Notes Courtney Haas

Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps toward Rhetorical Analysis

  • "wherever there is persuasion, there is rhetoric. And wherever there is 'meaning,' there is 'persuasion.'" - Kenneth Burke
  • most of our actions persuasive:
        • what we choose to wear (tennis shoes vs. flip flops)
        • where we shop (Whole Foods vs. Walmart)
        • what we eat (organic vs. fast food)
  • rhetorical messages occur in a specific situation or context
        • pres's speech respond to specific global event (economic summit)
        • choose clothing depending on where you're going or what you're doing
        • commercial comes on during specific programs and at specific points of day
        • billboard placed in specific part of community
  • 3 parts to understanding context of rhetorical moment:
        • exigence- circumstance or condition that invites a response; usually responding to some kind of problem
                • "What is this rhetoric responding to?"
                • "What might have happened to make the rhetor (the person who creates the rhetoric) respond in this way?"
                • "What problem does it hope to address?"
        • audience- those who are intended or unintended recipients of the rhetorical message; should be able to help address problem
        • constraints- "have power to constrain decision and action needed to modify the exigence"
                • can be: "beliefs, attitudes, documents, facts, traditions, images, interests, motives"
                • limit how discourse is delivered or communicated
                • ex: prof. limiting proposal to 1000 words; kind of language needed to persuade a certain community
  • 3 "artistic appeals" - Aristotle
        • logos- argument from reason; claims; chain of reasonings; text (speech itself); appeals to audience's intellectual side
        • pathos- "persuaded in our heart"; appeal to emotion; good for persuading in short amount of time; audience; appeal to shared value (sharing same views)
        • ethos- credibility of the rhetor; can be person or organization; tone of writing and whether that tone is appropriate for context plus accuracy of info or the visual presentation of rhetoric helps build writer's ethos; ethics of speaker; authority of speaker; about speaker
        • Kairos- time, culture, space
        • Telos- purpose (similar to exigence); what are they trying to accomplish with this piece
  • Questions to ask to see if fits context:
        • 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 info to make an informed decision?
        • Does the rhetoric attempt to manipulate in any way (by giving incomplete/inaccurate info or abusing the audience's emotions)?
        • What other sub-claims do you have to accept to understand the rhetor's main claim? (Ex: in order to accept the Ad Council's claim that the arts boost math and science scores, you first have to value the boosting of those scores)
        • What possible negative effects might come from this rhetoric?
  • Different types of rhetoric:
        • political cartoon
        • wikipedia entry
        • scholarly article
        • bar graph
        • Op-Ed piece in the newspaper
        • speech
        • youtube video
        • book chapter
        • photograph
        • powerpoint presentation

Chapter 2- Integrating Sources

  • Ways of Bringing a source in
        • Summary: write about the main point of the source using your own words but can use quoted words and phrases. The summary has to be concise and accurate. Make sure it is clear who or what you are summarizing. You use footnotes to cite your information.
        • Paraphrase: Pretty much the same as a summary, but you can follow the order of reasoning/presentation. Paraphrase when you don't want the entire source, but just to clarify part(s) of it. Your paraphrase may be longer than what you are actually paraphrasing. Use in-text citation.
        • Gist: Tell the main part of the source without giving too much information away. Takes only a couple sentences. Use in-text citations.
        • Mention: Don't go into any detail about the source, just mention it.
        • Citation only: Source name is not put into the info, but is only mentioned in the citation
        • Exact Reproduction: take an element like a table or graph from a source or using a direct quote from the source.
  • Three Basic Principles
        • 1. Sources need to be used concisely. You don't want your thoughts to be over powered by over quoting and citing. Stick to summarizing and a few quotes.
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