Transcript Week 1, Class 2

Week 1, Class 2
• The rhetorical triangle is a way of thinking about
what's involved in any communication scenario.
It involves three main parts:
• a rhetor (a speaker, writer, painter, blogger,
photographer... someone who performs the
rhetoric),
• an audience (the people that the rhetor
addresses), and
• a purpose (the thing the rhetor wants to
accomplish with the audience).
• A context
Rhetorical situation
• Who is the writer and what type of writer is he or
she? What stance is he or she taking? What are
his or her beliefs, values, and assumptions?
What is the text’s message? How is it
constructed? How does it text create meaning?
How are these meanings influenced by the
writer? To whom is the writer writing? Why?
What is the purpose for writing? In what
historical context was the text written? How does
the context affect the text’s meaning?
Ethos, pathos, logos
• "Ethos" refers to the writer's "ethical appeal," that is, how well the
writer presents herself. Does she seem knowledgeable and
reasonable? Does she seem trustworthy? Does she treat her
opponents, people who might disagree, with fairness and respect, or
does she take cheap shots at them? Does she try to establish
common ground with the reader? Ethos can be divided into two
parts: authority and character.
• "Pathos" refers to the argument's "emotional appeals," that is, how
well the writer taps into the reader's emotions Many times, this
appeal is how a writer will make an argument "matter" to readers.
Advertisements do it all the time. Perhaps a writer will offer an
anecdote to illustrate suffering or appeal to readers as parents
concerned for their children. Does the writer appeal to your
emotions—feelings of sadness, pride, fear, being young, anger,
patriotism, love, justice?
• "Logos" corresponds with the argument's "logical
appeals," that is, how well the reader uses the "text" of
his own argument and evidence. Effective arguments will
probably include facts and other supporting details to
back up the author's claims. They may contain testimony
from authorities and will demonstrate the writer's
carefulness in choosing and considering evidence.
Questions to consider: What is being argued here, or
what is the author's thesis? What points does she offer
to support this idea? Has she presented arguments that
seem logical, or does she seem to be jumping to
conclusions? Can you think of kinds of writing that rely
exclusively on logical appeals? Do they bore you?
• A BALANCE of the three, ethos, pathos, logos, is often important
(although as always, context and audience are crucial). Too much of
one may produce an argument that readers will either find
unconvincing or that will cause them to stop reading.
• Each appeal potentially affects the others. An overwhelming
emotional argument may make us feel that the author is relying
exclusively on emotions rather than offering solid reasoning. An
argument contains only facts and figures and no emotional appeals,
we may simply get bored. All these defects may, in turn, affect the
author's ethical appeal: how can we trust a writer who appeals only
to our emotions? What common ground do we have with a writer
who doesn't appeal to our emotions at all?
Why We Fight!
(for you to write, argue and analyze well)
• The ability to interpret arguments, locate claims and
evidence, analyze moves and strategies, and evaluate
arguments are crucial skills.
• They are central to business, law, professional life, and
to academic study (including graduate school).
• You will be tested for these skills in the WPA, the LSAT,
GMAT, and GRE – all the gateways to professional life.
• Consider the GRE…
Skills Measured in General Test:
Analytical Writing Section
• Articulate complex ideas clearly and effectively
• Examine claims and accompanying evidence
• Support ideas with relevant reasons and
examples
• Sustain a well-focused, coherent discussion
• Control the elements of standard written English
Analytical Writing Tasks
• Present Your Views on an Issue (45 minutes,
choice of 2 topics)
• Analyze an Argument (30 minutes)
• Each essay is scored on a 0-6 scale using holistic
scoring
– Two scores for each essay
• GRE Website presents directions, actual topics,
scoring guide, and sample essays for both the
Issue and Argument tasks
(www.gre.org/gentest.html)
EMAIL EXERCISE to explore rhetorical
strategies, audience, purpose, etc.
• Situation: The syllabus says that the instructor
does not accept late work and that if you miss
class you will be penalized. Nevertheless, you
miss three classes (out of 15 total) and try to
hand in the second major assignment a week
late. If the instructor doesn’t accept your work
you will fail the class.
• Assignment: Please write the instructor a brief
email explaining your situation. You do not want
to fail the class.
• “You get a lot to like: filter,
flavor, flip top box
• "MARLBORO: THE FILTER
CIGARETTE IN THE FLIPTOP BOX"
• Small Print: "You get the mansize flavor of honest tobacco
without huffing and puffing.
This filter works good and
draws easy. The Flip-Top Box
keeps every cigarette in good
shape. You'd expect it to cost
more, but it doesn't."