Rhetoric, rhetorical situation, and argument

What is rhetoric?

Definition: the study of the effective use of language

In this class, we will look at various rhetorical situations. These include: the context within which writing or other communication takes place, including purpose, audience, genre, stance, and media/design.

Purpose

Goals of the writer:

EntertainInformPersuadeDemonstrate knowledge

What do you want your audience to think, feel, do?

Audience

Whom do you want to reach?Background?Interests?Demographics?Prior knowledge?Response?Appeals?

Genre

Textual analysisArgumentReportAbstractEvaluationNarrativeProposal

Key elements/conventionsOrganization/medium/design

We will focus on the ones in bold!

Stance

Your attitude toward the subject:

Objective Critical Passionate Indifferent

Tone comes into play here:

Angry Thoughtful Ironic Reasonable

Media/Design

Media: how we communicate ideasPrintVerbal Technology

Design: how we convey our ideasBulleted listKey words/phrasesParagraphsHighlighted ideasIllustrations

Argument

Definition: a strategy that can be used in any kind of writing to support a claim with reasons and evidence

This will be a running theme all semester!

Introductions, hooks, and thesis statements

Introductions

Your intro sets the stage for your whole essay. Think of it as the door to your essay. Which of the following looks more inviting:

What do each of these doors imply about what is beyond? Which would you rather enter?

Additionally, you don’t want to give away your whole essay in your intro – why else will your reading keep going if s/he already knows everything?

This door? Or this door?

Introductions

The length of your introduction depends on the length of your essay. If you are writing a quick 1-pager, then a short, three sentence intro will suffice. However, if you are writing a more lengthy, 5-page essay, your introduction will be more like six or seven sentences long, and can even become two paragraphs in length.

Introductions

Types: Broad statement narrowing to a limited subject Brief anecdote Starting with an idea that is the opposite of the one

actually developed Series of short questions Quotation Brief background on the topic Refutation of a common belief Dramatic fact or statistic

Introductions

General format:

Today smoking is an issue which is on everybody’s mind. The whole country is divided on this issue. Some people believe that smoking should be banned everywhere while others are not so harsh. However, I believe that tobacco should be outlawed because smoking endangers everyone’s health, pollutes the environment, and drains us of valuable energy.

Topic is introduced

Lead in to thesis statement

Thesis statement

Introductions

Final notes:

Be brief Intro your topic State your position Give reasons for your position

Introduction info created by José J. González, Jr.

Hooks

A hook is a technique writers use to get their reader’s attention. Remember the doors?

Again, which one is more interesting?

Hooks

Samples from literature:

“The eyes of the starving wolf pack gleamed like hot coals in the blackness of the frozen Arctic forest. They stared hungrily at the two man-animals and their dog-sled team huddled around the campfire. These man-animals had fish and they had meat. To a starving wolf-pack, who had had little to eat in months, the dogs and the man-animals were meat, too.”

White Fang by Jack London

Hooks

Samples from literature:

“Ba-room, ba-room, baripity, baripity, baripity – Good. His dad had the pickup going.”

Bridge to Terabthia by Katherine Paterson

Hooks

Samples from literature:

“ ‘The king is dead.’

Those four words, cold as marble and sharp as flint, were uttered by the thin, cruel lips of Edward Seymour, the king’s privy counselor and my brother’s uncle. In this way I learned of my father’s death.”

Beware, Princess Elizabeth by Carolyn Meyer

Hooks

Fact/Statistic Nearly 1/3 of the population of Europe was killed by the

plague.

Tone/Mood The bodies piled up in the streets of London, untouched, uncared for, mourned by the frightened masses that were left behind wondering when it was going to be their turn to die.

Simile/Metaphor The Black Death swept across the land like a broom brushing away people as it would dirt.

In the Middle of the ActionThe trebuchet cranked back slowly, then released suddenly, launching the stone up and over the walls of the city.

Hooks

Definition The Black Death was an unstoppable disease caused by the fleas carried by the rats that co-habitated with the people of Medieval Europe.

