Rhetoric and Persuasion

. . .or how to influence

someone’s thinking

“I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.”(Robert McCloskey)

What you heard is not what I meant

Ethos: who you are; what makes you the expert; why someoneshould listen to youCREDIBILITY

Pathos: why they should care; how they feel about your messageEMOTION

Logos: what facts you present; whether your facts make senseLOGIC

. . . for exampleYou have pressure in your head around your eyes. . .

Your friend says your possessed.Your doctor says you have a sinus infection.

Children in Uganda are being abducted daily. . .You watch youtube about the invisible children.A stranger stops you on the street to tell you about it.

You aren’t sure whether you need a rain coat.You check the weather forecast.You look out the window.

Rhetorical Vocabulary

What you know:HyperboleImagerySymbolismRepetition

What may not you know:AllusionParallelismIronyAnalogyAnecdote

Allusion

A reference/mention to anything in popular culture. It can be a book, play, famous quote, song, person etc…

When thinking about his life after graduation he often asked himself, “To be or not to be. . . an electrician”

Parallelism

Similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses.

"Today's students can put dope in their veins or hope in their brains. If they can conceive it and believe it, they can achieve it. They must know it is not their aptitude but their attitude that will determine their altitude."(Jesse Jackson)

Irony

the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning

"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room."(Peter Sellers as President Merkin Muffley in Dr. Strangelove, 1964)

Analogy

an analogy is a comparison between two different things in order to highlight some point of similarity

The ballerina rose gracefully en Pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.

Anecdote

A short account of an interesting or amusing incident, often intended to illustrate or support some point.

Rhetorical Analysis