SPEECH 30 - Final Exam: Significant Learnings

I. Module 4
1. Classical rhetoric of Sophists
✔ For Sophists, rhetoric is not used for finding the truth but instead for personal gain
by intelligently and eloquently feigning a flawed and erroneous argument to be a
logical and true one usually through emotional appeal.
example:
Lawyer Robert Kardashian successfully defended O.J. Simpson from two
counts of murder accusations despite the several incriminating pieces of DNA and
circumstantial evidence against Simpson. Kardashian and the rest of the defense
team swayed the jury using racial and emotional appeal.

2. Classical rhetoric of Plato

✔ For Plato, rhetoric is conceptualized as a process of questions and answers that
would lead to the ultimate truth and understanding. Unlike Sophists' view, rhetoric
is not to be used as a tool to manipulate an audience for the speaker's personal
gain. Since Plato was an idealist, he believed that the truth can be arrived upon
purely through thought processes and philosophical contemplation.
example:
A group of students in philosophy class are having a discourse about the
significance of death in the existence of the person.

3. Classical rhetoric of Aristotle

✔ Like Plato, for Aristotle, rhetoric is a tool for the discovery of the truth; however,
unlike Plato, Aristotle was a realist who also considered human nature and the
power of different types of proof in persuasion. Through sharing and testing ideas
that are based on observation and evidence, rhetoric finds and demonstrates the
truth.
example:
A human rights activist discusses how the current administration’s drug war is
draconian, anti-poor, and simply immoral. They cite statistics and several personal
accounts of Filipinos who lost their loved ones to extrajudicial killings courtesy of
the drug war.

4. Aristotle’s 3 branches of rhetoric.

1. Deliberative or legislative rhetoric considers future policy. This rhetoric specifies a
call to action after discussing and breaking down the potential outcomes of a
certain issue.
2. Forensic or judicial rhetoric considers guilt or innocence. This rhetoric determines
whether an action that happened in the past is just or unjust, and how the
audience can address it accordingly at present.
SPEECH 30 - Final Exam: Significant Learnings

3. Epideictic or ceremonial rhetoric considers praise and blame. This rhetoric

influences how the audience may perceive a person or entity based on the
adoration or condemnation directed to them or it.
example:
Legislative
The fictional Netflix Series Black Mirror actualizes the different
aspects wherein humans have become severely dependent on technology
and social media to the point of unhealthy use. Through unsettling but
familiar storylines, Black Mirror warns the viewers to be wary of media and
technology and use them in moderation and for dignified purposes.
Judicial
When President Rodrigo Duterte granted US Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph
Scott Pemberton an absolute pardon after spending less than six years in jail
for killing Jennifer Laude, he was met with a plethora of criticisms. Netizens,
human rights groups, and other government officials argue that the pardon
was unjust and disrespectful to Laude’s family and the trans people
community.
Epideictic
As the nation grieved the death of former president Benigno “Noynoy”
Aquino III, many praised and remembered the achievements of his
presidency. Among which was the imprisonment of several corrupt politicians
and the winning of the arbitral ruling against China. In contrast, others aired
out the inconsistencies and faults of Noynoy’s administration, such as the
Hacienda Luisita Massacre.

5. Aristotle’s means of persuasion: ethos, pathos, and logos.

1. Logical proof (logos) is the line of argument in the speech, which appeals to the
reason and rationality of the audience.
2. Ethical proof (ethos) is the way the speaker's character is revealed through the
message, which appeals to the audience via authority and credibility.
3. Emotional proof (pathos) is the feeling the speech draws from the audience, which
convinces via an emotional and compassion appeal.
example:
Logos
More than one hundred peer-reviewed studies have been
conducted regarding this topic, and none of them confidently suggests that
Ivermectin is an effective treatment for COVID-19.
Ethos
As a research technologist for two decades with 15 publications
under my belt, I can tell you that this statistical method is the most
practical for your thesis of choice.
Pathos