Dialogue “I see there’s been no improvement,” the

apothecary sadly admitted, looking at the small girl trembling and sweating with fever before him.

Onomatopoeia Sssssss. Sizzle. The fever burned through the

victim’s body.

Hooks

Staccato three word lead Rats. Sewers. Filth. London was not a city of great cleanliness.

Lyrics “Ring around the rosie. Pockets full of posies.

Ashes, ashes, we all fall down!”

ThemeSome people believed that the Plague was sent

to punish the evil on Earth, but they would soon learn that the disease knew no such ethics. It did not distinguish its victims.

Hooks examples by Heather Wolpert-Gawron www.tweenteacher.com

Thesis Statements

What a thesis statement is NOT:

It is NOT your topic: Example: I will compare marijuana usage over the last

five years. This is a TOPIC, not a thesis!

Your thesis will state your position on your topic Example: Marijuana usage has decreased over the

past five years due to the successful “War on Drugs.”

Thesis Statements

What a thesis statement is NOT:

It is NOT a fact about your topic:Example: Eagles have very keen eye sight in

order to see their prey from high altitudes. This is a FACT, not a thesis!

Your thesis will be an arguable opinion that you will then elaborate on in the rest of your essay, proving why it is true Example: Because of the eagle's keen vision and ability to soar high

above all other birds, it is the ideal symbol for America.

Thesis Statements

Requirements for a strong thesis statement:

IT SHOULD NOT BE TOO BROADIT SHOULD NOT BE TOO NARROWIT SHOULD NOT BE TOO VAGUE

Thesis Statements

IT SHOULD NOT BE TOO BROAD

The death penalty should be banned in the United States.

THIS IS TOO BROAD!

The death penalty in Alabama has been ineffective in deterring crime and should be replaced with more efforts to reform criminals and not murder them.THIS IS JUST RIGHT, AS IT HAS AN OPINION THAT

CAN BE PROVEN IN THE REST OF THE ESSAY

Thesis Statements

IT SHOULD NOT BE TOO NARROWIn Lord of The Rings, the sword given to Frodo by his uncle represents the passing down of a legacy.

THIS IS TOO NARROW; WHAT WILL THE ESSAY PROVE??

In Lord of the Rings, the author carefully chose a weapon for each character that was symbolic, and revealed something about them to the reader.

THIS IS JUST RIGHT AS YOU WILL NOT HAVE TO STRETCH YOUR ESSAY (read: fluff it!) TO MAKE THE THESIS WORK!

Thesis Statements

IT SHOULD NOT BE TOO VAGUE

Getting rid of welfare in the United States is a horrible idea.WHAT IS MEANT BY “HORRIBLE”? YOUR

DEFINITION MAY BE DIFFERENT THAN YOUR READERS’!

If the United States were to get rid of welfare, it would aggravate an already severe homeless problem, cause a rise in crime, and remove the only safety net that our country has in place.

DEFINING THE TERM AND/OR OUTLINING YOUR POINTS CAN HELP CLARIFY YOUR MEANING

Thesis Statements

Before attempting to write your thesis, write a working thesis. This is simply your topic and your opinion on the topic.

Example: Family may mean different things to different people, but it is an important part of every culture.

Topic Your provable opinion on the topic

Thesis Statements

Refine your thesis using the three requirements mentioned earlier:

IT SHOULD NOT BE TOO BROADIT SHOULD NOT BE TOO NARROWIT SHOULD NOT BE TOO VAGUE

Family may mean different things to different people, but it is an important part of every culture.

TOO BROAD!Which is it: broad, narrow, or vague? Take a moment to think about it before

clicking to see the answer!

Thesis Statements

Possible revisions:

A. As in many countries, family has a huge impact on American culture.• This is more narrow because we have reduced it to one

specific culture.

B. The strength of the family unit impacts each individual regardless of their society.• This is more narrow because family is reduced to the

family’s strength and society is reduced to the individual. This can be more easily proven in a collegiate essay.