Sport is a diverse term that principally refers to different forms of physical activities which are naturally competitive. Sports also include some mutual mind games amongst different generations, including chess and bridge. Participating in any form of sports is of great significance as it helps to utilize, maintain, and improve an individual’s physical capabilities and develop advanced skills in that particular game. The physical competition activity in sports also acts as entertainment to the game participants and the spectators. Some sports, such as football games, effectively develop good socialization skills and nurture the physical health of an individual. Different sports have mostly been of significant positive impact on teenagers recently through games participation and other different ways.
Positive Impact of Sports on Teens
Teenagers who reside in rural or urban areas both depend on active sports organizations to keep themselves from venturing into different obstacles due to the lack of active activities present within their areas. Therefore, involvement in sports can prevent the occurrence of some behaviors in teenagers since they have some physical activity to engage in during their leisure time. According to research, sports are proven to play a crucial role in keeping busy teenagers away from trouble (Petrovic et al., 2018). Teenager mostly has a lot of leisure hours, and if they can utilize those hours by participating in different sports, the chances of troublemaking can decline considerably (Petrovic et al., 2018). Although some non-professional and professional athletes are involved in drug-abusing, bad decisions, and violence, this is not as in the majority of the athletic population as some behaviors depend on the character and personality of an individual.
Rhetorical Appeals
Ethos
Sports can provide an individual with enjoyment, fun, and excitement. For a person to attain that form of happiness, sports values and ethics should be demonstrated and followed. Developing ethical standards is a continuous process that involves improving and learning different skills (Petrovic et al., 2018). Ethics in sports play a crucial role in individuals as they learn to respect other people’s rights and be aware of their expectations. In sports, there is no criticizing of fellow or opponent players, but instead, there is encouragement and respect; therefore, there is a need for every individual to participate in sports.
Logos
Participating in sports is related to better professional success in the workforce and scoring good grades for schooling teens. Research shows that approximately 80% of those teens who participate in different sports have a higher positive attitude toward schooling, improved academic performance, and aspirations to join colleges (Petrovic et al., 2018). Due to the willingness to participate in school sports, the teens can have total attendance; hence, they cannot be left out at any sporting event and get enough education.
Pathos
Sports are a breeding ground for emotions in daily life since they can create a variety of pathos, such as from sadness to joy, excitement, and love. Participating in sports can be strong development of love and oneness between the participants and the sectors since they all share a common goal aimed at winning (Petrovic et al., 2018). Participating in sports is crucial to relieving stress through interaction with teammates and working out. Hence, one can share any disturbance issue and solve it with their colleagues.
Conclusion
In impacting teenagers, sports aid in developing social skills as people can interact with their teammates and opponents. Engaging in sports can boost one’s ability to work on a team, hence helping one get used to its culture, which can significantly develop the professional sector. Generally, in sports, participating as a spectator of a particular sport enhances interactions with other spectators and the supporting team; hence can result in happiness through cheering and also promote positive social behavior.
Reference
Petrovic, J., Cenic, S., & Dimitrijevic, D. (2018). Sports and physical engagement of elementary school students in their leisure time. Facta Universitatis, Series: Physical Education and Sport, 421-434.
For a linguistics class, I had to write an essay that either supported the notion that wealth brings far greater problems than depriving people of beauty or arguing that access to beauty is far more important than some might believe. The essay was titled, “The negative effects of wealth in society”.
I decided to take the first argument and provided an analysis that illustrated the critical role that wealth plays in bringing about most societal vices. In this essay, I seek to analyze the rhetorical devices used in the piece of writing described above. To this end, I shall focus on a number of aspects including the purpose for writing the essay, the audience, the genre, the appeals, organization of the text, omitted information, evidence included and the style of the essay.
Reasons for writing the essay
The primary reason as to why I wrote this essay stemmed from the fact that I had a clear understanding of how wealth has led to the physical and structural destruction of the society in which we live. I have had experiences in the past with moneyed people coming to an uninhabited piece of land surrounded by wonderful geological features such as fresh water springs.
Instead of leaving these marvels of nature the way they found them, these people clear the land and set up bottling plants for what is popularly known as ‘mineral water’. The downside of these kinds of investments is that with time the springs dry up and the emissions from such factories end up causing an unprecedented destruction to the atmosphere.
Aside from this, I have also witnessed how wealthy people use their money and power to exploit the less endowed individuals. A person would set up a company that brings in millions of dollars in profits but instead of sharing it appropriately with his/her members of staff, he/she offers them salaries that cannot even comfortable take them through a basic month. I also needed to write on how wealth or the search for wealth had the effect of breaking up family ties.
In this regard, I wanted to illustrate that in a bid to make as much wealth as possible individuals end up disregarding the importance of cultivating proper relationships with fellow family members, and this in turn has been the fundamental contributor to absenteeism as far as parental roles are concerned.
Genre
The genre of the essay above is contemporary. This is because the essay talks about an issue that affects society on a daily basis. The essay had not topical guidelines defining its direction and in a way had an immense freedom of range. As far as the content was concerned, it was designed to provide detailing for a specialized topic in linguistics which depended on basic exemplification from day-to-day living.
The form of this essay, by the virtue of alternating between argumentative and descriptive also played a great role in establishing its definition as contemporary. The essay at some point categorically provided a statement that illustrated the negative effects of wealth in today’s society and then I went ahead to list examples from modern-day life to back up the statement.
The essay also adopted the contemporary tag because it was elastic and could accommodate various lines of argument as well as different stylistic approaches. This was illustrated by the fact that an appreciation was made of the fact that wealth is important in society but clear lines of distinction have to be established to ensure that it does not negatively define how individuals relate with each other and with their environment.
Audience(s)
In writing this essay my primary audiences were the academicians that were going to assess it. It is because of this that I made a conscious effort to make it adopt a scholastic flow. I also made sure that numerous and practical examples were provided spanning across the entire content in order to provide the essay with proper literary relevance. I also had a secondary audience in mind when drafting the essay and this comprised members of the general public. These are individuals whose daily lives are affected by the issues raised in the essay.
For the sake of individuals from this category who could end up getting access to the essay, I made sure that I adopted a simple language and straight-forward style. I steered clear of jargon that could have ended up making the essay challenging to read and ensured that all the examples listed could resonate with the average citizen.
This essay could easily make sense in the same way to an individual in high school as it would to a literature professor. Even though bias regarding the impact of the essay on the different audiences had to be avoided, I still found myself passionate about convincing the wealthy individuals that the role the play in society could either make it better to live in or could end up damaging it completely.
Appeals (logos, ethos and pathos)
In order to appeal to the various audiences described above, I had to come up with a method for making both logical and emotional sense. This is what is described in literature as appealing to logos, ethos and pathos. As far as the appeal to logic is concerned I used a language that made theoretical sense.
