final Flashcards
Aristotle’s triangle(rhetorical triangle) involves
ethos, pathos, logos
Ethos
- A speaker’s character and credibility
- The speakers or writers’ good will, character, and judgement.
- How do speakers present themselves?
- Projection of trustworthiness
- Projection of authority
- Consider the elements: voice, use of language, attire, body language, gestures, etc.
Pathos
- How the speaker/writer makes a connection with the audience; how she connects with and responds to the audiences needs, wants, fears, desires, etc.
- How does do they push emotional button
- Pathos is audience related\There is a need to connect emotionally with them
- So, what are their concerns, beliefs, attitudes
- What emotions is to be generated
- Fear, anger, trust, sympathy, love
Logos
-to appeal to the audiences’ sense of reason or logic
- Concerns the quality and arrangement of the message
- The logical or rational elements of the message
- The organization, structure, and presentation of the message
- The logos must be designed to complete the pathos target and project the ethos
What are the different ways communication is defined?
accidental, expressive, and rhetorical communication
What is McCroskey’s definition of communication?
the process of one person stimulating meaning in the mind of another by means of a message
accidental communication
- Occurs when speaker/writer sends a message that he didn’t intend to send, and doesn’t realise he has sent
- “People communicate their interests, their needs, their backgrounds, and sometimes their weaknesses without having the slightest desire to do so, and often in spite of a definite desire not to communicate these things
Expressive communication
- Focuses on speaker or writer’s needs – is “source centred” not audience centred
- Purpose is to express what the speaker/writer NEEDS to say, rather than what the audience needs to hear
- Performs as emotional venting in many cases
- Relies on impulse rather than rational choice
- Does not recognize the needs, expectations or values of an audience
- Is not interested in benefiting audience
- Often results in damaging professional relationships and discrediting speaker/writer
Rhetorical Communication
- Is purposeful
o Is goal-oriented
o Seeks to achieve change in the world
o Is intentional - Connects speaker’s purpose to audience’s needs
- Teaches that speaker must focus on making conscious and conscientious choices when addressing an audience
- Depends on speaker’s understanding of adapting message to audience
- Relies on speaker’s skill at being able to understand an audience’s values, expectations and beliefs
- Relies on speaker’s respect for audience, belief in message and purpose, and sincerity
- Stresses the ethical relationship amongst speaker, audience, and message
Bitzer’s definition of rhetoric
“a work of rhetoric pragmatic”
- it comes into existence for the sake of something beyond itself
- it functions ultimately to produce action or change in the world
- it performs some task
Bitzer’s quote on rhetoric
rhetoric is a mode of altering reality
- not by the direct application of energy to objects,
- but by the creation of communication which changes reality through the argument of thought and action
in sense what is rhetoric
persuasive
Bitzer’s definition of a rhetorical situation
“a complex of persons, events, objects, ad relations presenting an actual or potential exigence
- which can be completely or partially removed if discourse introduces into the situation
- can so constrain human decision or action
- as to bring about the significant modification of exigence
three constituents(parts) of rhetorical situation
exigence
audience
contraints
what is exigence
“an imperfection marked by urgency
- it is an obstacle
-something waiting to be done
- a thing which is other than it should be
exigence vs. rhetorical exigence
exigence is rhetorical
the event or occurrence that prompts rhetorical discourse;
audience
rhetoric always requires an audience
audience vs rhetorical audience
a rhetorical audience consists only of
- those persons who are capable of being influence by discourse
and
those capable “ of being mediators of change”( able to take action, make changes in the situation)
contraints
“parts of the situation” that “have the power of constrain”[limit, restrict, enable] the decision and the action needed to modify the exigence[to fix the problem]”
(Bitzer’s list)”beliefs, attitudes, documents, facts, traditions, images, interests, motives, and the like”
axioms
-In classical philosophy an axiom is a self-evident truth or an assumed starting point for logical extensions.
-MacLennan is using the term axiom to mean a fundamental truth of communication.
-Axioms apply all the time, in every communicative situation [even if you are unaware of them].
-But knowing the axioms helps you craft appropriate responses.
what are the 9 axioms
- interaction
- relation as well as content.
- context
- credibility.
- influence.
- risk.
- ambiguous: what is unsaid can be as important as what is said.
- audience-centered, not self-centered.
- pervasive: you can not communicate
Why is the Shannon-Weaver (or “bullet”) model not fully adequate for conceptualizing professional communication?
it provides an incomplete
understanding of what actually takes place when two people communicate, whether they
do so professionally, socially, or personally.
- it tends obscure the human dimensions of
interaction by reducing people to ‘senders’ and ‘receivers’ of information, it can’t satisfactorily account for all the complexities that come into play when people communicate.
Why is the rhetorical triangle a more appropriate model for professional communication?
you’re better able to position your points in a way that your reader (or listener) can understand and get on board with
What are the three specific qualities of ethos?
- good will
- good judgement
- good character
What role does footing play in determining appropriate choices in your communication? What role does face?
What is important to note about footing is that we are often very aware of changes to our footing.
Footing is a lot like ethos B UT is not ethos
Footing is a relation which is granted by the audience.
Both footing and ethos are built or destroyed by logos/communication.
Note that words have the power to destroy relationships, and that damaged relationship can be impossible to repair.
If you have damaged a relationship, further communication may help, but it may also make things worse. Use caution
How could these Axioms help to shape your communication?
axiom 7
ambigeous
This axiom helps us better understand how to interpret messages that others send to us, and design our messages more consciously. It reminds us that communication is complex, and that there is often much more at work than its verbal content.
what is rhetorical stance
a stance which depends on discovering and maintaining in any writing situation a proper balance among the three elements that are at work in any communicative effort: the available arguments about the subject itself, the interests and peculiarities of the audience, and the voice, the implied character, of the speaker
What is the difference between a pedant, an advertiser, and an entertainer stance?
