Transcript Rhetoric Terms and Fallacies, presentation

Impress your significant other!
Persuade your parents!
Amaze small children!
Manipulate your friends!
Humiliate your enemies!
Rhetoric
The Art of Persuasion
Parkland High School

To many, rhetoric implies trickery, deception, or
manipulation. When politicians try to make or
obscure a point, opponents often criticize them for
using “empty rhetoric.” But what exactly is
rhetoric?
intro

The Greek philosopher Aristotle defined rhetoric as
“the faculty of observing in any given case the
available means of persuasion.” Rhetoric is used in
writing, speeches, and in everyday conversation. It’s
quite useful when we know how to use it, and when
someone is using it on us. Let’s look at the key
elements:
definition
elements of rhetoric

Simply put, the subject is the topic. Without
knowing one’s topic or subject, the speech, essay, or
argument will fail to persuade your audience.
subject
The speaker giving a speech
 The speaker in a conversation
 The writer
Note: The speaker can also be a persona – the
character the speaker creates when he or she writes a
speech or converses. For example, the speaker may
be a poet, comedian, scholar, etc.
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speaker
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The person(s) who hear a speech, view a film, or
read a text
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Consider the differences between the following
audiences:
◦ the commencement speech you give at your own high
school graduation; the presentation you give in English
class; the speech you give your teammates to fire them up
before the big game; the speech you give as Best Man or
Maid of Honor at your best friend’s wedding
audience

the convergence of time, place, and other events
that influence how a speaker and audience receive a
text or speech

The goal that the speaker or writer wants to achieve
context and purpose
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Consider: Drake-Madonna kiss at Coachella,
Zendaya’s dreadlocks at the Oscars, Miley CyrusRobin Thicke twerk, Hillary Clinton Benghazi tragedy,
President Clinton-Monica Lewinsky scandal
The importance of context
After analyzing the relationship of speaker to subject,
audience to speaker, and audience to subject, a
writer/speaker is ready to make some strategic choices. One
is how to persuade the audience by appealing to ethos,
logos, and pathos.
appeals
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A persuasive appeal based on the credibility or
reputation of the speaker
Speakers and writers appeal to ethos, or character, to
demonstrate that they are credible and trustworthy.
Expertise and knowledge, experience, training, sincerity,
etc.
HINT: CREDIBILITY
One appeals to ethos by offering evidence that he or she
is credible—knows important and relevant information
about the topic at hand and is a good, believable person
ethos
1. "As a doctor, I am qualified to tell you
that this course of treatment will likely
generate the best results.”
1. "My three decades of experience in
public service, my tireless commitment
to the people of this community, and
my willingness to reach across the aisle
and cooperate with the opposition,
make me the ideal candidate for your
mayor.”
2. "Our expertise in roofing contracting is
evidenced not only by our 100 years in
the business and our staff of qualified
technicians, but in the decades of
satisfied customers who have come to
expect nothing but the best."
ethos: examples
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A persuasive appeal based on logic, reason, statistics or
facts
Writers and speakers appeal to logos, or reason, by
offering clear, rational ideas. Appealing to logos means
having a clear main idea (thesis), with specific details,
examples, facts, statistical data, or expert testimony as
support.
Hint: LOGIC
One appeals to logos by offering a clear, reasonable
central idea(s) and developing it with appropriate
evidence to appeal to an audience’s sense of logic or
reason
logos
Descartes said:
"I think;
therefore,
I am”
Logos: examples
An appeal that draws on an audience’s emotions
(whether positive or negative) to involve them in the
argument or to persuade them
 Writers and speakers appeal to pathos by engaging
the emotions of the receiver in order to persuade.
Note: When appealing only to emotions, the
argument is weak and propagandistic.
Hint: EMOTIONS

pathos
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here
out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come
fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas
where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms
of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality.
You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to
work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to
South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go
back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing
that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not
wallow in the valley of despair.
Pathos appeal:
From MLK Jr’s “I Have a Dream”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO9d2PpP7tQ
Pathos appeal: ASPCA
When rhetoric goes wrong, receivers see the
persuasive intent as propaganda. Propaganda is a
one-sided method of persuasion that is intended to
manipulate. It bypasses logic through faulty
reasoning and emotional appeals.
 Let’s looks at some of the propaganda techniques in
more detail. Some of these techniques are also
known as logical fallacies.

logical fallacies
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An attack on a person instead of an issue. Insulting
words are used in place of logical arguments. This
appeals to emotions rather than reason.
Examples:
“right-wing conspirator”
“bleeding-heart liberal”
name calling
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Tries to persuade the receiver to do, think, or buy
something because “everyone” is doing it.
Examples:
“Five million members and growing!”
“Thousands of satisfied customers can’t be wrong!”
“Join the digital revolution”
bandwagon

An attempt to distract with details not relevant to
the argument; sidetracking.
Example:
Mike: “It’s morally wrong to cheat on your spouse.
Why would you do that, Ken?”
Ken: “What is morality, exactly?”
Mike: “A code of conduct.”
Ken: “But who creates this code?”
red herring

Attempting to persuade by using emotional words
(Pathos) only and not appealing to logic (Logos) or
providing credibility (Ethos)
Example:
“If you love your children, vote for Joe Smith.”
Emotional appeal
Using a famous person to endorse a product or idea.
Testimonials take advantage of the fact that there
are certain people we tend to trust, even if that trust
is based on mere recognition, rather than true
credibility.
Example:
A person might love Sean Penn’s movies and even
agree with some of his political views, but that does
not qualify him to pick out the ideal presidential
candidate.
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testimonial
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Repeating a message over and over again. Repetition
works under the assumption that the more people hear
something the more likely they are to believe it, even if
on a subconscious level.
Examples:
In advertising: “Head On. Apply directly to the forehead.”
In politics, repetition is used with “talking points.” The
same topics and phrases are repeated on the media
circuit.
repetition
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Making an oversimplified statement based on
limited information
Examples:
“Every person should run a mile each day for optimum
health.”
“Children should be seen, not heard.”
sweeping generalizations
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Stating a conclusion as part of the proof of the
argument; assuming what one is attempting to
prove.
Example:
A confused student argues:
“You can’t give me a C! I’m an A student!”
circular argument
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Shows how many people think something is true;
using large numbers or misleading facts to confuse.
Example:
“Ninety percent of Americans believe in ghosts.”
appeal to facts and statistics

persuading by appeals to simplistic black and white
and either/or thinking. Used constantly by the
media.
Example:
President Bush to Congress: “Either you are with us or
you are with the terrorists.”
Regarding abortion: “I am not pro-choice; I am prolife.”
either/or

offering a simple solution to an extremely complex
problem.
Examples:
“If we want to end drug abuse, let’s send every drug
user to prison for life.”
General Curtis LeMay regarding Japan in WWII: “Let’s
bomb them back to the stone age.”
oversimplification
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repressing one side of the argument.
Example:
Used car salesman listing all of the good qualities while
disregarding all of the faults: “Great speakers, new paint
job, low mileage.” [Never mind the missing transmission.]
“My new boyfriend is handsome, loves kittens, and reads
Shakespeare.” [Never mind he pushed an old woman into
oncoming traffic.]
stacking the cards