Transcript The Power Triangle

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When an educated reader evaluates a text or
source, he or she needs to analyze the
printed evidence:
◦ Who wrote this?
◦ Why did they write it?
◦ How credible is the author, the argument, and the
evidence?
◦ What rhetorical devices are they using to get the
reader on their side?
◦ What is the real intention or meaning and purpose
of this text?
Ethos
Pathos
Logos
 Appeal
based on the speaker’s
character, image, or ethics
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This includes the:
◦ Reputation
◦ Credibility
◦ Authority
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of the:
◦ Author
◦ Publication
◦ Reputation of referenced institutions conducting
studies or research
 Appeal
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based on emotion
This includes:
◦ Use of loaded, emotional language
◦ Examples, case studies, and/or anecdotes intended
to elicit strong emotional reactions from the reader
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This type of appeal can be very powerful;
people will do incredible things based on
their feelings and emotions!
◦ In some cases, people will totally deny and ignore
facts to justify their feelings.
 Appeal
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based on logic
This includes:
◦ Use of facts, statistical data, research, and solid
evidence (which can always be manipulated!)
◦ Reasoning meant to appeal to good judgment,
common sense, and logic
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Ambiguity: being vague and unclear
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Figurative language: using figures of speech
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Propaganda: information of a biased or
misleading nature; used to promote or publicize
a particular political cause or point of view
Repetition: repeatedly emphasizing a point or
phrase
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Diction: word choice
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The term is used for words that suggest two
or more appropriate meanings or that convey
both a basic meaning and complex overtones
of that meaning.
Sometimes, authors make deliberate choices
of words that simultaneously cause several
different streams of thought in the reader’s
mind.
◦ "Thanks for dinner. I’ve never seen potatoes cooked
like that before.“
◦ Prostitutes Appeal to Pope (newspaper headline)
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Alliteration: using the same letter or sound at the
beginning of adjacent words
Antithesis: a balance of opposites
Assonance: repetition of a vowel sound
Cliché: a phrase or opinion that is overused and
lacks original thought
Hyperbole: extreme exaggeration
Idiom: a phrase that has a certain meaning that
can’t be understood from the actual words
Irony: saying the opposite of what is really meant
Metaphor and Simile: comparing unlike things
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Assertion: an enthusiastic or energetic statement
presented as a fact, although it is not necessarily
true
Bandwagon: follow the crowd, to join in because
others are doing so as well
Card stacking: presenting information that is
positive to an idea and omitting negative
information
Glittering generalities: indefinable words that have
positive meaning and are linked to highly valued
concepts
False analogy: two things that may or may not
really be similar are portrayed as being similar
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Faulty cause and effect: suggests that because
B follows A, A must cause B; just because two
events or two sets of data are related does not
necessarily mean that one caused the other to
happen
Name calling: derogatory words that carry a
negative connotation when describing an
enemy
Plain folks appeal: an attempt to convince
others that the views presented reflect those of
common people
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Repetition of single word, with no other
words in between.
Anaphora: repeating a sequence of words at
the beginning of a clause to cause emphasis
◦ “I have a dream… I have a dream…” – MLK, Jr.
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Epistrophe: repeating a sequence of words at
the end of a clause to cause emphasis
◦ “There is no Negro problem. There is no Southern
problem. There is no Northern problem. There is
only an American problem.” – Lyndon B. Johnson
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The precise choice and use of words and phrases
in speech or writing.
◦ I don’t like her. VS I hate that witch so bad I want to
claw her face off!
◦ He’s good looking. VS He’s smoking hot.
◦ It was raining. VS The mist hung heavy in the air as
droplets of water converged to form a steadily
increasing shower of rain that seemed to wash away all
of the stress from my day as I sat on the park bench.
◦ The house is scary at night. VS Lying in bed with the
sheet pulled over my head, I was petrified as I heard
terrifying creaks and moans echoing from within the
walls of the house that seemed to play host to unsettled
spirits of the past.