This basically means that the words chosen for the essay had to clearly and accurately illustrate the point I had in mind. I also provided proper exemplification to back up the claims raised aside from providing adequate explanations for any new ideas. In this way, I was able to evoke a cognitive response from the readers. In order to develop ethos, I first made sure that the language used was appropriate to the discussion and that it was well understood by the target audience(s).
I went through my work from time to time to ensure that grammatical mistakes were corrected and that the essay was an easy read. I made sure that I was objective throughout the discussion and that I avoid getting my emotions dictate what I had to write. As such I ended up developing a well balanced essay that used the points raised to draw a conclusion.
As far as the appeal to emotion (pathos) is concerned, I used examples that made emotional sense to the reader such as the colonization of African countries by the world’s superpowers. These are vices that are distinctly associated with wealth and which are well known to individuals around the world. In some instances I had to use connotative explanations in order to ensure that the readers came up with their own conclusions regarding the point that had been raised.
For instance, when I wrote that “The acquisition of wealth results in the breaking of family and societal linkages”, I did not mean that families would split in the literal sense of the phrase ‘breaking up’. In stead I wanted the reader to come to the conclusion that wealth leads to the degradation of ideal societal relations.
Organization of the text
While drafting the essay, I had to ensure that the text was organized in such a way that each and every paragraph made sense on its own as well as in relation to the rest of the essay. The essay had a basic introduction which provided a summary of what the discussion would be about and this was summed up in the thesis. The subsequent paragraphs provided further explanation to the topic at hand and then the conclusion summarized the main points raised in the essay.
Each paragraph had an introductory sentence that brought to the fore the main idea that I was trying to raise and then the rest of the essay provided supporting evidence. For example, in the first paragraph after the introduction, I stated that “wealth leads to the creation of frustrated individuals in society.”
This was the main idea for discussion in this paragraph and in its support I cited an example of a wealthy man buying land from peasant farmers, setting up a franchise and then using the same individuals from whom he purchased the land as low-pay workers in his business.
Included and omitted information
Because in the introduction, I had stated that essay was going to support the argument that wealth had more negative effects in society aside from the destruction of beauty, some information had to be omitted while others included in order to come up with this conclusion.
I obtained all the information pertaining to the undesirable elements of wealth and then provided adequate examples to illustrate how these effects affected each and every member of society. I included information that implied that for society to function properly, some individuals had to have more wealth than others.
However, in order no to sound like I was supporting the argument that the injustices committed by the wealthy were the basics of proper social functioning, I provided an in-depth analysis of the vices that the discrepancies between the rich and the poor brought about in any given community. By the time I was writing the conclusion I had more points detailing the negative elements of wealth in society as compared to the benefits and this naturally made it easy to properly draw audience to my line of argument.
Evidence
In any given piece of academic writing, evidence is a key factor in determining the credibility of the argument. Consequently, in my essay on the negative effects of wealth, I made sure that I had enough evidence to support the basic ideas that I was trying to raise. No point was raised without further explanation and proper exemplification and this served to make the essay relevant to both the academicians assessing it and the average citizen with access to it.
For instance, after pointing out that the desire for wealth is responsible for corruption in public service, I went ahead to explain that this is manifest in the way police officers gladly take bribes owing to the fact that they are almost always poorly paid.
Style
The style of the essay was purely descriptive in because all the information provided was supposed to have the same impact to readers ten years in the future as it has made in the present. Points were raised to support the topic at hand and then properly described with basic examples from society. In this way the essay ended up making explanatory sense to respective audiences regarding the topic of discussion.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is worth noting that for any written discussion, it is imperative that the writer appreciates the importance of rhetorical devices in the structuring of his work. This is because the way an individual arranges arguments in an essay clearly determines the impact to his/her audience and the relevance of the work as far as consultation by scholars is concerned.
In the linguistics essay whose structure and content have been analyzed in this essay, a number of elements had to be well defined in order to ensure that it clearly brought out the message that I, as the writer, sought to bring about from the word go. As has been illustrated in this analysis a number of rhetorical devices were appropriately utilized in consideration of key elements such as the audience and this have been properly integrated in the entire writing in order to come with an easily flowing literary piece.
However, if I were to re-do the essay, I would ensure that I provide more citations from experts in the field. This would mainly be a function of appeal to pathos, especially for my academic audience. From where I stand all the strategies adopted worked well for the discussion and this leads me to the conclusion that a conscious effort to the type of rhetorical devices is important in making the essay fulfill its original intended purpose.
Some individuals believe that free speech is the ultimate representation of liberty. They argue that more speech is better than no speech at all irrespective of its manner of expression. However, these analysts forget that political rhetoric in the US has consequences and that sometimes it can go overboard.
The explosive climate
The American political climate is characterised by the demonization of politicians’ opponents. Although this is nothing new in politics, one must take caution when the habit becomes inaccurate and juvenile (Hunt 13). Words, in today’s political scene, are not used to achieve precise aims but to ruin everything that can possibly be damaged.
As such, clearer thoughts and fully-developed ideas get drowned in national conversations. American political rhetoric has reached overdrive levels and thus, made it much easier for politicians to practice partisan politics, or say things that they may not really mean. They reassure listeners that their opponents are much worse and this distorts reality.
A case in point was the distortion of Barrack Obama’s background. Political rhetoric led to misinformation about his religion and his citizenship. Some individuals alluded that he was a Muslim and was not patriotic to the nation. Such half-truths breed an atmosphere of accusation and disengagement, which counteract the very principles that make this nation so strong.
A number of Americans are highly distressed by angry politics in the land. Approximately seventy percent of Americans believe that the negative political atmosphere in the country is detrimental to democracy. Many people’s political expectations are diminishing owing to this state of affairs and the country appears to be heading in the wrong direction (Lawler and Schaefer 94).
A number of observations have also indicated that it is not just the political and social well being of society that will be affected by excessive political rhetoric but the physical well being as well. Political rhetoric can reach levels that manifest as violent behaviour. One such case was the shooting of Gabrielle Gifford, a representative of Arizona. The latter leader was shot and injured adversely during an interactive session with her electorate at a grocery store.
The attacker fired at twenty people, including Gifford, after the representative had tweeted that she was at that location. While investigations are yet to establish whether the shootings were inspired by the assailant’s psychological state or deeper political issues, it is still imperative to remember the latter option is quite probable. The sharp, antagonistic language aimed at government has increased the likelihood of violent incidents.
Most politicians employ radio talk shows, internet blogs, social networking websites like Twitter, television shows and many more to disseminate vicious rhetoric. In the case of Gabrielle Gifford, the state of Arizona had become highly polarised before her attack (Kaplan 22). Many residents in this state mistrusted government and were paranoid about their healthcare laws. This daily exposure to destructive rhetoric through various media outlets may have had a violent impact on the people of the state.
