Rhetoric: Persuading the Audience - Understanding Ethos, Pathos, and Logos

Rhetoric: Persuading the Audience Rhetoric ￮ Writing or speaking as a means of communication or persuasion ￮ According to Aristotle, rhetoric rests on three pillars or persuasive appeals: ￮ “Of the modes of persuasion furnished by the spoken word there are three kinds. The fir...

Rhetoric: Persuading the Audience Rhetoric ￮ Writing or speaking as a means of communication or persuasion ￮ According to Aristotle, rhetoric rests on three pillars or persuasive appeals: ￮ “Of the modes of persuasion furnished by the spoken word there are three kinds. The first kind depends on the personal character of the speaker; the second on putting the audience into a certain frame of mind; the third on the proof, or apparent proof, provided by the words of the speech itself.” 2 The Three Pillars of Rhetoric ￮ Ethos, Pathos, Logos 3 Rhetoric Ethos Pathos Logos credibility (or emotional logical argument character) of the connection to the Persuasion speaker audience 4 Ethos ￮ Ethos is an appeal based on the credibility of the speaker. ￮ A speaker who is not perceived by the audience as being credible will have a difficult time persuading them of anything. ￮ A person’s credibility is based on a number of factors including the following: 5 Ethos Reputation: The speaker’s life experience, achievements, mistakes, etc. can enhance or detract from ethos. Trustworthiness: The audience wants to be able to rely on what the speaker is saying. Authority: A person in a position of authority (e.g., the president of a country, the CEO of a multinational) will often have a certain amount of ethos by virtue of the position held 6 Ethos ￮ Expertise: Experts in a given field have ethos when they speak about that field. ￮ Similarity: A speaker can generate ethos with an audience by calling out areas or characteristics that he shares with the audience. ￮ Manner: The way in which a speaker handles herself on stage – her voice, her body language – can affect her ethos. 7  Why is Ethos Critical for Speakers? ￮ If you have high ethos, your audience is listening and attentive from your first word. ￮ If you have low ethos, your audience may not be listening or paying attention. (In fact, they may not even show up! Poor ethos doesn’t attract a crowd.) ￮ Expectations are low, and a poor opening will kill you. Your audience can be persuaded, but your speech needs to be much better to do it. 8 Quick Think What strength do you have that will contribute to your ethos? 9 Pathos ￮ Is an appeal to the audience based on emotion. ￮ Emotions are powerful things. William James said, ~ “The emotions aren’t always immediately subject to reason, but they are always immediately subject to action.”~ o Speakers can tap into the emotions of an audience in several ways: 10 emotion tips: ￮ Storytelling: Telling a story is one of the most powerful ways to make an emotional connection with an audience. Stories add meaning and stories are memorable. ￮ Call to action: Appealing to one’s sense of purpose or duty can stir up powerful emotions. ￮ Visuals: Showing a powerful image or video can elicit an emotional response from the audience. ￮ Metaphors: Anchoring your new idea to something which the audience already knows and about which they feel strongly can evoke an 11 emotional response. Logos ￮ is an appeal with a logical argument. ￮ Does your message make sense? Is it well structured? ￮ Is your message based on facts, statistics, and evidence? ￮ The following are some of the things that a speaker can use to strengthen the logos of your speech: ￮ Data, facts, statistics ￮ Test results, survey results, research results ￮ Charts and diagrams ￮ Demonstrations 12 Which is most important? Ethos? Pathos? or Logos? ￮ Aristotle believed that logos should be the most important of the three persuasive appeals. As a philosopher and a master of logical reasoning, he believed that logos should be the only required persuasive appeal. ￮ That is, if you demonstrated logos, you should not need either ethos or pathos. ￮ However, Aristotle stated that logos alone is not sufficient. Not only is it not sufficient on its own, but it is no more important than either of the two other pillars. ￮ He argued that all three persuasive appeals are necessary. 13 Rhetorical Devices for the speech 'ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.'' 14 Hey. Don’t ever let somebody tell you, you can’t do something. Not even me. All right? You got a dream? You got to protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they want to tell you, you can’t do it. You want something? Go get it! Watch this clip on youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvtxOzO6OAE Period! 15 Rhetorical Devices: ASYNDETON The omission of conjunctions such as “and”, “or”, “for” and “but” from a series of related phrases or clauses, which helps to increase the tempo and highlight a specific idea. Asyndeton adds speed and rhythm to the words. It leaves an impression that the list is not complete. There is more drama to the sentence without the conjunction between the final two phrases or clauses. In an asyndeton with two phrases, there can be a feeling of parallelism, synonymity or emphasis. 