COMT330 Persuasion



COMT330 Persuasion

Exam #1 Essay Statements/Questions

Dr. Daniel D. Gross

Due: Due in Two Weeks

Pick one question/statement from the following list and respond to it in no less then 5 and no more then 8 pages, if you can help it. Your response will be given a letter grade. Following the list of questions/statements, I have supplied a sample response. Please pay close attention to the following in your response:

1. Read the question/statement carefully and respond to all its aspects. Partial responses will be penalized.

2. Respond using “pages” that are double-spaced with 1” margins sides, top, and bottom in font 12, use “Times New Romans” or similar style..

3. This is a research paper. So, questions that have little substance and may have been written in class rather than at home will be penalized. Last minute papers often read as such. Research papers are carefully focused around one idea or purpose, are carefully organized, and they contain appropriate support from the reading and anecdotal material. In other words, your opinions are welcomed, but answers that are merely opinion and not supported and couched in the ongoing discussion about the topic you are addressing will be penalized. While the text may help you get going I expect you will go to several other sources to help you support your claim. Appropriate materials given your chosen topic are essential. And, I am quite sure that the dictionary will not be, in most cases, an appropriate source.

4. Each response should be presented in the following form (some exceptions may apply):

a. Your name typed at the top of the paper

b. Number and copy the question/statement you are planning to respond to.

c. Each response should have at least three main aspects. These sections are examples and not necessarily how your paper will be organized nor will they necessarily appear in your paper. However, your paper will flow in such a manner that these aspects will be evident.

-Introduction--the content of which is theory and background summary

-Applications/Examples

-Evaluation/Summary/Critique/Conclusion

Questions/Statements (5 numbered questions/statements following—hope you don’t get lost. Just keep scholarly down)

1. Ayn Rand stated, “To deal with men by force is as impractical as to deal with nature by persuasion.” Critique this statement given your understanding of the study of rhetoric so far.

2. Alfred North Whitehead stated, “The creation of the world—said Plato—is the victory of persuasion over force. The worth of men consists in their liability to persuasion.” Respond to this statement given your understanding of the study of rhetoric so far.

3. Should we bane “God” talk by American politicians? Why or why not?

4. Near the end of the Phaedrus, Plato’s Socrates points out the difficulties of written communication in contrast to face to face interpersonal. What are Plato’s Socrates concerns? Are his concerns valid? How does what he says apply to all media type communication? What can we do about it though? Be sure your response contains some good examples.

5. What is rhetoric? As part of your response, compare the ancients’ perspectives and then define and support your perspective on rhetoric. What contemporary value does it offer?

6. In the Gorgias, Plato presents rhetoric in a negative light. Explain how he does that and respond to his attack in defense of rhetoric. Is their some truth to his attack? Yes or no? Pick a side and support your claim.

7. Gorgias makes a claim about reality that at first reading may seem nonsense. What does he claim and from a communication point of view explain how it is not nonsense. Provide an incidences and/or examples to illustrate your explanation. Does his claim have any practical value? One way to get at this might be to make the theme of your paper “The notion that there are facts, is a myth.”

8. Take the letter regarding the earring (a copy of the letter is on my website) and using Aristotle’s notion of persuasion being “all the available means of persuasion,” illustrate from strategies in the letter how the author (my wife by the way) used all the available means of persuasion. Place your critique in a larger scholarly context as illustrated in the examples near the end of this exam.

9. Given that you have listened to Dan Gross, your instructor in this course for almost five weeks now, do an analysis of his communication using actual communication examples. Do this rhetorical criticism of his communication so you can support your claim that he is primarily modeling one of the ancients. But, which one? Is it Plato? Is it Gorgias? Is it Aristotle? Is it someone else? Be sure your answer is supported by numerous examples.

10. Given the material presented so far about persuasion and how symbol use can be used to change people’s minds, should we have professional juries that are trained in the art and techniques of persuasion? Pick a position and support your claim.

11. Write a letter, that contains a well-formed argument, that parents might use to convince their child to quick chewing tobacco. Using your current knowledge of rhetorical theory, add a section explaining way the letter will probably be effective.

NOTE: By the way, all the available means of persuasion as you know includes the following: Inartistic proofs and artistic proofs, the enthymeme, statements and examples, the rhetorical canon, etc. If I were you, I would use these items and identify them when appropriate in constructing a response.

I. Sample Exam Essay

1. Why did Aristotle view rhetoric as an art that had value? Give two examples demonstrating how to apply Aristotle’s contributions to the study of rhetoric. Then, apply it to a contemporary situation. Dan would proceed as follows:

Introduction

Aristotle (384-322 BC) was a student of Plato. The Rhetoric is a reaction against Plato’s view of rhetoric as well as against the handbooks of rhetoric of that time period. Aristotle makes two major assumptions that opposed those made by the Sophists and Plato.

First, he based his rhetorical teachings on probability rather than certainty as Plato and done. Second, he saw rhetoric as an imperfect art rather than a law-bound science as the Sophists had held. In chapter one of Book One of the Rhetoric, Aristotle saw four uses of rhetoric. First, rhetoric presented triumph of fraud and injustice. Second, rhetoric can instruct when science is of no avail. Third, it makes us argue both sides. Fourth, it is a means of defense.

In response to Plato’s commentary on the Gorgias, Aristotle suggests that rhetoric can be used in an immoral fashion and that it can be used in a moral fashion. His point is that all good things can be misused. (If I were really responding here, I would fill this response out a bit.) Examples

(I would then go on to give several examples of the most important aspects of this opening response. In addition, I would tell the reader prior to the examples exactly would I am exemplifying. In others words, I would make a clear and direct claim and then support it.

Conclusion

(Finally, I would add my own well-reasoned critique.)

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