It was especially probable among unstable individuals than well-balanced ones. Increasing verbal attacks in certain political debates has heightened security concerns. Many protests have turned violent during public meetings. One such instance was the healthcare debate that took place in 2010. Even death threats against congressmen were not uncommon.
Conclusion
The use of political rhetoric for selfish gains among politicians has bred an atmosphere of divisive and violent politics. This has been manifested through disengagement and violent confrontations against political leaders.
Miller-Cochran & Rodrigo explain that warrants are “ideas, concepts, and beliefs that connect reasons and evidence to the claim” (186). Yagelski & Miller discuss that “facts/statistics, personal experience, authority, and values are the commonly used types of evidence” (92). Lin uses facts, personal experience, and values. He derives statistics used in the argument from personal experience. He does not use authority such as expert judgment.
A strong point
Sympathy expressed by the public towards grieving families and Cho Seung will not avert future killing rampages. Lin argues that sympathy would not “effectively prevent future killing rampages” (par. 2). Sympathy does not affect the source of the problem. Lin explains that the source is found in areas that have been neglected. Lin uses an illustration where someone “signs a note causing someone to tell someone to press the button that launches the rocket” (“Context and Goals” par. 2). Sympathy in this illustration deals with the person that pressed the button. As a result of ignoring the sources of alienation, sympathy is ineffective.
Weak point
Lin makes a weak argument that a person who wants to reduce human suffering must avoid all mainstream media outlets. Lin proposes that one should ignore “all mainstream media, pretty much, any newspaper, and almost every website” (“Perspective” par. 1). When a person ignores all these media outlets, he/she is unlikely to be aware of suffering unless it happens only to them. Someone is unlikely to change what he/she is unaware of.
Logos on the argument
Lin uses an enthymeme on anger. Enthymeme uses a major premise and minor premises to conclude (Yagelski & Miller 84). The major premise generalizes that “anger means wanting to destroy something in concrete reality” (“Anger” par. 1). A minor premise suggests that “pain/suffering does not exist in concrete reality” (“Anger” par. 1). From the statements used by Lin, it can be concluded that “destroying people does not affect the existence of suffering” (“Anger” par. 1). Suffering from anger is an abstraction. It can only be reduced by eliminating intangible causes.
Lin supports his claims with warrants. Miller-Cochran & Rodrigo discuss that warrants are assumptions used to reinforce the credibility of claims (188). Lin argues that death can make him sad only if “it happened to someone whose concrete existence affected his daily life” (“Sympathy” par. 1). He follows the argument that by saying that “Kurt still exists for me as much as he did a month before he died” (“Sympathy” par. 1). This claim warrants that Vonnegut’s death does not affect his daily life.
Lin opposes general public sadness. Lin argues that “an amount of people felt automatically sad when Kurt Vonnegut died” (“Sympathy” par. 2). Lin does not find a connection of their suffering to the deceased. Lin argues that it is “due to the automatic acceptance of a pre-existing sort of guideline or suggestion” (“Sympathy” par. 2). Lin argues that people die every day. There is no difference between Cho’s killing or Vonnegut’s death to make the public mourning. Their sadness does not affect them because they cannot “resurrect Kurt Vonnegut to cure their sadness” (“Sympathy” par. 1). Similarly, it will not reduce future killings.
Lin uses a claim of policy to support his argument on the intolerance of art. A claim of the policy describes what ought to be done. Lin argues that one cannot claim without defining a context or goal that a book or a story is bad or good (“Intolerance of Art” par. 1). It would mean that the person “is the only one who exists and his/her opinion are facts” (“Intolerance of Art” par. 1). Lin argues that someone can “only like or dislike a subject when there is no context or goal” (“Context and Goals” par. 1). Lin discourages statements such as “your facial expression and voice are horrible, you have no talent” (“Intolerance of Art” par. 2). The argument appeals to what is right.
Yagelski and Miller discuss that facts are supposed to be supported with statistical figures (92). Lin argues that some people after watching “a PETA video, feel sad for 10 or 20 minutes” (“Consistency” par. 1). Lin generates the figures out of his experience. Readers who have a similar observation will find his argument more credible. Lin argues that “more than 33 people die each day” (“Perspective” par. 1). He uses this fact to try to show that all deaths are similar. Lin argues that a CEO who “does not increase investments for investors at a satisfying rate will be voted out” (“Perspective” par. 1). It is factual without numerical figures. Firms without high-profit margins are considered poorly run.
Types of appeals used by Lin
Lin uses pity to make his argument believable. An author may use “pity of their readers when they need to inspire an emotion related to their argument” (Yagelski & Miller 97). Lin expresses that he “cried in bed sometimes in college” (“Loneliness” par. 1). He uses this expression to make people understand how Cho Seung might have felt. He feels emotional for one person when he does not feel emotional for the other 33 who also died.
Lin appeals to the readers’ prejudice that the alienated individual has communication problems. Appealing to prejudice takes the form of using common belief (Yagelski & Miller 98). Lin argues that his “eyes might tremor, the voice might stutter, he might not feel in control of his body or face” (“Loneliness” par. 1). He mentions some of the responses associated with people with communication problems. Readers are likely to be attached to his narration as a result of appealing to prejudice.
Lin appeals to tradition using corporate view on profits. Tradition has to be supported with other facts to be credible (Yagelski & Miller 98). Lin recognizes that “media existence depends on viewership size” (“Perspective” par. 1). It is a strong argument because profits depend on the size of viewership. He strengthens his argument by the fact that CEOs are fired if they cannot sustain profits. The tradition becomes credible because it is supported by facts.
Lin uses the moral values that people hold about an outcome of life issues. Lin argues that he “feels capable of accepting whatever may happen to him” (“Sympathy” par. 1). It is a statement that calms the reader. He argues that “people can change things in concrete reality to reduce pain/suffering” (“Sympathy” par. 1). Morality requires people to act humanely to reduce suffering. He dismisses actions that “eliminate, isolate or quarantine anyone you feel is unlike yourself” (“Sympathy” par. 3). Such people ought to be helped rather than alienated. He uses justifiable moral values.
News coverage
The news coverage reports that one of the students “was taped soberly expressing shock and cognizance” (Stanley par. 2). This differs from Lin’s perception of an “automatic acceptance of pre-existing guideline” (“Sympathy” par. 2). Lin argues that people are shocked because they are expected to be shocked about such events.
The news coverage uses expert judgment that categorizes the event as “narcissistic injury” (Stanley par. 3). Lin does not use an authority in his argument. According to the article, other media outlets were referring to the killings as “senseless death-as-usual” (Stanley par. 4). Lin describes the killings as confusion caused by clichés. The reporters claim the killings are senseless. Lin argues that the sadness is senseless.
