Rhetoric

Techniques

Warm

-Up:

Study the advertisement below.

What is it trying to convince

(persuade) you to do?How is it trying to convince

(persuade) you?

What

is

Rheto

ric?

“the art of effective expression (speaking & writing) and the persuasive use of language”

Eth

os,

Path

os,

Lo

gos

Greek philosopher Aristotle argued that there are three basic ways to persuade an audience that you

are right.”

ETH

OS

Establishes the writer’s or

speaker’s authority, credibility, and believability as he/she

speaks/writes. Uses evidence that appeals to ethics and

character. Often uses

celebrity endorsement.

Eth

os

Exa

mple

:

PATH

OS:

The use of emotion and affect

to persuade. Uses evidence that appeals to

the heart; to one’s emotions;

uses inspirational words/images; uses words/images to anger you Bandwagon is a type of

Pathos – “Everyone’s

buying/wearing/eating/drinkin

g a particular product so you

should, too!”

PATH

OS

EX

AM

PLE:

Logos

The use of logic/facts,

rationality, and critical

reasoning to persuade. Uses evidence that appeals to the mind not

the heart/emotions. Seeks to persuade the

audience intellectually

(uses facts, statistics,

charts, definitions, cause/effect.

LO

GO

S

EX

AM

PLE:

Para

llel S

truct

ure

The expression of similar

ideas using similar grammatical form. This helps create a

rhythmic flow to the

writing that grabs the

audiences’ attention Clauses, phrases, parts of

speech, verb tense.

Para

llel S

truct

ure

Exa

mple

s: Last summer, we went

camping, hiking, and

sky-diving. The –ing endings

create parallel structure

REM

EM

BER

:

Pract

ice!!

!

On the back of your handout, record the advertisements under the rhetoric technique it applies. Don’t shout out, just

write your initial response. You can change answers as we review them afterwards.

“Jord

an S

lide”

Whic

h o

f th

ese

have

para

llel s

truct

ure

?

1. They like to look but not

to listen.

2. They like to look but not

listen.

Independent

Pract

ice:

You will be assigned a

particular Rhetoric Technique.

You will decide on an

ordinary object for which

to create an advertisement, applying

your assigned Rhetoric

Technique to convince

an audience to buy the

object.

Exa

mple

:

Rhetoric Technique Assigned: LOGOS

Student-choice object:

Pencil The ad might look something like this . . .

Ticonderoga . . . Used by 8 million students everyday.

On your published advertisement, you must include ….The name of Rhetoric Technique .

A brief (1 sentence) explanation of how your advertisement uses that Rhetoric Technique.