Arguments are made about all sorts of things. Those who are experts know all the techniques of rhetoric and how to use them to sell and persuade. This presentation defines all of the rhetorical elements.

2.  Rhetoric is defined as using the best
means available to argue your point. It is
the art of persuasion in various occasions
for various audiences. It was first defined
by Aristotle, an ancient Greek
Philosopher and statesman.

3.  When you hear the word “Argument”
you probably think of two or more
people disagreeing about a topic. It is
not necessarily a fight or disagreement.

4.  An argument may be defined as “A
spoken, written, or visual text that
expresses a point of view.”
 “The use of evidence and reason to
discover some version of the truth, as
distinct from persuasion, the attempt to
change some one else’s point of view.”
 (Lunsford, Ruszkiewicz & Walters 1040)

5.  There are various arguments and various
occasions for the arguments.
› Inform
› Convince
› Persuade
› Explore
› Make decisions
› Academic

6.  Arguments to inform may be anything
from street signs to newspaper headlines.
 The purpose is to tell members of a
particular audience something that they
do not already know.

7.  Reports, whitepapers and academic
articles are used most often to convince
an audience.
 Facts and statistics are commonly used
in these arguments.

8.  Persuasive arguments are used to
promote action from the audience. This
argument is used in advertising, political
campaigns and supporting a policy.

9.  Arguments that EXPLORE are often
reflections on one’s life and important
concepts, but they can also be aimed
at addressing societal issues and
problems.

10.  Where there is an argument, there is an
occasion and an audience.
 Arguments often use the concept of
time: past, present and future, and they
often overlap. Use of this strategy makes
a convincing case.

11.  Aristotle identified three key ways to
effect an audience:
› Logos
› Pathos
› Ethos

12.  People often respond strongly to Pathos,
or emotional appeal. Emotions like, pity,
anger, love, empathy, fear or jealousy
often become evoked with arguments
based on pathos.
 These arguments paint a picture in the
reader’s mind causing them to act upon
what is being presented.

13. (ASPCA.org)
(D2L.org)

14.  Ethos is the appeal to the presentation of
one’s self. The person wants to appear
credible, trustworthy and accepted.
 Ethos uses the idea of shared values with
your audience, respect for the audience
and your opponents, and that you are a
fair person.
 The main goal is CREDIBILITY.

15. (http://www.ethosrealtygroup.com)

16. (http://elseykuykendall.wordpress.
com/)
 The use of a
common belief is
evident in this ad to
conserve Denver’s
water. Ethos is used
to appeal to the
people about a
social issue in
Denver.

17.  Logos is the appeal to logic. These
arguments are basically factual and
make sense to the audience. Statistics,
facts and credible testimony are
commonly used to argue to a person’s
mind.
 Aristotle divided Logos into two types of
appeal: facts /data & appeal to reason
or common sense.

18.  The cartoon appeals
to the idea that
ethanol will be our
“Superman” allowing
us to be less
dependent on
foreign oil. This would
appeal to a variety
of people and uses
logos to accomplish
the desired effect.
(http://zachbeedle.blogspot.com/2007/10/ethanol-
cartoon.html)

19.  Logical fallacies are
arguments that are
not totally logical.
They are effective
and they are used
by skilled
rhetoricians.
 Let’s look at these
along with some
examples.

20.  While the appeals
function as your
foundation, logical
fallacies are the
icing that holds your
cake together.
Logical fallacies
sway your audience
in many ways and
should be used in
your campaign!

21.  The most familiar fallacy
is BANDWAGON. This is
effective because it uses
one’s desire to be a part
of the group and may
use guilt to achieve the
end goal.
(http://soccer116.blogspot.com/)

22.  Ad Hominem is Latin
for “against the man”.
By today’s standards,
the term mudslinging
comes to mind. It
works like this:
 1-Attack the opponent
 2-Use the attack as
evidence against the
person’s claim
 Example of the
strategy:
 Nick tells every one
that Sophie has
Cooties.
 Having Cooties makes
Sophie a poor
representative of her
class.
 Having Cooties has no
effect on why Sophie
cannot be class
president!

23. (http://jazzroc.wordpress.com/tag/jet-stream/)

24.  Straw Man is a tactic used in
politics and is quite sneaky. The
person makes a claim about an
issue that does not even exist.
There are allegations made
against an entire group of
people based on this imaginary
issue. McCarthyism is a perfect
example of Straw Man rhetoric.
 McCarthy fueled paranoia in
America by generating the
idea that the enemy was living
among us and that enemy was
Communism. He turned
neighbor against neighbor by
using their personal fears to
point to Communists when the
threat or issue never even
existed.
http://www.amistadresource.org/plantation_to_ghetto/mccarthyism.html

25.  This fallacy is, at its
root, an illogical
argument. The
format is this:
 Claim
 Reason for the claim
 Warrant
 Example:
 Claim: Student tells
the teacher, “You
can’t give me a C
for this assignment.”
 Reason: “I am an A
student.”
 Warrant: An A
student is some one
who can’t receive a
C.

26.  The ad on the right is
a good example of
Begging the
Question. It claims
that if the shadow
touches the children,
they will become
Nazis. Therefore, you
should buy war
bonds to protect the
children. (http://artofmanliness.com/2011/05/26/classical-rhetoric-101-logical-fallacies/)

27.  Slippery Slope
arguments purport
that if we take a step
in a certain
direction, a series of
unrelated events will
occur, dragging us
down to a drastic
change in our
society’s norms.
 Example:
 We can’t allow
marriage between
same sex partners. If
we do, then what is
next? Marriage
between people
and Artificial
Intelligences?
 People and animals?
 Where will it end?

28.  The ad on the right
makes the argument
that if abortion is
legalized, then we
will begin killing
children who have
been born. This is a
good example of
Slippery Slope.
(http://www.oklahomatopblogs.com/Abolitionist%20Society%20
of%20Oklahoma/)

29.  Hasty Generalization
makes an
assumption on an
entire group based
on the stereotype of
a few. For example,
all librarians are old
women who wear
glasses and wear
their graying hair in a
tight bun. (http://marketingchristianbooks.wordpress.com/tag/librarian/)

30.  This argument makes the
supposition that an event
is the cause of something
else when, in fact, it has
nothing to do with what
happened.
 The form:
A occurs before B, therefore,
B is the cause of A.
 In practice: I lost the race.
My boyfriend gave me a
rabbit’s foot, some lucky
dice, a four leaf clover
and a horseshoe. Ergo,
because he gave me
these things, I lost the
race.

31.  A red herring is an issue
or topic that is brought
up to divert attention
from a real issue that is
being addressed. The
speaker will do this to
get attention onto him
and away from the
opponent. This is done
by introducing Topic B as
relevant to Topic A,
when it really is not
relevant. Then Topic B
takes the place of the
original topic
 "Argument" for a tax cut:
"You know, I've begun to
think that there is some
merit in the Republican's
tax cut plan. I suggest
that you come up with
something like it,
because If we
Democrats are going to
survive as a party, we
have got to show that
we are as tough-minded
as the Republicans,
since that is what the
public wants.“
 (http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/red-
herring.html)

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"McCarthyism." Amistad Digital Resource. Columbia University, 2009. Web. 27 Oct. 2011.
<http://www.amistadresource.org/plantation_to_ghetto/mccarthyism.html>.