Lin argues that the media outlets can do anything to increase profits. The report claims that CNN posted a clip on the shootings which “recorded 1.8 million hits in a day” (Stanley par. 6). It leads to Lin’s argument about media outlets’ interest in the size of their audience.
Evaluation of comments
‘Pete’ argues that quantifying emotions only eliminates subjectivity. Lin argues that sympathy should be judged by the effect it has on reducing future killings. Pete argues that sympathy is an involuntary emotion (Lin “Pete” par. 2). It is not guided by choice. Pete uses authority in his argument about sympathy and emotions.
Lin emphasizes the use of quantification rather than media reports. MadisonGlass expresses his view with an expression of the suffering of one person multiplied by thirty. He concludes from this calculation that “mathematically, Cho made the wrong choice” (“MadisoGlass par. 6). MadisonGlass effectively uses opposing viewpoints.
MadisonGlass argues that ignoring all major media outlets is “elevating yourself to the level by which you are the authority” (“reply” par. 3). MadisonGlass recognizes that Lin despises authority. Lin relies mostly on reasoning. Using reasoning only with the support of facts and statistics can sometimes mislead (Miller-Cochran & Rodrigo 187).
‘Steve’ uses a fallacy when he supposes that Cho Seung-Hui was sexually abused (“Steve” par. 3). Lin argues that a story is just an imagination. Steve uses the tradition where people with imaginations of sexual abuse must have been sexually molested. Lin argues that “imagining something, drawing something is not doing something” (“Concrete reality” par. 2). Steve can link the characters in the play to Cho Seung-Hui’s real life.
Works Cited
Lin, Tao. Cho Seung-Hui’s killing rampage. 2007. Web.
Miller-Cochran, Susan & Rochelle Rodrigo. The Wadsworth Guide to Research. Mason: Cengage Learning, 2011.
The following is an analysis of the “Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information” as prepared by the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The USDHHS created a set of national standards for the protection of specific health information. The intended audience is the ordinary people who will avail of health services within the United States of America. This document was created to establish protocols on how to handle health information. It is important to strike a balance between the need for confidentiality, and the effective flow of communication to intended recipients.
It is easy to understand the purpose of the document, because the USDHHS provided enough information to explain the importance of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. Thus, this document serves to explain the standards created in response to the said law.
The coherent flow of information was assured, when the USDHHS effectively utilized “division and classification”, to break down a complex body of information into manageable pieces. Thus, readers are not overwhelmed by the presentation of huge chunks of data. The USDHHS made sure that the reader is aware of the background of the message.
The “division and classification” of information did not only create a coherent flow, it also enables the user to understand how different topics are interrelated. For example, the USDHHS immediately highlighted the importance of the document. This strategy encourages the user to know more about the issue. It was a deliberate attempt by the author to call the attention of the intended recipient. In other words, the USDHHS made it known, that the document was not written for those who are not affected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.
By utilizing the “division and classification” strategy, the USDHHS created effective signposts that guide users on how to navigate a complex web of information compressed in a single document. If the user wants to read the section that talks about privacy rules regarding minors, there is no need to read the whole document all over again. Therefore, it is easier to absorb the information because of the way it was organized.
Effective writing was made evident through the appropriate use of exemplification and description. For example, the document highlights the type of protected information. The USDHHS provided a list of information covered by the said law. It was a specific set of information, such as the inclusion of pertinent health information concerning the individual’s past, present, and future.
Another commendable feature of the document is the appropriate definition of terms used. There is no need to consult a dictionary to understand some of the complicated terms used, because the USDHHS made sure the definition of technical terms is within the said document.
The author was mindful of the 4 characteristics of effective writing. For example, the document was written in a coherent manner, and it was easy to read. The author used precise language. It was also evident that the author used a well-defined voice, and had a clear sense of audience. The author also utilized well-structured and varied sentences.
The author also utilized the principles embedded in rhetorical choices by using definition, exemplification, classification, and division.
With regards to the Measures of Excellence in Writing, the author provided a comprehensive material so that the user can utilize the information effectively. At the same, time the document was an example of excellent writing because of the clarity of the information given.
Finally, the author was able to demonstrate skills that characterized Professional Writing for Social Science Professionals. These skills were made evident when the author created a document that focuses on a particular group of users. At the same time, the author used precise language to compel the readers to respond to the message. Therefore, the author was able to address the issue regarding privacy standards.
It must be pointed out that the document contains certain flaws that need to be rectified in order to accomplish the purpose of its creation. It must be made clear that the purpose of the document is information dissemination. In other words, it is important to inform American citizens about their right to privacy. However, there are numerous problems that impede the flow of information for those who are unable to correctly interpret the essence of the privacy protocols that were created by the USDHHS.
One of the glaring examples of the failure to reach out to the intended audience was the lack of detailed information with regards to appropriate examples. For example, the USDHHS provided a general overview of the types of information covered by the said law. However, detailed examples were not present in the said document. For users who are not highly educated, it is almost impossible to determine the meaning of “past, present, and future” health information.
The best way to rectify this error is to provide a link, or develop another set of documents that will provide more information about the said topic. The link will lead users to a specific website that has more graphical information, because the current document lacks visual aids. Uneducated users may find it difficult to read, and absorb technical terms.
It can be argued that aside from the lack of pertinent information, the document was created not for the consumption of the general public, but for the benefit of lawyers, and highly educated people. An overview of the document will reveal that one of the primary purposes of the document is not just to provide information about privacy protocols, but also to give information that will be useful in legal disputes. As a result of this objective, the document is filled with legal terminologies. There is nothing wrong with using technical terms and legal language. However, the USDHHS must keep in mind that it provides a service, not only to corporate leaders, and hospital managers, but also to ordinary people.
It is important to point out that American citizens are not only those who went to college. The U.S. government is not only for the rich, and the educated members of society. The U.S. Government is also for those who struggle to read and write.
The document is well organized. Thus, it is able to provide a coherent flow of information. However, the mere fact that is a public document means that it is for the consumption of ordinary American citizens. The document is sufficient in form and substance; however, effective communication is hindered in the absence of appropriate language for minorities and other disadvantaged groups. The USDHHS must develop another version of the standard privacy protocols, and it must be written for the sake of the marginalized members of society.
Womens rights have always been an ongoing issue. For decades, activists and feminists have been trying to reconsider the existing distribution of privileges and power to provide equal opportunities for people regardless of their gender. The question of womens suffrage was a fundamental aspect of these debates (Weiss 13). Numerous outstanding political leaders and feminists devoted their works to the investigation of this aspect and outlined their perspectives on it.
The analyzed article by Carrie Chapman Cat is one of the examples of these works. It revolves around the inevitability of womens suffrage and the aspects that surround it. The paper is a bright example of the in-depth analysis of the problem and a perfect insight into the future of womens participation in the political life of the country.
