Rhetoric
&
al Th e Th ree R ’s
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of attempting to inform and persuade a
specific audience. Rhetorical analysis is what we do when we
analyze how (and to what effect) an arguer makes her
argument. We use it to produce and analyze discourse. It can
also help us understand the ways we are persuaded or even
manipulated by the discourse we read, hear, and see.
Everything you read, write, and say is the product of rhetorical
choices (some more conscious than others).
Rhetorical Appeals
Logos: Logic
Ethos: Credibility
Pathos: Emotion
The 3 R’s
• Rhetorical Appeals
• Rhetorical Situation
• Reality Check
Rhetorical Situation
Genre, Audience, Purpose, and Context
Scholars and instructors in the field of
Writing Studies use the term rhetorical
situation to refer to the set of
circumstances in which a text appears.
All texts have a rhetorical situation,
even those that were not produced for
an evidently persuasive purpose. Like
rhetorical appeals, the elements of
rhetorical situation are universally
applicable to your evaluation of any
text.
Genre
You may have learned about genre (which simply means
type or category) when taking a literature course. In
Literary Studies, genre refers to categories such as
poetry, drama, creative nonfiction, and fiction. Within
each category, there may also be sub-genres; fiction
sub-genres include science fiction, detective novels,
romance novels, and fantasy.
In Writing Studies, the concept of genre is applied to all
texts, literary or not. As a student, you have been asked
to write a number of academic genres, including
argumentative essays, research papers, and lab reports.
If you go on to graduate school, you will be required to
compose other academic genres: dissertations,
annotated bibliographies, grant proposals, research
articles, and conference abstracts. Beyond academia,
there are workplace genres, such as resumes, cover
letters, memos, and press releases, as well as everyday
genres like email correspondence, social network posts,
and newspaper editorials.
Audience
Overall, the intended audience is the group of
readers writers have in mind when they’re
composing a text.
There is no such thing as a general audience.
Sometimes writers, editors, and writing
instructors use the term "general audience"
when referring to any non-specialist audience.
However, this is just a catchall term: there is
no such thing as a completely general
audience. No piece of writing is intended to
meet the needs of all readers from the age of
6 to 106, without regard to education level or
individual interests.
Purpose
The purposes of texts are as varied as
their intended audiences.
Some writers compose texts to persuade
or inform, others to entertain their
intended audiences. Moreover, some
writers have multiple purposes in mind.
Misunderstanding the purpose of a text
can lead to inappropriate evaluations.
Purposes of Argument
• To inform
• To explore
• To entertain
• To persuade
Context
Context (Kairos): Physical and Social
There are two aspects of context to
consider: the physical and the social.
Physical context refers to the actual
space in which a text appears or is
published. This might be a daily
newspaper, like The Globe and Mail, an
organizational website, such as that of
the Southern Poverty Law Center, or a
peer-reviewed academic journal.
Social context refers to the historical and
cultural situation in which a text appears.
Reality Check
• Don’t jump to conclusions
• Play the skeptic
• Don’t rush
• Consider plausibility
• Crosscheck with other sources
• Do the math
