Thinking RhetoricallyA Quick Guide to Rhetoric for Students of Academic Writing

Gwendolynne ReidN.C. State University

May 18, 2012

What is rhetoric?

Aristotle defined rhetoric as the art of finding and using “all available means of persuasion.”

Today, we often define it as the art of writing and speaking effectively.

Some also define it as the art of producing change through language.

[It is sometimes said that violence is a failure of rhetoric. We come to arms when we give up on the power of language to produce change.]

http://conflictremedy.com/parent-teen-disagreements-have-positive-results

When you try to convince your parents to change their minds about something important to you, you are

speaking rhetorically.

When you manage your Facebook profile, you are not only expressing yourself, but also rhetorically composing your identity.

You are thinking rhetorically about how to create the right sort of “change” in your viewers—how you want them to perceive you.

When scientists write, even though it isn’t persuasive,” it is still rhetorical.

The scientists are creating change in the world through their written choices.

And they are considering how to manage their written choices to create the sort of change they want to create.

So, while rhetoric seems like a fancy, academic term, it is a concept you already know a lot about!

Some basic concepts and terms:

Every rhetorical situation or transaction has at least three elements:

Author Audience

Text

The Rhetorical Triangle

Ethos: the credibility of the author, as revealed in the text. How authors present themselves through their texts. The personas they create.

Pathos: appeals to the audience’s emotions, beliefs, and values.

Logos: the logic and reason of the text; its main claim and evidence, and how they are linked.

Author

Text

The Rhetorical Triangle

Audience

But there’s more!

Each rhetorical situation exists within a larger context:

Context includes culture, community, historical moment, current events, timing, kairos, exigence, etc.

These all shape the relationship between the author, audience, and text and determine what will or won’t be rhetorically effective.

Good or bad kairos (timing)?

After the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting that killed 32 people and wounded 17, some opponents of gun control took the opportunity to argue against gun regulations on college campuses.

An example of good timing? Or bad timing?

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2012/04/vt_gun_control.html

So what does all this have to do with academic writing and research?

Rhetoric can help you think more critically about communication in all contexts (academic, professional, civic, or personal). Rhetoric is an important toolbox.

Thinking rhetorically and understanding rhetorical concepts will help you examine how language works in different contexts and situations, helping you adapt more quickly (e.g. when you take a class in a new discipline or need to write at a new job).

Finally, realizing that community can determine what is or isn’t effective communication and that disciplines (i.e. fields like engineering, sociology, or history) are communities can also help you adapt more successfully. (Yes, engineering is a community with its own history, customs, values, expectations, and language conventions!)