Rhetoric+notes

The Art of Rhetoric Logos appeal
 * Argument: an attempt to persuade someone
 * Audience: the focus of the persuasion
 * Appeals: how the writer/speaker tries to convince the audience
 * Rhetoric:
 * Dictionary definition: the art of speaking and writing effectively
 * Aristotle: the ability, in each particular case, to see the best available means of persuasion
 * An appeal based on logic or reason
 * Academic papers and corporate informational documents are logos-driven
 * The reader must ask whether or not the logic follows. Are the statistics skewed or unrepresentative?

Ethos appeal Pathos appeal
 * An appeal based on the character or reputation of the author or speaker or source.
 * Source means if you see an ad in National Geographic you might trust it as a good source for camera info
 * Expert testimony. You trust the expert.
 * Effectively saying, “I’m a great guy, so you should believe what I’m saying.”
 * Reader needs to decide if the source is credible.
 * Appeal based on emotion
 * Most advertising is pathos-driven
 * Attempts to persuade by stirring the emotions of the audience:
 * Love, pity, sorrow, fear, lust, etc.
 * Does not concern the veracity (truth) of the argument
 * The reader needs to consider, “Is the ad simply ‘playing’ me?”

Fallacies in arguments –
 * Hasty generalization – a conclusion based on insufficient or unrepresentative evidence:
 * 4 out of 5 dentists approve. Which dentists? How many were asked?
 * Stereotypes – a hasty generalization about a group.
 * Bandwagon – everyone does this; therefore, it’s a good idea.
 * Ad hominem – (Latin: to the man) – arguing as if the opponent is bad, rather than the opponent’s argument
 * Misleading Quotation
 * Deliberately misleading the reader with the use of ellipses (. . .), missing words
 * Using a piece of a statement to skew the meaning


 * Either . . . or fallacy
 * The assumption that there are only two options and that one of them is good.
 * Post hoc, ergo propter hoc: (Latin) comes after this, therefore was caused by this.
 * Assumes that something later was caused by something else earlier.
 * Non sequitir: (Latin) it does not follow
 * When a writer makes a leap to a conclusion, but there’s no evidence to support it
 * False analogy
 * An analogy shows similarities between two things
 * A false analogy is clearly off base: If we can send a spacecraft to Pluto, we should be able to find a cure for the common cold.