Rhetoric Flashcards
(study for test)
Aristotle’s definition of rhetoric:
the faculty of discerning in any given case the available means of persuasion
Seven Liberal Arts in Antiquity according to Plato in the Middle Ages
Trivlum:
- rhetoric (opposite of dialect: finding the truth)
- grammar (way of phrasing)
- logic
Quadrivium (more abstract)
- astronomy (space and time in Europe)
- mathematics (arithmetic: numbers)
- geometry (space)
- music (numbers in time)
The Rhetorical Situation
3 part relationship between rhetor, argument, and subject (rhetorical triangle)
Cicero’s 3 Goals of Rhetoric
1) Change audience’s emotions (mood)
2) Change their opinion (mind)
3) Get them to act (hardest)
Inside the rhetorical triangle: exigence:
what makes argument important and timely (now, so what), why does it matter, why does it matter now
Inside the rhetorical triangle: Kairos:
the supreme moment or optimum time
intrinsic vs extrinsic
intrinsic:
- importance and timeliness that rhetor builds within the piece itself
extrinsic:
- something out in the world
- target audience already knows
- importance already established
Relationship between rhetor and audience
appeals to ethos: What can I say to make the audience trust me?
Relationship between subject and audience:
appeals to pathos: What can I say that will make the audience feel a particular way about the subject?
Relationship between subject and rhetor:
appeals to logos: What knowledge about the subject should I explain or discuss?
Rhetor Considerations
[decorum]
- credibility
- profession
- education + degree
- personal experiences
- nationality
- ethnicity
- gender
- sexual orientation
- age
- class
- race
- accolades
- charisma
Appeal (modes of persuasion): what tactic/angle do O need to take
devices, choices, strategies (concrete choices made or devices) –> actual implementation
Audience Considerations
Who is reading or listening? Where and when?
- publication date: moment vs after X years
Is target audience supports or opponents?
- political: both
- overhearers: people outside nation (don’t get vote, still effects them)
Primary: target audience: trying to persuade or effect
- immediacy: same time period
Secondary: not immediately effected, not trying to persuade
- How are they accessing this piece
- speech, lecture, TV, online, magazine, newspaper
Subject Considerations
[purpose]
- to inform, explain something
- to persuade
- to entertain
- to celebrate/honor/memorialize/ blame
familiarity: How familiar are tehy with it? timeliness?
Is muy subject specialized or non specialized?
What kind of subject is it?
- personal
- political
- religious
- scientific
- cultural
- historical
- social
- legal
Cicero’s 5 Rhetoric Canons
- essential elements of any argument:
Invention, Arrangement, Style, Memory, and Delivery
1st Canon of Rhetoric: Invention
- generating an argument; finding ideas that already exist, not creating from nothing
- what is it about–> reach in and pick an idea
2nd Canon of Rhetoric: Arrangement
- order in which you present your material can have a significant impact on the success or failure of your argument
3rd Canon of Rhetoric: Style
- expression: the complexity of language offers innumerable possibilities for expressing your argument to your specific audience in a particular situation
4th Canon of Rhetoric: Memory
- techniques used to remember (pneumonics) a speech; “mind palace” approach: mental cues in a familiar place
5th Canon of Rhetoric: Delivery
- oral delivery techniques: volume, speed, tone, emphasis: but also think of visual representation modes
4 Modes of Discourse
- genres of writing and speech
- what manner you are in
Narration, Description, Persuasion, Exposition
1st Mode of Discourse: Narration (storytelling)
- used in tandem with other rhetorical strategies or as the dominant mode –> could be entertainment (novels, short stories)
- chronological (principle of arrangement: time)
2nd Mode of Discourse: Description
- sense, perception, imagery, providing a scene
- spatial (principle of arrangement: space) (putting things in space)
3rd Mode of Discourse: Persuasion
argument (can pop into other modes)
4th Mode of Discourse: Exposition
(informing rather than persuading
- example
- process analysis
- division/classification (breaking it down, making it a part of something)
- comparision/contrast
- definition
- cause/effect
3 Kinds of Rhetorical Discourse
- Forensic (judicial: blame) PAST: issues of blame, justice
- Deliberative (legislative: choices) FUTURE: policy, choice
- Epideictic: demonstrative (ceremonial: values) PRESENT: virtues and vices, praise: panegyric, encomium
blame: incentive
syllogism
a statement of logical reasoning consisting of a major premise, minor premise, and a conclusion
Fallacies within Syllogisms
- a mistaken belief
- results in deductive and inductive reasoning
deductive reasoning
we deduce the conclusion from the premises. If major and minor premise are true, conclusion must be as well
- formal fallacy: if one premise is not true
ex: “some men are moral” – faulty major premise
inductive reasoning
involves arguing from particulars to universals (is not 100% provable)
- open to fallacies: does not mean they are not viable, they just do not rise to level of a logical proof
- all A’s in middle school –> not proof for future
Enthymeme (2-part argument)
one or more premises left unstated
- all 3 parts of argument are rarely expressed in informal or public situations
- fill in the gap: involved in a persuasive argument
decorum: part of ethos
meeting your audiences expectations: making you agreeable, the art of fitting in, fitting into the groups expectations
The audience decides the rhetorical situations decorum: they make the rules: you do not have to follow them but you do if you want to be persuasive
characteristics of a perfect audience (according to Cicero and Heinrich)
- receptive, attentive, and well-disposed towards you
Rhetorical Virtue
- the appearance of virtue: the person can be true or it can be faked. It requires adaptation, you adapt to the values of the audience, being right does not matter
rhetorical value: constitute what people value (honor, faith, steadfastness, money, toys), support your audiences values, this will earn you the appearance of virtue–> makes you appear aggreable