Presenting her arguments about womens suffrage and perspectives on the further evolution of the given issue, Chapman manages to succeed because of several factors. First of all, she uses an appropriate structure to demonstrate her perspective and make readers think about the inevitability of radical changes in the political system of the state (Chapman). She states that there are three reasons why women will be provided with equal political rights and then offers them, preserving a logical flow and coming from less to more powerful ones (Chapman). The given structure helps to follow her arguments and understand the background of processes that will result in the significant reorganization of the political environment and shifts in peoples mentalities.
Another aspect that contributes to the overall success of the given paper is the tone. The author offers sober facts along with her cogitations and appeals to the audience. For instance, she asks: “Do you realize that in no other country in the world with democratic tendencies is suffrage so completely denied as in a considerable number of our own states?” (Chapman). The given question helps to create a particular effect on the audience. The author wants people to think about the current state of the issue, reveals the problem for those who are unaware, and blames political elites for discriminative patterns that are cultivated in the country. It helps to create a specific tone that makes her arguments more powerful and increases the value of the paper.
The author also correctly uses pathos to appeal to readers emotions and convince an audience of the inevitability of womens suffrage by creating a strong emotional response to the idea she promotes. First, she uses a chain of rhetorical questions starting with the same phrase “do you realize…” to make individuals think about the real state of the issue and trigger an outburst of emotions (Chapman). It is a potent tool as it helps to guarantee participation in the dialogue with the author and engage in debates about the discussed issue (Toye 34).
Second, she appeals to the society using the word “ours” in different contexts to demonstrate that all people regardless of their gender belong to the same nation and cultivate the same values like democracy and tolerance (Chapman). In such a way, Chapman creates a powerful emotional response to her words.
Finally, throughout the whole paper, the author offers numerous facts and credible pieces of evidence to support her ideas and demonstrate the inevitability of womens suffrage. This appeal to logic, or logos, contributes to the improved understanding of central arguments and their enhanced power (Toye 54).
For instance, Chapman explores such historical events as the Revolution that gave rise to the American nationhood or the creation of the Declaration outlining citizens basic rights to show the true nature of her arguments and the existence of a particular background for the emergence of radical changes in peoples mentalities and their perspectives on the problem of womens suffrage in the state (Chapman). Numerous appeals to logic and the wise use of logos help to ensure the audience in the authors rectitude and her ability to foresee the further development of the situation.
Finally, Chapman utilizes the authority of such outstanding political activists as Lincoln or Elihu Root to persuade the audience that the need for change is obvious and comes from the nature of the existing political environment. These prominent people correctly realized the unique role democracy and tolerance should play in the states evolution (Chapman). That is why it is critical to accept their ideas and recognize the inevitability of womens suffrage regarding the existing political course.
Altogether, the paper presents itself as a successful example of the authors cogitation about a particular issue in an attempt to make the audience think about perspectives of the state and its political environment. Combining ethos, pathos, and logos with an appropriate structure and offering bright examples to support her ideas, Chapman creates a particular effect that makes the audience believe the narrator and reconsiders their perspectives on the discussed issue. That is why the article succeeds in conveying its primary message to the audience and revealing the central aspects of womens suffrage, the background for the emergence of radical alterations in people’s mentalities, and the further development of the question.
Steven Dowshen’s “How TV affects your child” is an article designed to enlighten parents about a social issue that can alter their children’s health.
In this article, the author sensitizes parents about the likelihood of coping with obese, aggressive and drug-dependent (alcohol and cigarettes) children due to too much television-watching. Ethos and pathos are some of the techniques that the writer uses in order to make a believable case against television watching in children.
The first part of the article uses logos as a rhetorical strategy. The author probably wanted to establish that the article is factual and formal. One cannot find any mention of personal stories throughout this essay because the creator wanted to prove that the subject matter was serious. As such, the writer’s first and second paragraphs contain startling statistics about the number of children that watch television in the country.
These are details that emanate from objective health research, so one can be fully convinced that the assertions are true. In subsequent portions of the essay, the author uses cause and effect in order to validate his arguments. For instance, he explains that television leads to violence because no one is punished for their violent behavior; even the heroes are violent.
The author views the promotion of violence on television as a cause of desensitization towards aggression and violence among children. The effect of this desensitization is violence (Dowshen 7). Conclusions are carefully linked to their logical causes thus strengthening the author’s case.
Ethos has been employed in the article in order to convince the audience that the writer is credible. At the beginning of the essay, the author cites the Kaiser Family foundation and then also mentions the American Academy of pediatrics (AAP) when recommending the amount of television exposure that children should have.
Later on, the author mentions the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth when quoting statistics on the exposure of youth to alcohol advertisements. Towards the end, the article talks about the Federal Communications Commission. All these large organizations are experts in their field, so when they make assertions about something, they are sure about it.
When making recommendations or talking about sweeping statements in the article, it was necessary to back them with credible sources hence the use of these groups. Expert scholars and practitioners such as the AAP can rarely be disputed when it comes to health matters because they have tested and proven their statements scientifically. However, in some parts of the article, the author did not substantiate his claims.
For instance, when talking about the likelihood of starting to smoke for children who watch television for more than five hours, he should have cited a source (Dowshen 21).
In the area of ethos, the author effectively organized the essay. He started with his thesis statement, then revealed statistics on the prevalence of television watching among children.
Thereafter, the author discussed various health-related topics and explained how television causes them. In the body of the paragraph, he started with violence then went on to risky behaviors, obesity and ended with misleading advertisements. The author gave recommendations on the subject at the end.
The language and tone of the article is also suitable to the audience and exemplifies the organization’s understanding of its target readership. Most parents who read the material may not belong to academic circles or are not health professions, so it is vital to keep language simple enough for all to understand. The tone is quite plain and literal. In certain instances it borders on being academic.
However, some informality has been incorporated into the article through the use of short forms and casual words such as ‘ads’, ‘kids’, ‘good guys’ and ‘gizmos’. This has been done in order to create a familiar undertone in the piece. The author utilizes repetition as a mechanism for keeping the article interesting.
On the second paragraph, he repeats the word ‘kids’ before the second and the third bullet points in order to emphasis the high prevalence of television watching among children (Dowshen 2).
Perhaps one of the least exploited rhetorical strategies in this article is pathos or emotion. The article has only one image; that of a cartoon-child watching a television screen. No photographs or visual images have been employed to appeal to the audience’s emotions. Additionally, the piece contains no personal stories or subjective reporting. Even the use of powerful phrases or words is quite limited in the paper.
Conceivably, one may argue that emotion is not always appropriate in all persuasive arguments. The audience (parents) probably visits ‘Kidshealth.org’ in order to find credible information about children’s health; they do not come to find solace from their peers. If this is their wish, they should visit parenting blogs and websites.
