhetoric to
1. Inform
2. Persuade
3. Entertain
4. Move the audience
Rhetorical Elements of an Argument
2 Parts to an argument:
1. The CLAIM
Must be arguable

Suggest a counterclaim for the following:
- Writing is the greatest advantage that
humans have over animals.
- Jane Austen is the greatest author of all
time.
- We are all sitting in room 101 of CFO.
Rhetorical Elements of an Argument
The 2
nd
part of an argument is the EVIDENCE.

3 types of evidential appeals:
1. Ethos Appeals to authority of the writer.
We tend to believe people whom we respect.
One of the central problems of argumentation
is to project an impression to the reader that
you are someone worth listening to, in other
words making yourself as author into an
authority on the subject of the paper, as well
as someone who is likable and worthy of
respect.
2. Pathos Appeals to the emotions.
Anecdotes or personal narratives.
3. Logos Appeals to reason and logic.
Facts and statistics
Induction and deduction