-The pedant’s stance “consists of ignoring or underplaying the personal relationship of speaker and audience and depending entirely on statements about a subject—that is, the notion of a job to be done for a particular audience is left out
-advertiser’s stance “comes from undervaluing the subject and overvaluing pure effect: how to win friends and influence people
-entertainer’s stance as the “willingness to sacrifice substance to personality and charm
what are paragraphs
- pARAGRAPHS ARE COLLECTIONS OF
SENTENCES - UT THE SENTENCES ARE NOT RANDOM
- ENTENCES OUGHT TO STATE AND
DEVELOP A POINT (ONE POINT)
paragraphing 4 goals
1: a single main idea is developed – one idea!
-Express the idea in a topic sentence
2: the topic sentence is supported with organized ideas (as sentences)
3: The sentences of support:chronology, contrast, evaluation, analysis, illustration, etc.
-Ideas need to flow logically between sentences inside paragraphs, and between paragraphs.
-Reinforcement: also, moreover, for example, in addition, etc.
-Contrasts: but, however, although, instead, yet, in spite of, etc.
-Links via word repetition or pronouns
4: completeness – the topic idea is filled out. The paragraph is wrapped up with a concluding sentence which either ties to topic or bridges to the next paragraph
-Concluding flags: thus, therefore, finally, in conclusion, ultimately
Paragraphing – basic ideas
Aim for 3-5 sentences
Topic sentence
Supporting sentence(s)
Concluding sentence
Topic Sentence
-States the paragraph’s main idea
-Refers to the subject of the document and suggests a relation of the paragraph to the subject (thesis topic level)
-Transitions from the preceding paragraph
-Often, but not always, the first sentence of a paragraph
summaries
-The purpose of a summary is to condense material
-Aim for 1/3rd to as low as 1/10th of the original document
-Important first step: carefully note the source (author, title, publication details, pages, etc.)
-Locate the topic sentence of each paragraph
-Note the major supporting points of each paragraph
-Summaries should not include any of your thoughts of criticisms
-Try to express ideas in your words (paraphrase)
Why write reports?
Purpose of formal technical reports:
Transmit information
Collect, record, organize, and store information
Document activity
Recommend action
Establish credibility
what are reports
are crucial deliverables in many projects
demonstrate your ability as a professional to
offer expert advice and opinion
determine your credibility
are key factors in the project’s success
how to Analyze and know your audience
Be audience-centred
Analyze your audience:
management? specialists? end-users? public?
what was the requested purpose?
how will the readers need to use the information?
explanation, recommendation, documentation, planning,
procedure, … ?
what are their primary concerns? cost, safety, ease of
use/functionality, durability, environmental, … ?
Readers must be able to:
use the report for the purpose they identified
* quickly absorb the crucial information they need to
know
* extract the main points without reading the whole
* easily find the information that interests them
what are the four basic report formats
Form reports
Informal reports
Semi-formal reports
Formal reports
how to decide what format to use
-Purpose
The more important the information, the more formal the
report
The longer the information will be relevant, the more formal
the report
-Audience
The higher up in the organization or the wider the audience,
the more formal the report
-Complexity
The more detailed the information, the more formal the
report
what are form reports
Used to ensure consistency when a large
number of reports give the same or
similar information
Often used for recurring or periodic
reports (ex. expense reports, incident
reports, accident reports, travel claims,
etc.)
what are informal reports
Short reports, usually fewer than five pages
Casual format with no title page or table of contents
Often written as memo or letter
Must follow the SIDC(RA) organizational structure
Audience is small or not highly placed in the
organization
Does not deal with highly complex issues
what are semi-formal reports
More formal header on first page instead of memo or
letter format
First page header lists (at least): the organization’s
name, report’s title, author’s name, and date
Instead of a re: line, uses a summary section or
paragraph with the heading of “Summary”
Usual length: up to ten pages
what are formal reports
Are longer, are more complex, and contain a lot of detail
Have a significant, or substantial, subject
Have a large audience or an audience with higher footing
Are usually more than ten pages long
Make use of page layout/design elements or features (i.e.,
headings, graphics, bulleted lists, bolded text, side bars, text
boxes, graphs, charts, illustrations, etc.)
whats included in formal reports
Are divided by topic into sections and sub-sections (perhaps
many layers of sections), each with a heading that allows the
reader to find information more easily and to skim the
document more quickly or usefully; often new sections are
begun on a new page
Include “front matter” such as Title page, Executive Summary,
and Table of Contents
Often have a transmittal document addressed to the recipient
Have pagination that begins with the introduction section (after
all front matter)
what are transmittal documents
Usually a letter
Describes the topic and reminds the reader of the authorization or
origin of the report
Makes a brief statement of the major finding
Acknowledges the help of others involved in the project/report
Expresses appreciation and offers a follow-up to the report
it’s an opportunity to more directly point out any especially urgent or
important piece information
It’s also an opportunity to directly build relation or connect with the
reader/client, or make any follow-up comments
Useful in maintaining good will with the client
what does sidcra stand for
summary
introduction
discussion
conclusion
recommendations
appendices
whats the s in sidcra and what does it include
Summary
Also know as “Executive Summary” or “Summary of
Recommendations”
Differs from an abstract (which is written for a technical
audience and forecasts the topics or key points the
document makes)
Written for the least expert reader expected or the
reader who will make decisions based on the report
Written last but usually placed before the table of
contents
Condenses the entire report, summarizes section by
section for the benefit of a busy reader
The language and organization of the summary should
forecast and be similar to that of the report
Generally, is approximately up to 1/10th the length of
the report
Is often read separately from the report and can be
formatted and distributed as a “stand-alone” document