Those parents who need factual guidelines on raising their children will be convinced if the information is less emotional and more commanding. Therefore, failure to employ pathos in the article was an effective strategy.
The author of the article utilizes ethos in order to establish credibility and appeal to the logical side of the audience. This has been done by mentioning research firms and health associations, using facts and applying statistics in the description of certain health phenomena. He expresses logos through the use of cause and effect arguments, but skips pathos in order to preserve the authoritativeness of the article.
The origin of the rhetoric theories is rooted back to the times of Ancient Rome and Greece. Though Aristotle is recognized as one of the first philosophers who raised the question of rhetorical art and coined the notions of ethos, pathos and logos as the main components of effective persuasion patterns, some researchers point at the links between Aristotelian lectures and Homer’s Iliad.
This essay suggests that despite the importance of applying all three components of ethos, pathos and logos for a successful attempt of rhetorical persuasion, the dialogues from Iliad by Homer demonstrate that the situational constraints can prevent the speaker from persuading the listener and need to be taken into consideration for choosing the most effective strategies.
It would be quite interesting to discuss the influence of Homer’s Iliad on further development of rhetoric theories, trying to identify the main sources of persuasion in the work, comparing the rhetoric patterns implemented by the characters to Aristotle’s conceptions.
In this paper, we focus on the Book Nine of Homer’s Iliad which is devoted to the attempts of king Agamemnon’s “ambassadors” to persuade Achilles to fight against the Trojans. “Language in use creates and changes the opinions that are our only available knowledge” (Bizzel 38).
The purpose of this paper is to analyze persuasion in The Iliad, analyze whether the notions of logos, pathos and ethos are applicable to the dialogues from Book Nine and if they are, why Phoenix, Ajax and Odysseus fail to persuade Achilles.
Aristotle emphasized the three most important components of persuasion, namely ethos, pathos and logos. The Greek philosopher used the term ethos for defining the credibility of the orator’s words which depends on the character and trustworthiness of the speaker and the impression which he/she produces upon the listener.
It is important that the person who delivers the messages should be accepted as a specialist in the field whose opinion is worth listening to. The authority of a person is an important component of the notion of ethos, but this authority should relate to the field of discussion; time and place also traditionally mentioned when ethos is discussed are also important.
Pathos denotes the emotional coloring of the speaker’s words used with the aim of appealing to the listener’s feelings and evoking the emotional response. This component varies because the emotional reactions always vary and are difficult to predict. Still, this component is significant for motivating the auditor to share the speaker’s mood and recognizing the attitude before sharing the belief.
Logos denotes persuading by reasoning, turning to the logical laws, providing the listeners with food for thought and pointing at the logical links between various factors. Though Aristotle did not appreciate unethical persuasion, discussing the logos component, the philosopher introduced the notion of enthymeme, a rhetorical syllogism which makes the auditor recognize a false statement as true.
Frobish (2003) discusses ethos in context of Homer’s Iliad. He states that in Homer’s work, ethos “does not refer to some quality of character but to a haunt or an accustomed place of activity”; however, it is possible to “talk of character as it relates to persuasion” (Frobish 19). He highlights that in the Iliad, a man was a sum of his actions.
Let us provide a brief example that illustrates the essence of logos, pathos and ethos. A doctor says to his patient that he/she should decrease consumption of salt, as salt is harmful for his/her health. If a doctor highlights the appeal of logos, he/she would provide a patient with results of scientific researches and statistics.
In case pathos is highlighted, a doctor would say that a patient will die very soon if consumption of salt is not decreased.
Ethos implies that a doctor would highlight his knowledge and experience which give him opportunity to advice on salt consumption (compare: at a soccer match, a doctor tries to persuade a listener that one soccer team is better than another; this question does not refer to his competence of a doctor, and the place does not strengthens this authority as well – this is the illustration of how we settle the mentioned discrepancy about ethos).
Logos, Ethos and Pathos in Iliad
In the Book Nine of The Iliad, Homer depicts the dialogues between Phoenix, Ajax and Odysseus sent by the king Agamemnon, and Achilles. Let us analyze these dialogues from the perspective of logos, ethos and pathos.
We will try to find cases of using these three appeals in the speeches of the men sent by the king Agamemnon, critically evaluate their effectiveness, define the weak points of their reasoning and the main reasons of their failure.
First of all, we need to pay attention to the fact that the king’s “envoys” are the worthy men of stature and credibility in the eyes of Achilles. This is a strong appeal to ethos: the king expects that the authority of these people will help them to succeed in their negotiation.
Still, Achilles as the auditor is aware of the fact that it is Agamemnon who sent the orators and this fact prevents him from sharing the beliefs of people whom he considers trustworthy. Let us analyze the dialogue between Odysseus and Achilles.
The narrator begins with pathos, describing the terrifying situation and trying to evoke the emotional reaction in the listener: “For haughty Trojans and their famous allies/ have camped close to the ships and barricade/ and lit many fires throughout their army” (Homer 186).
However, Odysseus does not limit his narration to using the pathos component only and tries to intensify the effect produced by his words, implementing other persuasive patterns. He continues: “So rouse yourself, late through it may be,/ If you’ve a mind to save Achaeans/ from their suffering at this Trojan onslaughts./ If not, you’ll suffer future agonies./ You won’t find any cure for such despair (Homer 186)
In this excerpt we see the example of combination of pathos and logos in the speech: the expressions “late through it may be”, “suffer future agonies”, “despair” demonstrate strong appeal to a listener’s emotions, while predicting the possible consequences of the auditor’s choice and actions, Odysseus uses the logical laws.
Odysseus also promises numerous gifts which Achilles will be given in case he agrees to fight against the Trojans: this part of the monologue refers to the notion of logos as well: the narrator describes the benefits which a listener will get in case he agrees. We can notice that Achilles understands the ethos of the dialogue: he calls Odysseus “Divinely born son of Laertes, Resourceful Odysseus” (188).
Besides, Odysseus speech sounds rather persuasive, because he uses all possible means for influencing the listener’s decision: appeals to his feelings, points at possible devastating consequences and tries to take advantages from the auditor’s attitude to him.
The fact that the main Aristotle’s patterns can be found in the speech of the main character can hardly be denied, and the question of the main reasons of their failure in persuading the auditor arises. Ahilles explains that he does not need the gifts he is promised (Homer 191) and this statement can be related to the weakness of the logos component.
An example of more successful logos is present when Achilles provides a strong argument, explaining that in case he fights against Trojans, he will lose his life, but his fame will remain, while if he goes home his fame will die, but he will stay alive (Homer 192). Thus, the weakness of the logos component and Achilles’ awareness of the fact that it was Agamemnon who asked Odysseus to persuade him caused the failure of the first speaker.
