Building our Own definitions

What is Rhetoric?

You need to convince one of your parents to allow you to do something they normally would NEVER let

you do. Take a few minutes to jot down some strategies. What would you try first? If that didn’t

work what would be your back up?

Quickwrite

“By one’s choice of language one could conceal or reveal, magnify or minimize, simplify or complexify, elevate or degrade, link or divide…language also thinks for us: it shapes our experiences of the world, our communication of those experiences and their subsequent validation by others… the most important and most accessible facts about human beings are not found in what they do , or in their biologies and chemistries, but in their language, and in what they say about what they do.” Kenneth Burke

LiteratureA vehicle of communicationA means of interaction between the writer and

the audience.

What is rhetoric?

Message

Speaker/writer Reader/listener

communication

Basic theory of all rhetoric:If there is a message and no messenger or no one to

read or hear the message there is no communication.

Rhetorical analysis helps to give us order and to understand what we are reading

AristotleAll available means of persuasion

FindingCataloguingDescribingEventually analyzing

The language used to accomplish those means

What is rhetoric?

3 Branches to rhetoric1. Invention: Generating ideas2. style3. arrangement

Rhetoric originally dealt with only the law, so it was required to be arranged in a certain order:1. Introduction2. statement of facts3. proof4. discrediting the opponents viewpoints5. conclusion

Aristotle

Persuasive discourse: manipulation of wordsThe process (how the writer got there) is

more important than the product.persuasive= efffective

Edward P. J. Corbett

Identification is the heart of persuasionOnly when a reader identifies with the writer

can persuasion take place.The role of the reader is SO important

Kenneth Burke

Now, write your own definition for rhetoric. This should be in your own words and don’t worry about quoting anybody.

Then, write a definition for rhetorical criticism.

What is rhetoric?