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Thinking Rhetorically_A Quick Guide for Students
1. Thinking Rhetorically
A Quick Guide to Rhetoric for Students of Academic Writing
Gwendolynne Reid
N.C. State University
May 18, 2012
2. What is rhetoric?
Aristotle defined rhetoric as the art of finding and using “all available
means of persuasion.”
Today, we often define it as the art of writing and speaking effectively.
Some also define it as the art of producing change through language.
[It is sometimes said that violence is a failure of rhetoric. We come to
arms when we give up on the power of language to produce change.]
4. When you manage your Facebook profile, you are not only expressing
yourself, but also rhetorically composing your identity.
You are thinking rhetorically about how to create the right sort of “change” in
your viewers—how you want them to perceive you.
5. When scientists write, even
though it isn’t persuasive,” it is
still rhetorical.
The scientists are creating
change in the world through
their written choices.
And they are considering how
to manage their written choices
to create the sort of change
they want to create.
6. So, while rhetoric seems like a fancy, academic
term, it is a concept you already know a lot about!
7. Some basic concepts and terms:
Every rhetorical situation or transaction has at least three elements:
Logos: the logic and reason of
the text; its main claim and
Text evidence, and how they are
linked.
Ethos: the credibility
of the author, as
revealed in the text.
How authors Pathos: appeals to
present themselves the audience’s
Author Audience emotions, beliefs,
through their texts.
The personas they and values.
create.
The Rhetorical Triangle
8. But there’s more! Each rhetorical situation exists within a larger context:
Text
Author Audience
These all shape the
Context includes
relationship between
culture, community,
the
historical moment,
author, audience, and
current events, timing,
The Rhetorical Triangle text and determine
kairos, exigence, etc.
what will or won’t be
rhetorically effective.
9. Good or bad kairos (timing)?
After the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting that
killed 32 people and wounded 17, some
opponents of gun control took the opportunity
to argue against gun regulations on college
campuses.
An example of good timing? Or bad timing?
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2012/04/vt_gun_control.html
10. So what does all this have to do with academic writing and research?
Rhetoric can help you think more critically about communication in all contexts
(academic, professional, civic, or personal). Rhetoric is an important toolbox.
Thinking rhetorically and understanding rhetorical concepts will help you examine how
language works in different contexts and situations, helping you adapt more quickly
(e.g. when you take a class in a new discipline or need to write at a new job).
Finally, realizing that community can determine what is or isn’t effective communication
and that disciplines (i.e. fields like engineering, sociology, or history) are communities
can also help you adapt more successfully. (Yes, engineering is a community with its
own history, customs, values, expectations, and language conventions!)
![What is rhetoric?
Aristotle defined rhetoric as the art of finding and using “all available
means of persuasion.”
Today, we often define it as the art of writing and speaking effectively.
Some also define it as the art of producing change through language.
[It is sometimes said that violence is a failure of rhetoric. We come to
arms when we give up on the power of language to produce change.]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)