“You quickly took in the information and made an informed, and likely somewhat accurate, decision about that person. Over the years, as you have interacted with others, you have built a mental database that you can draw on to make conclusions about what a person’s looks tell you about their personality. You have become able to analyze quickly what people are saying about themselves through the way they choose to dress, accessorize, or wear their hair.” (46)
“We have, of course, heard that you “can’t judge a book by its cover,” but, in fact, we do it all the time. Daily we find ourselves in situations where we are forced to make snap judgments. Each day we meet different people, encounter unfamiliar situations, and see media that asks us to do, think, buy, and act in all sorts of ways.” (46)
“The more we know about how to analyze situations and draw informed conclusions, the better we can become about making savvy judgments about the people, situations and media we encounter.” (46)
“Rhetoric—the way we use language and images to persuade—is what makes media work. Think of all the media you see and hear every day: Twitter, television shows, web pages, billboards, text messages, podcasts.” (46)
“Media is constantly asking you to buy something, act in some way, believe something to be true, or interact with others in a specific manner. Understanding rhetorical messages is essential to help us to become informed consumers, but it also helps evaluate the ethics of messages, how they affect us personally, and how they affect society.” (46)
“If we refuse to stop and think about how and why it persuades us, we can become mindless consumers who buy into arguments about what makes us value ourselves and what makes us happy.” (47)
“In the same way that you decide how to process, analyze or ignore these messages, you create them. You probably think about what your clothing will communicate as you go to a job interview or get ready for a date. You are also using rhetoric when you try to persuade your parents to send you money or your friends to see the movie that interests you.” (47)
“What we choose to wear (tennis shoes vs. flip flops), where we shop
(Whole Foods Market vs. Wal-Mart), what we eat (organic vs. fast
food), or even the way we send information (snail mail vs. text message)
can work to persuade others.” (48)
“Rhetorical messages always occur in a specific situation or context.... You choose your clothing depending on where you are going or what you are doing; that’s context. A television commercial comes on during specific programs and at specific points of the day; that’s context. A billboard is placed in a specific part of the community; that’s context, too.” (48)
“Exigence is the circumstance or condition that invites a response... rhetorical discourse is usually responding to some kind of problem.” (48)
“Another part of the rhetorical context is audience, those who are the (intended or unintended) recipients of the rhetorical message. The audience should be able to respond to the exigence. In other words, the audience should be able to help address the problem.... Rhetors make all sorts of choices based on
their audience. Audience can determine the type of language used,
the formality of the discourse, the medium or delivery of the rhetoric,
and even the types of reasons used the make the rhetor’s argument.” (49)
“The constraints of the rhetorical situation are those things that have the power to “constrain decision and action needed to modify the exigence” (Bitzer 306).... Constraints can be “beliefs, attitudes, documents, facts, traditions, images, interests, motives” (Bitzer 306). Constraints limit the way the discourse is delivered or communicated.” (49)
“Some rhetoricians look at subject, purpose, audience and occasion. Others might look at the “rhetorical triangle” of writer, reader, and purpose.” (51)
“What you really want to understand is the argument—what the rhetor wants you to believe or do and how he or she goes about that persuasion.... Aristotle articulated three “artistic appeals” that a rhetor could draw on to make a case—logos, pathos, and ethos.” (52)
“Logos is commonly defined as argument from reason, and it usually appeals to an audience’s intellectual side. As audiences we want to know the “facts of the matter,” and logos helps present these—statistics, data [numbers and charts], and logical statements.” (52)
“Few of us are persuaded only with our mind, though. Even if we intellectually agree with something, it is difficult to get us to act unless we are also persuaded in our heart. This kind of appeal to emotion is called pathos. Pathetic appeals (as rhetoric that draws on pathos is called) used alone without logos and ethos can come across as emotionally manipulative or overly sentimental, but are very powerful when used in conjunction with the other two appeals. Emotional appeals can come in many forms—an anecdote or narrative, an image such as a photograph, or even humor. Pathos can also be a very effective appeal if the rhetor has to persuade the audience in a very short amount of time, which is why it is used heavily in print advertisements, billboards, or television commercials.” (53)
“[P]athetic appeals will often hold our interest much longer than intellectual appeals.... The humor of the ad... is meant to draw the reader in and help them become interested in the argument before the ad gets to the logos.” (54)
“The humor also makes the organization seem real and approachable, contributing to the ethos. Ethos refers to the credibility of the rhetor—which can be a person or an organization. A rhetor can develop credibility in many ways. The tone of the writing and whether that tone is appropriate for the context helps build a writer’s ethos, as does the accuracy of the information or the visual presentation of the rhetoric.” (54)
“Aristotle’s artistic appeals are not the only way to understand the argument of rhetoric. You might choose to look at the claim or the unstated assumptions of a piece; someone else might consider the visual appeal of the rhetoric, like the font, page layout, types of paper, or images; another person might focus on the language use and the specific word choice and sentence structure of a piece. Logos, pathos, and ethos can provide a nice framework for analysis, but there are numerous ways to understand how a piece of rhetoric persuades (or fails to persuade).” (54-55)
“• Does the rhetoric address the problem it claims to address?
• Is the rhetoric targeted at an audience who has the power to make change?
• Are the appeals appropriate to the audience?
• Does the rhetor give enough information to make an informed decision?
• Does the rhetoric attempt to manipulate in any way (by giving incomplete/ inaccurate information or abusing the audience’s emotions)?
• What other sub-claims do you have to accept to understand the rhetor’s main claim?
• What possible negative effects might come from this rhetoric?
Rhetorical analysis asks how discourse functions in the setting in which
it is found. In the same way that a commercial for denture cream seems
very out of place when aired during a reality television show aimed at
teenagers, rhetoric that does not respond well to its context often fails
to persuade.” (55-56)
“1. What are examples of rhetoric that you see or hear on a daily basis?
2. What are some ways that you create rhetoric? What kinds of messages are you trying to communicate?
3. What is an example of a rhetorical situation that you have found yourself in? Discuss exigence, audience, and constraints.” (57-58)
Laura Bolin Carroll. (2010) “Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps toward Rhetorical Analysis.” Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, Volume 1. Parlor Press. (45-58). http://parlorpress.com/pdf/carroll--backpacks-vs-briefcases.pdf
