6 Persuasion at work II

Question 1

Medium level of analysis

Answer 1

With this step, we move from a preliminary reading go the text to the first in-text observations.

• Narrative analysis: unfolding, interweaving (intratextuality), resounding or reverberation (intertextuality and contextualization)
• General rhetorical-argumentational analysis: rhetorical moves, argumentative structures, logic, etc.
• Cognitive-emotional analysis: conceptual metaphors

Question 2

Narratives

Answer 2

Story telling instances and practices, made up of both story and plot (both the content and the way it’s told are relevant in persuasion). They have a POIETIC function (they can construct reality, going further than representing it). Narratives are dynamic, while structure is static.
Strategic narratives are narrative with a deliberate persuasive intent.

Question 3

Inclusive vs. conflict rhetoric

Answer 3

Much like conflict rhetoric, inclusive rhetoric is a hyper-ordinate category. It’s articulated across multiple levels:

• Conceptual (cognitive, logical, structural or static)
• Narrative (discourse, text, dynamic, perspective)
• Argumentational (form, style, concept)

Inclusive Rhetoric has a wider view that takes complexity into account. It approaches problems with a more constructive rhetorical attitude and it functions dynamically and progressively. This rhetoric pushes to reduce conflict and to integrate differences. Conflict rhetoric is instead more disruptive, based on a static, disproportionate bipolar opposition.