After Achilles’ response, Phoenix begins talking. In his monologue, we see highlighted pathos and logos in both what and how Phoenix says: he tells Achilles his story in emotional manner and advices to avoid mistakes he talks about (Homer 198).
We can also find the elements of ethos at the beginning of Phoenix’s speech: he reminds Achilles of how Achilles was sent to him when he was “young, knowing nothing about war…” (Homer 192). He says that Achilles is like a son for him, which highlights Phoenix’s authority and services in bringing Achilles up.
Again, with his answer, Achilles demonstrates that Phoenix’s appeals are ineffective for him, “…do not confuse my heart with these laments, these speeches of distress…” (Homer 198). Both pathos and ethos components of Phoenix’ speech do not influence the auditor’s decision though Achilles himself recognizes that he is impressed with the words and has to make efforts for overcoming the manipulator’s strategies.
Ajax, the third narrator, focuses on pathos in his speech. He uses expressive phrasing and appeals to Achilles’s feelings: “For Achilles has turned his great spirit/ into something savage in chest./ He is cruel and doesn’t care for friendship of his comrades…” (Homer 199) He finishes his speech with highlighting ethos: ”…We, of all Achaeans, are the ones/ most dear to you, your closest friends…” (Homer 199)
Again, the speaker does not manage to persuade the listener. Achilles talks about the issue which has a stronger emotional I pact on him, “… my heart chokes with rage when I recall how that son of Atreus behaved towards me… (199).
Though all Aristotle’s appeals are present in the speeches of Phoenix, Ajax and Odysseus, their attempts to persuade Achilles appeared to be ineffective because of additional circumstances which need to be taken into consideration while evaluating the effectiveness of the ethos, pathos and logos components.
Aristotle would respond that the realization of the ethos component with such an honorable person as Achilles is problematic from the very beginning.
The auditor is certain in his own position and disregarding his respect to some of both ethos and pathos components is also diminished with the fact that the speakers deliver Agamemnon’s messages and the listener’s personal attitude to the king overlaps his opinion of the speakers. The dialogues under analysis can be regarded as the battle of the clashing egos, and it became a serious hindrance for the success of the persuasion patterns.
Logos, Pathos and Ethos versus Honor, Material, Power and Justice
An interesting approach to analysis of the persuasion components in Iliad is offered by Reyes in his “Sources of Persuasion in the Iliad” which was published in Rhetoric Review in 2002. In this study, the researcher outlines four appeals of persuasion used perpetually through the course of The Iliad: honor, material, power and justice (Reyes 23).
The analysis of the particular sources of persuasion used in The Iliad does not contradict Aristotle’s theory of ethos, pathos and logos but rather provides a more detailed explanation of the strategies used by the speakers for appealing to the auditor’s feelings. When a narrator appeals to honor, material, power and justice, his/her speech can contain components of ethos, pathos and logos, highlighted stronger or weaker.
Relating the dominant persuasion themes of the epic poem to the Aristotle’s teaching, Reyes admits that “Homer can be cited as the first to see persuasion as teachable, as something that one person can give to another” (Reyes 31).
Thus, the conscious implementation of the persuasive strategies by Homer’s characters reduced the effectiveness of the components. Along with the situational constraints such as the interpersonal relationships between Agamemnon and Achilles and their personal traits became the main reasons for the failure of persuasion strategies used by Phoenix, Ajax and Odysseus.
Conclusion
A comprehensive analysis of various attendant circumstances and the situational context is important for evaluating the effectiveness of the ethos, pathos and logos components of the persuasion strategies used by the orators for the purpose of influencing the auditor’s decisions.
The example of the dialogues from Homer’s Iliad demonstrates that implementation of the Aristotle’s rhetorical theories can be insufficient for persuading the listener.
Bibliography
Bizzel, Patricia and Bruce Herzberg. The Rhetorical Tradition: Readings from Classical Times to the Present. Bedford: St. Martin’s, 2001. Print.
Frobish, Todd S. “An Origine of a Theory: A comparison of Ethos in the Homeric Iliad with that Found in Aristotle’s Rhetoric.” Rhetoric Review 22.1 (2003): 16-30. Print.
Homer, Johnson, Ian C. Johnston and Ian Crowe. The Iliad. Arlington, Va.: Richer Resources Publications, 2006. Print.
Reyes, Mitchell G. “Sources of Persuasion in the Iliad”. Rhetoric Review 21.1 (2002): 22-39. Print.
The magazine article “How to have a conversation” by John McDermott is a personal journey by the writer who wanted to investigate whether the art of conversation could be taught in formal settings. He joins a conversation class with the intention of becoming a great entertainer through skills learnt.
However, he soon realizes that theories and abstract ideas dominate the class. This did not obscure the important lessons he drew from the class about the purpose of conversation. Through the use of rhetorical devices, the author expresses himself vividly, effectively and interestingly.
Rhetorical devices
John McDermott relies on metaphors throughout the article to facilitate the conceptualization of his ideas, which makes his work effective and well understood. Metaphors are a brilliant way of capturing the emotional state of an experience (Ortony and Fainsilber 182). To better understand their use, one can contrast them to literal language. McDermott (12) says “none of my new friends said they wanted to be a raconteur in the Coleridge or the Hitchens mould.”
In this situation, he would have described the state of being a good conversationalist and hoped that his readers could deduce what he meant by that. However, he chooses to use the metaphor “in the Hitchens mould” to capture the quality of being a good conversationalist. Instead of merely describing the conditions of his subject matter, he chose an example of a great conversationalist, like Hitchens that the world knows.
It is for this same reason that he uses the metaphor “We were Boswells, not Johnsons”. He wanted to capture the simplicity and well-meaning intentions of his classmates in one word rather than in a plethora of phrases (University of British Columbia 7). Metaphors have facilitated conceptualization of the writer’s ideas by making the work richer (Your Dictionary 4).
For instance, he states “They faced a white wall that had been attacked by black paint, which had left behind a monochromatic mural.” (McDermott 20). The author sparks interest in his writing by augmenting it with metaphorical language. It would have been less appealing for him to state merely that the classroom had black and white paint. Metaphors thus create a better understanding of what the writer experienced by first drawing the reader’s attention and then clarifying the quality of emotions behind it.
In the article, diction has enabled the writer to sustain interest in the piece thus enriching his work. Words like “raillery” or “raconteur” could have been easily replaced by ‘jest’ or ‘amusing speaker’, respectively, but these would not have elicited the same reaction as the author’s choices (McDermott 5).
The word choices create a positive attitude toward the writer from the readers because they give the impression that he is well-versed with literary knowledge. Since some of these words are not used in everyday language, some readers would have to look them in the dictionary to find their meaning (Britannica 2).