16  Rhetorical Devices: ASYNDETON “Cemerlang, gemilang, terbilang” – Abdullah Badawi “…and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.” – Abraham Lincoln “Let’s take a look at the side. It’s really thin. It’s thinner than any smart phone out there, at 11.6 millimeters. Thinner than the Q, thinner than the BlackJack, thinner than all of them. It’s really nice.” — Steve Jobs, Macworld 2007 Keynote Address 17 Rhetorical Devices: TRICOLON is a rhetorical term for a series of three parallel words, phrases, or clauses. it helps audiences absorb the idea, and remember it more effectively. Sometimes, writers use tricolon for creating a humorous effect. ”[T]hree provides a sense of the whole … the number three is greater than four. The mojo of three offers a greater sense of completeness than four or more. … Use one for power. Use two for comparison, contrast. Use three for completeness, wholeness, roundness.” ~ Roy Peter Clark 18 Rhetorical Devices: TRICOLON ￮ A tricolon that is only three successive words is also known as a hendiatris. “Veni, vidi, vici (I came, I saw, [and] I conquered.“) – Julius Caesar “ kita mahu memastikan negara terus menikmati hidup yang aman, bahagia dan sejahtera” 19 Rhetorical Devices: TRICOLON The elements of a tricolon need not always be the exact same length. Tricolons sound especially good when the third element is longer than the preceding two. ￮ “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” – US Declaration of Independence ￮ "Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” ~ Benjamin Franklin ￮ “Yang bengkok kita luruskan, yang jauh kita rapatkan, yang renggang kita cantumkan.” ~Abdullah Ahmad Badawi ￮ “I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors” ￮ “Rules must be binding. Violations must be punished. Words must mean something”. ~ Obama 20 Rhetorical Devices: ANAPHORA In writing or speech, the deliberate repetition of the first part of the sentence in order to achieve an artistic effect is known as Anaphora. As a rhetorical device, anaphora is used to appeal to the emotions of the audience, in order to persuade, inspire, motivate, and encourage them. ￮ My life is my purpose. My life is my goal. My life is my inspiration.” ￮ “Tell them to be good, tell them to follow their elders, and tell them to mind their manners.” ￮ “After a long term of studies, the students wanted to go home, they wanted to play, and they wanted to meet their parents and friends.” 21 Rhetorical Devices: ANAPHORA “We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender.” ~ Winston Churchill’s speech during the Second World War~ 22 Rhetorical Devices: ANAPHORA “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.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr 23 Rhetorical Devices: ANAPHORA “Kita ingin melihat anak bangsa ke angkasa lepas. Kita perlu calon yang sesuai, yang bersemangat, berdisiplin, dan berani. Kita berdoa tetapi kita akan membuat persediaan yang mencukupi.” ~ Mahathir Mohamad (2003) “Ya tuhan, jadikanlah sebaik-baik umurku hingga akhirnya, sebaik- baik perbuatanku hingga kesudahannya, dan sebaik-baik masaku hingga menjumpaiMu.” 24  Rhetorical Devices: METAPHOR A metaphor compares one thing to another, but asserts that one thing is actually another. Metaphors help a skeptical or apathetic audience better embrace and value a new concept or idea. Metaphors make the connection of that new idea to an object the audience already knows. “The greatest thing by far is to have mastered the metaphor.” - Aristotle 25 Rhetorical Devices: METAPHOR ￮ Belakang parang kalau diasah lagikan tajam, inikan pula otak manusia. ￮ “Koruptor adalah sampah masyarakat yang seharusnya diperlakukan lebih buruk dari seorang pencuri.” ~ unknown 26 Rhetorical Devices: METAPHOR “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.” – Sir Winston Churchil “The torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans.” – John F Kennedy “With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of a nation into the beautiful symphony of brotherhood.” – Martin Luther King 27 Rhetorical Devices: ANTITHESIS A word, phrase, or sentence opposes the original proposition. The contrast between the two ideas is starker than it would be in ordinary speech. The message or focus is usually on the second idea. Antithesis always contains two different ideas. The grammatical structure of antithesis should be balanced. The contrasting ideas must be expressed in a parallel manner. 28 ANTITHESIS “badan orang bisa dirantai, tetapi semangat merdeka tidak dapat diikat.” ~ Mohammad Hatta “Beri aku seribu orang tua, nescaya akan kucabut semeru dari akarnya, berikan aku sepuluh pemuda, nescaya akan kugoncangkan dunia.” – Soekarno “perjuanganku lebih mudah kerana mengusir penjajah, perjuanganmu akan lebih sulit kerana melawan bangsamu sendiri.” 