Strategies
Which strategy utilizes familiar or credible names/people to convince the audience?
Authorites or "Big Names" strategy
What dangers are there with an author/speaker using a compare/contrast rhetorical strategy?
This can oversimplify a complicated problem. It can make an argument seem black and white when there is so much more to it.
How could you analyze "Authorities/Big Names" strategies in your next paper?
Answer the question:
How does this appeal to authority build trust in the
author’s argument?
Remember the ted talk we watched last week? What is one way the speaker may have Ethos/Credibility?
She experiences prosecutions, she is an 'international' author, she has written several books, etc.
Explain the "Compare and Contrast" strategy
The author takes different ideas or examples and compares their similarities and differences. This can be kind of black and white sort of descriptions.
How can the "Motive" strategy be used negatively?
The author/speaker may twist the words of someone else. The author/speaker can use it to distract from their own lack of planning or to demonize their opponent/the person they are referring to.
How might we analyze "Commonplaces" in our next essay?
Answer the question(s):
Who is the intended audience of the piece?
What are some of the assumptions of this intended audience? What hidden assumptions or beliefs does the speaker have about the topic?
How is the speaker or author appealing to the hidden assumptions of the audience?
How does the use of commonplaces further the argument?
Fiction may also use rhetoric to persuade the reader. Think of one of your favorite pieces of fiction: Video games, movies/shows, or a novel. Then identify one way the piece of fiction used rhetoric.
Student shares and identifies a rhetorical strategy they have seen in a piece of fiction, (they should explain it a little).
When an author/speaker analyzes why something happens, and the consequences that follow, with the audience, this is what type of rhetorical strategy?
Cause and Effect
How might Pathos be used in a negative way?
while it is good to emotionally connect with your audience, a speaker/author could use it to distort an example to seem like something different than it is.
What questions could we ask and answer when analyzing a "Compare and Contrast" strategy?
Which two or more related subjects are discussed?
How are the subjects alike or different?
How does the comparison further the argument of
the piece?
If you are not sure about the rhetorical strategies, where can you get help?
Prof. O'Donnell's extra review video, Glenna's drop-in hour, or the Rhetorical Strategies powerpoint in Modules
What type of strategy is "Commonplaces"?
This is when the author/speaker uses the bias, or assumptions/ideologies, of the audience, to sway the audience in favor of their argument. This can be sneaky as the speaker/author does not directly state that they are connecting to the audience's beliefs.
Why might "Commonplaces" be used in a negative way?
Because the audience does not know that the author/speaker is directly working with their ideals and beliefs, they are more easily manipulated.
How could you analyze an author/speaker's use of the rhetorical strategy of "Definition"?
Answer the question(s):
Who is the intended audience?
Does the text focus on any abstract, specialized, or new terms that need further explanation so that the readers/viewers understand the point?
How has the speaker or author chosen to define terms for the audience?
What effect does the definition have on the audience, or how does this definition help further the argument?
Think of an ad. Any ad, could be from social media, or something you saw on tv, (New or Old). Describe the add to the group and think of one rhetorical strategy at play.
Student recalls and vividly describes the add, what it is an ad for, and how it uses rhetoric.
Identification and Common Ground is a strategy that does what? Also: How is it different from Commonplaces?
The author/speaker asks the audience to relate with them. The author/speaker may also openly empathize with the audience. This is different from Commonplaces because the speaker is open about the connection that they are building with the audience, they are not being sneaky.
How might Cause and Effect be used negatively?
Like Compare and Contrast, Cause and Effect can make a complex issue seem simpler than it is. There is also a danger of the audience assuming correlation equals causation.
How could we analyze "Description" as a rhetorical strategy in our next essay?
Answer the questions:
Does a person, place or thing play a prominent role in the text or film?
Does the tone, pacing or overall purpose of the essay benefit from the sensory details?
What emotions might these details evoke in the audience (see Pathos)?
How does the description help the author further the argument?
Think about a time that you used rhetoric without thinking about it. We all use it, intentionally or not, when we are convincing people to go out with us, help us with work, or to get a job. What rhetorical appeals/strategies did you use? Did it work?