Rhetorical+Devices

** A General Summary of Aristotle's Appeals. . . ** The goal of argumentative writing is to persuade your audience that your ideas are valid, or more valid than someone else's. The Greek philosopher Aristotle divided the means of persuasion, appeals, into three categories--Ethos, Pathos, Logos. > Ethos: the source's credibility, the speaker's/author's authority > > Logos: the logic used to support a claim (induction and deduction); can also be the facts and statistics used to help support the argument. > > Pathos: the emotional or motivational appeals; vivid language, emotional language and numerous sensory details. Football on Your Phone: Manning Brothers Yes, I Can Video Barack Obama

Part One: Inform yourself on the directions. For this assignment, you will need to locate an interesting video example of persuasion. As reviewed in class, persuasion is an art that is best applied with 1. A mindful awareness of the audience (needs, background, knowledge, FEARS). 2. A well considered plan that uses all three rhetorical strategies. 3. A specific goal in mind.

Smart advertisers rely on Aristotle's three major rhetorical devices: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. Now that we have reviewed the concepts, it is your turn to demonstrate your ability to spot these devices at work in today's media.

Part Two: Look For... 1. Popular commercials. 2. Billboards or paper advertisements. 3. Sales pitches or marketing infomercials. 4. Political cartoons. You can find a lot on the internet, but please feel free to take a picture of something you see locally and attach it to your commentary.

Part Three: Do After choosing an interesting example for this assignment, open up an original post. Be sure to give it a good title so that your post will attract others to read yours. In the body, add the link and write a paragraph that efficiently discusses:

1. Which of the three rhetorical devices are most heavily used here?

2. Do the designers of this commercial know their target audience? If so, explain your evidence.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 180%;">3. What is the 'truth' about this product? Are audiences members misled and if so, what is the potential harm of this deception?

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 180%;">4. When you are complete, you will need to explore three other original posts <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 180%;"> (fellow students) and give them feedback on their commerical. Perhaps you disagree about which device is most at work, or maybe you believe the author forgot to mention an important point. Maybe, you just think the piece is an excellent, hilarious, or scary example of how most people would nod right through this act of persuasion. Worth: 10 points All posts must be completed before class for credit. Keep in mind that wikispace time stamps everything.