This can be a painstaking experience if the whole piece is filled with such unusual words. However, McDermott did not select and fix these atypical words meaninglessly throughout the paper. He seems to have given them a lot of thought before using them because the words are the most effective for expressing what the author intended. English has a range of synonyms that may be used to describe similar situations. However, these choices still allude to different things (Writer’s Digest 7).
For instance, if the author wanted to mock the American self help model using a clever word, he could have called Americans “pretentious”, “overeager” or “fraudulent”. Instead, he chose to describe them as “charlatans peddling snake oil for the soul” (McDermott 16). This description suggests that American self help groups teach skills that they do not have.
Describing them as overeager would have masked their dishonesty while the world ‘fraudulent’ would have been too confrontational. A pretentious person is not the same as a charlatan because the former focuses on his significance while the latter focuses on his skills and knowledge. Therefore, the author selected the most effective word for expressing what he had in mind. It is laudable that these unique word choices do not detract the audience’s attention from the rest of the text (WiseGeek 20).
is indeed a difficult skill to master, and is a mark of a writer’s accomplishment. Readers who do not know difficult words should be able to understand the overall meaning of the article. This is exactly what one can do in the story. It is possible to deduce meanings from context or overlook the unusual word and still understand the essay (Pinker 75). Overall, the author’s word choice is impressive as it renders credibility to him as an author thus making the work appealing.
The style of sentences in the piece also sustains interest in the story, and explains why one would continue reading it until the end. Periodic sentences are prevalent in various parts of the article. McDermott does this in order to emphasize his subject matter as well as to create suspense in the topic (Pearson Education 21).
It should be noted that periodic sentences have predicates at the beginning alongside main clauses at the end. The method is climatic and ideal for literary writings like the one under analysis. A case in point was “Listening to these stories, I felt slightly disappointed.” (McDermott 18). The author probably used the latter example in order to achieve sentence variety. His piece would have been monotonous if he stuck to conventional sentence constructions.
Furthermore, the approach builds suspense because one has to wait until the end to find out what the main idea is. For instance, when a reader first looks at the quoted sentence, the person wonders what is it about listening to stories that affects the writer. This builds suspense and causes one to pay attention to the second part of the sentence to complete the thought. In essence, the periodic sentence is only effective if used sparingly, and this is what the author has done.
Aside from periodic sentences, McDermott has employed unconventional sentence structures throughout the piece. For example, he says “What makes a good conversationalist has changed little over the years.” Instead of writing “what makes a good conversationalist has not changed”, he employed a more unconventional but poetic sentence structure. This breaks monotony and improves the writer’s style (University of Ottawa 11).
McDermott appears to defy some grammatical rules thus indicating that he has intertwined formal and informal writing. In one instance, he starts a sentence with a preposition “And to have a bit of fun on a Tuesday night”. (McDermott 33). His disregard for certain rules shows that he is a versatile author who does not confine himself to the status quo. The style of sentences in the piece is critical in compelling readers to read on as there is little monotony.
Conclusion
Rhetorical devices in the article serve more than just aesthetic reasons. The author’s diction renders credibility to him and sustains interest in the work. His varied sentence styles break monotony and establish his status as a versatile writer. McDermott’s metaphors enable better understanding of work by making them more rich and relatable. These devices thus prove that the article is creative, vivid and clearly written.
Works Cited
Britannica. 2013. Definition of diction. Web.
McDermott, John. 2012. How to have a conversation. Web.
Ortony, Andrew and Lynn Fainsilber. 2013. The role of metaphors in descriptions of emotions. Web.
Pearson Education. 2010. Loose and periodic sentences. Web.
Pinker, Simon. The stuff of thought: Language as a window in human nature. New York, NY: Penguin Books, 2007. Print.
University of British Columbia. 2013. Rhetorical analysis: Critical writing. Web.
University of Ottawa. 2013. The order of a sentence. Web.
WiseGeek. 2013. What is the role of diction in literature?. Web.
Writer’s Digest. 2013. The importance of diction. 2008. Web.
A rhetorical situation is a context that constitutes a given issue, the audience, and the constraints that might make it hard for the speaker to persuade the audience to share his or her viewpoint. Rhetorical situations are important as they create a space where various issues can be critically examined, allowing the presenters a chance to sell their ideas in the social-political, economic, and personal domains. According to Aristotle, persuasion techniques exists in the forms of logos, pathos, and ethos, which speakers use to influence their audiences into sharing their perspectives on different issues.
Ethos
Ethos is the appeal to personal ethics in which the party making an argument attempts to persuade their audience they can be trusted because of their integrity or good reputation. For example, a sales representative for a car manufacturer may tell his prospective clients of the many famous people or organizations he has supplied with cars. Essentially, he is saying that, since he has retrospectively provided good services in the past, he can be relied on to so again because of his reputation.
Companies like IKEA and Wal-Mart use their position as market leaders in their field to “prove” to their clients that they are the best retailers because of their wide experience. Alternatively, speakers can use the ad hominem strategy to undermine their adversaries by criticizing their personality rather than their political ideology and agenda. For instance, some of President Bill Clinton’s opponents claimed he could not be trusted to run the government because he was unfaithful to his wife. By so doing, they wanted the audience to judge his presidency negatively using his personality instead of policy.
Pathos
On the other hand, pathos appeal to emotions by using them to manipulate the audience into sympathizing or relating to a given viewpoint. Pathos is used by speakers and authors to elicit pity or inspire emotions such as anger, fear, and outrage, all of which can then be harnessed draw support for a given issue. Advertisers and politicians frequently use pathos to convince the masses to buy their products and support their positions, respectively.
For example, a few months ago, I witnessed ethos persuasion in action as an insurance salesperson was trying to market his products to some of my colleagues. He explained in vivid detail, the suffering that children often undergo when their parents pass away unexpectedly and how some had to go on welfare and even fail to get into college. His argument was designed to invoke fear since most people are terrified at the thought of leaving their loved ones without adequate means. By capitalizing on this universal fear, he managed to persuade several of them to subscribe to his packages.
Logos
The use of Logos appeal requires one to justify their arguments objectively using statistics, historical analogies, and other proofs to support their argument and garner support. While the Greek definition of logos means “word”, logos, however, transcends the semantic implication and focuses instead on their explicit definitions and meanings. It is the most reliable persuasion technique because it is objective and focuses exclusively on the facts and proofs backing them up instead of the subjective sentiments and ad hominem implications in the other two techniques. An example of Logos appeal is evident the campaign against environmental pollution and degradation in the film, inconvenient truth.
The creators gathered historical evidence of the impact of human action on the environment and used it to predict what may be expected to happen in posterity. By using well-researched empirical evidence, the film proved that it is logical for people to care for the environment since the consequence of not doing so are inevitable doom.