RHETORIC

A brief introduction.Please grab a notes handout at the front

Thinking Rhetorically

Quick Review: Pathos?

How does the piece move your heart? Ethos?

How does the piece employ your trust? Logos?

How does the piece change your mind?

Let’s see what you know…

The next slide will contain a picture. Do your best to analyze the picture

(break it into pieces) What are your first impressions or

initial reactions?

How does the piece change?

If you know the following: It was published in the Wall Street

Journal It accompanied an article titled:

A (Very) Young Artist Makes Wavesarguments over a 10-year-old's photo in a

biblical exhibit go global http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703409804575143973064047154.html?m

od=WSJ_LifeStyle_Lifestyle_5#articleTabs%3Darticlem

To analyze the photo, what did you do naturally?

Because arguments have many aspects, you may need to focus a rhetorical analysis on elements that stand out or make the piece intriguing or problematic.

Ask Yourself:

What is the purpose of this argument? What does it hope to achieve?

Who is the audience? What appeals are used? Where? How does it make the creator trustworthy? What authorities does the author use or rely on? What facts, logic, or evidence is used? How is it arranged? What are the contexts—social, political, historical, cultural?

Whose interests does it serve? Who gains or loses by it? How is the argument presented or arranged? How does the language or style of the argument work to

persuade an audience?

Now you try:

More info:

Here’s what you need to know about the photograph:

SOCCER WARNING: A dog barked outside the farm of slain South Africa’s white supremacist leader Eugene Terreblanche Wednesday. Extremists are warning countries about sending their soccer teams to a “land of murder” after the Mr. Terreblanche’s killing Saturday, only 10 weeks before the World Cup. (Schalk van Zuydam/Associated Press)

Wall Street Journal

Are you getting any better?

GOOD.But that’s not all rhetorical

analysis is about…

Sure…questions get you thinking… BUT DON’T JUST DESCRIBE

TECHNIQUES AND STRATEGIES IN A RHETORICAL ANALYSIS!!!

Instead…

SHOW HOW THE KEY DEVICES IN SHOW HOW THE KEY DEVICES IN AN ARGUMENT ACTUALLY MAKE IT AN ARGUMENT ACTUALLY MAKE IT SUCCEED OR FAIL.SUCCEED OR FAIL.

QUOTE LANGUAGE FREELY FOR WRITTEN WORK, OR DESCRIBE THE ELEMENTS IN A VISUAL ARGUMENT.

Ultimately

YOUR GOAL: To show a reader where and why an

argument makes sense and where is seems to fall apart.

If you believe that an argument startles audiences or challenges them, insults them, or lulls them into complacency, explain precisely why that’s so and provide evidence.

Don’t be surprised when your rhetorical analysis becomes an argument…it should be!

Homework

Take a look at Lala Alcaraz’s “But I’m Honoring You, Dude!”

Due on Friday: An organized, 1-1.5 page, rhetorical analysis. Remember—I don’t care if you agree or

disagree with the artist—I want to know if you feel like it was EFFECTIVE!