Rhetoric: How persuasive are you?

Question 1

soundbite

Answer 1

short and memorable phrase used by politicians.

Wow, I’m impressed! Caesar has been assassinated and Marc Antony tries to persuade the crowd to find his killers. Using words to persuade people, giving them a good reason to do what you say, or to accept your argument, is known as ‘rhetoric’. The art of rhetoric started with the ancient Greek philosophers.

Although technology has transformed the way we communicate since then, the art of rhetoric is still alive today. Modern politicians may prefer Twitter to the public square, but they still use persuasive language, including soundbites – short sentences or phrases giving a message in an easy to remember way.

Question 2

rally

Answer 2

unite to support a common goal.

Rhetoric is persuasive language. We use it rally, to simplify the complex, to inspire and influence. It’s important, I think, to identify what strategies might be influencing us more than we think. By understanding the power of language in shaping perceptions, we can start to see, ‘I’m wondering why people are looking to be so concrete. Are we trying to pull the wool over our eyes on something that’s more far complex than we actually state?’

rhetoric can be used to rally – to bring people together in support of a common goal.

Question 3

pull the wool over someone’s eyes

Answer 3

(informal) trick or deceive someone.

Rhetoric is persuasive language. We use it rally, to simplify the complex, to inspire and influence. It’s important, I think, to identify what strategies might be influencing us more than we think. By understanding the power of language in shaping perceptions, we can start to see, ‘I’m wondering why people are looking to be so concrete. Are we trying to pull the wool over our eyes on something that’s more far complex than we actually state?’

Question 4

premise

Answer 4

idea you believe to be true and use as the basis for developing an argument.
a truth used as the basis for developing an argument,

we need logical arguments containing a premise – something which you think is true and you use as the basis for developing your idea, and a conclusion – your decision or plan of action based on carefully considering all the relevant facts.

For example: climate change is damaging the planet – that’s a premise; therefore, we should act to stop it – that’s a conclusion.

It’s hard to analyse the argument or reasoning of a tweet, ‘cos 280 characters is not a way for me to lay out a logical argument with a major premise, a minor premise and a conclusion, it’s much easier to just use a two-word phrase or a hashtag that usually ends up adding to that kind of polemical division between my side and their side.

Question 5

conclusion

Answer 5

decision or plan of action after thinking about something carefully and considering all the relevant facts.

It’s hard to analyse the argument or reasoning of a tweet, ‘cos 280 characters is not a way for me to lay out a logical argument with a major premise, a minor premise and a conclusion, it’s much easier to just use a two-word phrase or a hashtag that usually ends up adding to that kind of polemical division between my side and their side.

For example: climate change is damaging the planet – that’s a premise; therefore, we should act to stop it – that’s a conclusion.

Question 6

polemical

Answer 6

arguing very strongly for or against a particular opinion or idea.

it’s much easier to just use a two-word phrase or a hashtag that usually ends up adding to that kind of polemical division between my side and their side.

For example: climate change is damaging the planet – that’s a premise; therefore, we should act to stop it – that’s a conclusion.

Few issues are simply black and white though, and this is a problem because Twitter debates are often polemical – argued very strongly either for or against a particular opinion or idea.

Question 7

Rhetoric

Answer 7

If you believe passionately in something, you need to explain it to people in a way they understand, and in ancient times rhetoric also meant building bridges between people and finding common ground.

Using words to persuade people, giving them a good reason to do what you say, or to accept your argument, is known as ‘rhetoric’. The art of rhetoric started with the ancient Greek philosophers.