29 ANTITHESIS “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” – Martin Luther King, Jr. We find ourselves rich in goods, but ragged in spirit; reaching with magnificentprecision for the moon, but falling into raucous discord on earth. We are caught in war, wanting peace. We are torn by division, wanting unity. ￮ — Richard Nixon, 20 January 1969 30 Rhetorical Devices: ANADIPLOSIS The last word or phrase is repeated to begin the next. Can be used to demonstrate the relationship between things or events. It is often used to show cause and effect. is particularly effective when used in a triple; i.e., first concept – first set of repeated words – second concept – second set of repeated words – third concept. It is not necessary for the repeated words to be exactly beside each other; other words can be interjected provided that the elements of the anadiplosis are not too far apart. 31 ANADIPLOSIS ￮ “Without a healthy economy, we can’t have a healthy society. And without a healthy society, the economy won’t stay healthy for long.” ~ Margaret Thatcher, Conservative Party Address, 10 October 1980 ￮ “Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” ~Yoda in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999) ￮ “Kita mesti berusaha. Berusaha mencapai cita-cita. Cita-cita bangsa dan negara.” 32 Rhetorical Devices: EPIPHORA Also known as Epistrophe – is the counterpoint to ANAPHORA Repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive sentences or clauses. Epiphora is effective even when the words differ slightly. As is the case with anaphora, speakers should be careful not to overuse epiphora. 33 Rhetorical Devices: EPIPHORA ￮ “… that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.“ ~ Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address, 19 November 1863 ￮ “There are three kinds of truth: my truth, your truth, the truth.” ~ Chinese proverb ￮ “Suaramu adalah puisi. Tawamu adalah puisi. Senyummu juga puisi.” 34 Rhetorical Devices: ANTIMETABOLE The repetition of words or phrases in successive clauses, but in reverse order. The focus of the second clause is different from the focus in the first clause because of the reversed word order. The reversal of words is often unexpected and thought-provoking, getting the audience to consider things from a different angle. 35 ANTIMETABOLE ￮ “ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.'' - John F Kennedy ￮ “Tuhan tidak merobah nasib suatu bangsa, sebelum bangsa itu merobah nasibnya.” ~ Soekarno 36 Rhetorical Devices: DIACOPE A repetition of a word or phrase split up by other words; typically used to express a strong emotion. For maximum effect, there should not be too many words between the repeated word(s) in a diacope. ￮ “Put out the light, and then put out the light.” – William Shakespeare, Othello ￮ “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God, Almighty, we are free at last!“ — Martin Luther King 37  DIACOPE “Don’t turn away from the truth. Don’t turn away from your conscience. Please don’t ignore the law; no, embrace that higher principle for which the law was meant to serve. Justice—that’s all I ask—justice.” — Denzel Washington in The Hurricane (1999) 38 Rhetorical Devices: SIMILE A comparison between two unalike things, usually using the words “as” or “like.” ￮ A room without books is like a body without a soul. – Cicero ￮ “We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.” – Martin Luther King, Jr. 39 Rhetorical Devices: SIMILE ￮ seperti bulan jatuh ke riba ￮ Seperti kerbau dicucuk hidung. ￮ Bagai murai dicabut ekor. 40  Rhetorical Devices: ANALOGIES The analogy serves as the bridge between something your audience knows to the new content you share with the audience. 41  Rhetorical Devices: ANALOGIES Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving. – Albert Einstein “Nationalism is both a vital medicine and a dangerous drug.” – Geoffrey Blainey “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get”. – Tom Hanks 42 ANALOGIES Martin Luther King used the analogy of “Cashing a cheque at a bank” in his famous “I have a dream speech”. He developed it in a way that summed up the issues that had given rise to the civil rights movement. “In a sense we have come to our nation’s capital to cash a cheque. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of colour are concerned…” 43 Rhetorical Devices: RHETORICAL QUESTION is a common rhetorical device where a question is asked by aspeaker, but no answer is expected from the audience. ￮ The question may have an obvious answer ￮ The question may not have an answer ￮ The question may be answered immediately by the questioner These questions provide you with a way of controlling the speech and thoughts of the audience. 44 RHETORICAL QUESTION Siapakah mereka yang menuduh negara ini diperintah secara authoritarian? Bukankah mereka bekas penjajah yang authoritarian dan zalim dan bukankah mereka ini baru sahaja melanggar sebuah negara yang lemah dengan membunuh ramai orang awam supaya menguasai negara berkenaan? Demokrasikah cara mereka dengan memaksa ‘regime change’? ~Mahathir Mohamad 45 RHETORICAL QUESTION Are we a nation that tolerates the hypocrisy of a system where workers who pick our fruit and make our beds never have a chance to get right with the law? Are we a nation that accepts the cruelty of ripping children from their parents' arms? Or are we a nation that values families, and works to keep them together?“ ~ Barrack Obama 46 Discussion What are some of the rhetorical devices in the ‘I have a Dream” Speech? 47