FroshIntroRhetoric.docx



Mr. LosowFreshman CompositionIntroduction to Rhetoric INCLUDEPICTURE "" \* MERGEFORMATINET Ethos Ethos is the Greek word from which we get our word "ethics." Ethos is all about your credibility, reliability, and authority as a speaker or writer. Essentially, ethos is your reputation with your audience and the strategies you use to convince your audience that you should be believed or taken seriously. For the Greeks, who put a great deal of emphasis on citizenship, ethos had a lot to do with a rhetor's status in the community. In fact, Quintilian, a Roman rhetorician, defined ethos as "A good man speaking well." For Quintilian, being a "good man" was equally as important as having the ability to "speak well." Ethos focuses on the speaker or writer.Logos Logos sounds a lot like our word "logic," and that's a good way to think about logos. Logos focuses on the text itself--the data, examples, statistics, facts, reasoning, etc. which are part of your message. We often refer to the logos portion of writing as "support material." Naturally, a speaker or writer who uses poor or faulty data to try to support a claim or convince an audience compromises his/her ethos. In other words, these rhetorical appeals don't exist in isolation; they are closely interrelated. Nonetheless, when we talk about logos, we're focusing primarily on the text or the message that's being delivered.Pathos Our modern English word which is closest to pathos is the word "pathetic." We tend to use the word "pathetic" to describe something that is pitiful, stupid, or sorry, but the root of the word--"path"--actually means "feeling or suffering." We derive quite a few medical and psychological terms from this root (e.g., pathology, pathologist, psychopath, etc.) because those terms have to do with what human beings feel and/or suffer. Pathos is all about appealing to feelings or emotions. Thus, the focus of pathos is on the audience.SOAPSToneSpeaker – (Ethos) What is the speaker’s relationship to the audience and the subject Occasion – (Context) What are the time, place, and context of the message that is deliveredAudience – (Pathos) What is the audience’s attitude toward the speaker and the subject?Purpose – What does the speaker want the audience to do or think after delivering the message? Subject – (Logos) How familiar and knowledgeable are the speaker and audience about the subject? What attitude do they have toward the subject? Tone – What is the speaker’s attitude toward the subject and the audience (eg. Sarcastic, objective, mournful, etc.) Rhetorical ModesDescription –The act of capturing people, places, events, objects, and feelings in words so that a reader can visualize and respond to them. The subject or topic of the writing is “suspended in time,” and the writer uses the senses (taste, touch, smell, sight, sound) to place the reader in the “environment” of the essay. The writing can be objective (simply discussing the situation) or subjective (attempting to persuade the reader by the impact of the described situation).Narration –The act of telling a story, usually based on personal experience. It must have some purpose, as it usually incorporates descriptive elements--senses, metaphors, and similes. Narration is used to get the reader to "identify" with the writer on some level, and thereby ultimately agree with the writer.Example –Provides concrete and/or specific details to support abstract ideas or generalizations. Good examples help the writer "show" rather than "tell," and strong essays use good examples as support for the thesis to convince or persuade the reader.Definition –The process of explaining a word, object, or idea in such a way that the reader knows precisely what the writer means. A good definition focuses on the special qualities of a word or phrase that set it apart. It gives the reader and writer a mutual starting point.Process Analysis –This mode involves writing about a "process," following a series of steps or stages, and then taking apart the subject and explaining those parts. This is used to explain an action, a mechanism, or an event from beginning to end. It can be directive (giving directions step by step) or informative (giving information about how or why something happened).Division/Classification –Division takes a general concept or topic and creates smaller subcategories. Classification takes individual examples and groups them based on common traits. Division is important because it breaks a complex subject into parts that are easy for a reader to grasp. Classification is important because it organizes a large amount of material for the parison/Contrast –Comparison discovers likenesses between two things, and Contrast discovers differences between two things. They work hand-in-hand, allowing the reader and writer to understand one subject by putting it next to another. The skill of finding similarities and differences is important because it enhances a writer's ability to create accurate descriptions, cite proper examples, or classify and label subjects.Cause/Effect – This mode looks for connections between different elements and analyzes the reasons for those connections. In working with Causes, the writer searches for any circumstances from the past that may have caused a single event. In looking for Effects, the writer seeks occurrences that took place after a particular event and resulted from that event. This mode requires the ability to analyze. ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download