Conversations in American Literature

The Use of Rhetoric and How to Employ It

Rhetoric, according to Aristotle (384-322 B.C.E.) is the faculty of observing any given case the
available means of persuasion.
STUDY
GUIDELINES

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Define all vocabulary words.

State the function of rhetoric in everyday life.
Identify how rhetoric puts the speaker in apposition of strength.
Explain how understanding rhetoric helps citizens and consumers.
Identify the parts of the acronym SOAPSTone and tell what each part
reveals about the rhetorical situation.
Draw and label the rhetorical triangle (Aristotelian triangle).
Explain the relationship among the parts of the rhetorical triangle.
Differentiate and give examples of the rhetorical appeals: ethos,
pathos, logos.
Apply rhetorical analysis skills to nonfiction, fiction, and poetry.
Assess the use of rhetoric in visual texts (cartoons, advertisements,
commercials).

DAY 1
Rhetoric Study Guide
As we work through the material, both together and individually, put the page number in the
far left blank where you found your answer.
Note the number in the bracket. This tells you the study guideline to which it is matched.

Page
_____ [1] What is rhetoric? Who gave it this name?
_____ [3] How does rhetoric empower a person?
_____ [2] How is rhetoric a part of everyday life? Your life?
_____ [4] In what ways does understanding rhetoric help our society?
Activity One: Find an article, speech, video, or advertisement for each one of these.
Manipulative/Deceptive
Type?
Subject?
Difference
?

Civil/Effective

The Rhetorical Situation _____ (page) Lou Gehrigs Farewell Speech

**Remember, rhetoric is ALWAYS situational**
PAGE
_____

[5, 1] Occasion means:

_____

[5, 1] Context means:

_____

[5, 1] Purpose means:

**For Lou Gehrigs speech, identify the following:
a. occasion
b. context
c. purpose

_____

[6] THE RHETORICAL TRIANGLE DRAW AND LABEL PARTS

_____

[6, 1] DEFINE SPEAKER:

_____

[6, 1] DEFINE PERSONA:

_____

[6, 1] DEFINE AUDIENCE:

_____

[6, 1] DEFINE SUBJECT:

_____

[6, 1] DEFINE PURPOSE:

The Appeals
Ethos, Logos, Pathos (p. 8-18)
Directions: Respond to each question in complete sentences.

1. What are rhetorical appeals and what is their purpose?

2. What 3 rhetorical appeals did Aristotle identify and to what do they appeal?

ETHOS:
3. Why do speakers appeal to ethos?

4. Name two ways a speaker can build ethos.

LOGOS:
5. How do speakers appeal to logos?
6. How may one create a logical argument?

7. Define counterargument; how does it aid a speakers point?

8. How does Will appeal to logos in Chinas appetite for coal?

PATHOS:
9. To what does pathos appeal?

10. Why is an argument appealing exclusively to emotions generally regarded as weak?

11. How can visual images appeal to pathos?

12. How can humor work rhetorically?

13. How does Eisenhower appeal to pathos in his Order of the Day?

Rhetorical Analysis of Fiction and Poetry (Conversations, pg. 21-25)

Define RHETORIC:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

What is the most direct use of rhetoric in imaginative literature?

Define persona.
Which two speakers does literary rhetoric usually have?
What must one keep in mind about these two speakers addressed in #3?
Fill out the following analysis of Colonel Chamberlains speech:
a. Tone:

b. Appeals to ethos:
c. Appeals to pathos:
d. Diction:
e. Appeals to logos:
f. His rhetorical purpose:
6. Define inference:
7. Whitman poem analysis
a. Point of view
b. Syntax:
c. Speaker:
d. Rhetorical purpose:
e. Diction:
f. What view is expressed?
8. ACTIVITY: Alice Dunbar Nelsons I Sit and Sew
a. Type of poem:
b. Subject:
c. Point of View:
d. Syntax:
e. Diction:
f. Rhetorical Purpose:
g. What view is expressed?
Rhetorical Analysis of Visual Texts (pg. 25-33)
1. mane three things that classify visual texts as full-fledged arguments:
a.
b.
c.
2. Examine the cartoon by Tom Toles on the occasion of Rosa Parks death. Complete the
following SOAPSTone analysis.
S:

O:

A:

P:

S:

Tone:

3. How does the cartoon appeal to ethos?

To pathos and logos?

ACTIVITY on US Army and US Navy, WWII recruitment posters, pg. 26-28. Answer the
questions about them in complete sentences.
1. What rhetorical strategies does each of the posters use to achieve its purpose: the
recruitment of women to serve in the U.S. armed forces?
2. Pay particular attention to the interaction of the written text with the visual elements.
How does the arrangement on the page affect your response?
3. How do the army and navy appeal to logos, ethos, and pathos?
4. How effective do you think the posters were in reaching their intended audience?
5. Which of them was likely to have been more effective? Explain.
DETERMINING EFFECTIVE AND INEFFECTIVE RHETORIC (pg. 29-40)
Analyze Applebaums argument against further use of nuclear power rhetorically. Complete a
SOAPSTone and list the appeals she uses.

ACTIVITY, pg. 31. Answer the questions in the activity assignment.

ACTIVITY, pg. 33. Answer the questions in the activity assignment.