Rhetoric Defined and Its History

Rhetoric Defined

• Rhetoric is the art of persuasion.
• Key thinkers have defined it in different ways.
  • Aristotle saw it as figuring out what persuades others.
  • Quintilian defined it as the art of speaking well.
  • Kuypers and King defined it as the strategic use of language to achieve goals.
  • Herrick viewed it as intentional practice of effective symbolic expression.
  • Sonja Foss emphasized strategic choice of language.
  • Gerard A. Hauser viewed rhetoric as exchanging symbols to achieve goals.
  • I. A. Richards studied misunderstandings and their remedies.
  • Thomas Rickert argued rhetoric shapes how people view the world.

History of Rhetoric

• Sophists were early educators who taught public speaking.
• They didn't systematize rhetoric but laid groundwork for its development.
• Key figures like Protagoras, Gorgias, and Isocrates contributed to thinking.
• Aristotle systematized rhetoric, viewing it as a counterpart to dialectic.
• Dialectic is a method of intense questioning used to explore ideas.

Features of Rhetoric

• Rhetoric is adaptable and aims to figure out what to say in specific situations.
• It deals with probabilities because certainty isn't always possible in situations.
• The goal is to help people solve issues through persuasive communication.

The Rhetorical Situation

• Rhetoric is the strategic use of language to achieve goals.
• It depends on the time, place, speaker, and audience.
• Lloyd Blitzer argued rhetorical discourse responds to specific situations.
• Situations dictate how the speaker should respond.
  • Rhetorical situation involves people, events, objects, and relationships presenting problems that can be solved through discourse.
  • The situation includes providing assistance, orienting the audience, and building solidarity.

Persuasion and Identification

• Rhetorical discourse aims to influence how an audience thinks or acts.
• Aristotle defined rhetoric as finding ways to persuade in a given situation.
  • Rhetoric is the art of finding all possible ways to persuade an audience.

Canons of Rhetoric

• Five Canons;
  • Invention involves choosing ideas and arguments.
  • Challenges and necessity is key for selecting appropriate arguments .
  • Artistic arguments are internal and include rational, ethical, and emotional appeals.
  • Non artistic arguments come from external sources like laws, documents, and statistics.

The Mosaic Persona

• Persona, in ancient theatre, was a mask used to represent a character.
• In contemporary rhetoric, persona is used to gain audience sympathy.
• Moses' story mirrors themes of liberation and struggle, resonating with the African-American community.
• MLK Jr. was described as a modern Moses due to these themes.
  • The Persona, in ancient theatre, was a mask worn by actors. In contemporary rhetoric, it helps actors gain empathy by representing a character.
  • Moses’ story is an archetype resonating with African American Culture, similar to Dr. King; this mirrors themes of liberation and struggle.
  • Functions of Mosaic Persona helped Dr. King to be taken seriously and inspire confidence among African Americans, as well as to convince others of their shared goal toward racial equality.

Rhetoric and Genre

• Genre is a type of discourse with common characteristics.
• Generic criticism argues genres are shaped by situational factors.
  • Genres are shaped by specific situations and thus are limited in number and form
  • There is a limited number of rhetorical situations and consequently limited ways in which a rhetor may respond to them
• Three Classical Types
  • Deliberative rhetoric aims to persuade the audience to take a specific action or adopt a viewpoint.

Style in Rhetoric

• Two main approaches to understanding style:
  • Traditional approach views style as presentation of the content.
  • Recent approach sees style and content as inseparable and influential factors in communicating meaning.
  • Nominal/Verbal Styles: Nominal styles use general terms while verbal styles use specific terms.

Figures of Speech

• Figures, such as parallelism and antithesis, help to structure arguments by showing similarities and differences between ideas
• Figures like Isocolon, Epizeuxis, and Anaphora enhance the impact and flow of communication by repeating words, phrases, or structures.
  • Figures of speech help structure arguments and enhance communication. Examples include: Parallelism, Antithesis, Isocolon, Epizeuxis, and Anaphora.

Propaganda

• Propaganda is a process of persuasion using media to influence.
• Propaganda can be used for good or bad purposes.
• Examples of types include: -Cohesive propaganda brings people closer. -Divisive propaganda creates discord.
• Propaganda differs by model
  • Authoritarian model is top-down with censorship.
  • Democratic model allows for many viewpoints.
• Hitler used emotional appeals focusing on a few points, repeating them, and believing that the bigger the lie, the more likely people would believe it.