The rhetorical tradition discovers “all possible means of persuasion” (290). It’s proof come from three ideas: logos, ethos, and pathos. Pathos is the emotional proof, which comes from the feelings the speech draws out of those who hear it. Pathos can be clearly seen in Coach Brooks speech to the American Olympic ice hockey team in the movie Miracle. He doesn’t use logical proof , but rather he digs into the emotions of his players. He uses the “fear vs. confidence” idea displayed in Griffin’s book, meaning that he tells them and illustrates to them that they could very well lose by saying “If you played them 10 times, they would beat you 9,” but then instills confidence in them by saying, “..but not this game. Not tonight.” He persuades them they can win by speaking to their hearts and their emotions. They are fired up and ready to compete after hearing the Coach’s rhetoric speech.
Rhetoric is defined as discovering all possible means of persuasion. It includes two types of proofs, Inartistic and Artistic. Inartistic proofs, also known as external, are not created by the speaker. Artistic proofs, also known as internal, contain logical, ethical, or emotional appeals. These types of proofs can be seen in a court case. In this scene from Legally Blonde, Elle uses evidence of the reaction of a perm to water to prove her point. This inartistic piece of evidence allows her to prove that the girl is lying and to win the case.
Aristotle stated three aspects that create a high source credibility for the speaker: intelligence, character, and goodwill. These characteristics are not only important in positive persuasion, but also for speakers who are cult leaders, such as Adolf Hitler. In this speech, Hitler is addressing the youth of Germany and is persuading them to be participants in his actions. He uses a wide vocabulary and very deliberate word choice and punctuation. This gives him perceived intelligence. In addition, the adults in the crowd are also extremely supportive of his speech which is a natural encourager for the children and leads them to believe that he is highly intelligent. He talks about how Germany needs to be an obedient and peace-nurturing country. He gives no indication of his cruel and evil plans or his brutality. This gives him the image of a virtuous character. Hitler uses words such as “us”, “we”, “this people”, and “our country” to promote a strong sense of unity and connection between himself and the crowd. He draws them in by making them feel included and seem on the same level as he. He talks about how their actions and obedience will produce a better country that will live on as their legacy. Hitler uses all of these tactics and more to become of the most persuasive leaders of all time. This shows that rhetoric and persuasion can be used for both good, like M.L.K., and evil, like Hitler. Hitler\'s Youth Speech
After denying blood doping and the use of performance enhancing drugs for years, Lance Armstrong was finally forced to “come clean” in an interview with the Cosmopolitan Communicator, Oprah Winfrey. At this point, Armstrong’s ethos (or “perceived credibility”) was very low. This is because he had denied his usage for many years previously. In his interview with Oprah, his perceived intelligence was high as that his answers were direct and clear. However, his character and and goodwill were questionable as he had been caught lying and seemed to only be doing the interview because he had no options left– not out of the goodness of his heart. These contribute to the interview feeling overall cold and forced. His ethos is questionable because his character has been called into question after years of lying.
Rhetoric can be described as “the available means of persuasion.” Within this two forms exist: inartistic and artistic. Inartistic or external proofs are those that the speaker doesn’t create. these would include testimonies of witnesses or documents such as letters and contracts. Artistic or internal proofs are those that the speaker creates. Three kinds of artistic proofs: logical/logos, ethical/ethos, and emotional/pathos. Rhetoric is meant for audience adaptation and analysis, meaning persuasion for the listening group to sway into the way of the speaker. With this I present the example of the incredible true story based film The Great Debaters. During some of the most racist times of change, 1930’s, and in one of the most racist parts of the world, Texas, young black students of Wiley College went up against oppression and debated in front of millions of white Americans that they were darker but were also American. They learned that in this sensitive time, their words were their weapons during combat. After consistent hardship and risk of life, they received their reward opportunity of debating against the best university in the US, Harvard. Beating Harvard, these debaters got the world to listen to a small group of black students.
The Symbolic Convergence Theory is seen through dramatization that serves as a significant type of communication that often fosters group cohesiveness. Bormann’s dramatizing message are a form of imaginative language that descirbes events occurring somewhere else and/or at some time other than the here-and-now. The most important part of Bormann’s contribution is his notion of fantasy While many refer to fantasy as children’s literature, sexual desire, or things “not true,” Bormann uses fantasy as dramatizing messages that are enthusiastically embraced by the whole group. An example that comes to me is the unity of people, all race and ages, supporting their school. Whether it be a school pun, school color or logo, or school sporting event, one can see a group of complete strangers unite and become one through their school spirit. Their fantasy is created as each and every member embraces the group dramatization message where “the creative and imaginative shared interpretation of events fulfills the group’s psychological or rhetorical needs.”
Rhetoric was the discovery in each case of the available means of persuasion.The available means of persuasion are based on three kinds of proof. Logical proof (logos) comes from the line of argument in the speech. It isis an appeal to logic, and is a way of persuading an audience by reason. Ethical proof (ethos) is the way the speaker’s character is revealed through the message. Itis an appeal to ethics, and it is a means of convincing someone of the character or credibility of the persuader. Emotional proof (pathos) is the feeling the speech draws from the hearers. This isis an appeal to emotion, and is a way of convincing an audience of an argument by creating an emotional response. In the movie good will hunting, a mathematician from MIT finda janitor to be super talented in math. In order to help him find the right direction for his life, the mathematician and his friend, a psychologist, use all three ways of proof to persuade him. The mathematician wants to use logos to persuade the kid. He was describing how the kid should use his talent in gaining fame and fortune rather wasting his gift. For ethos, the mathematician and the psychologist are already academically successful that they have enough authority and credibility to do the persuasion. However, the kid is too smart, and these two proof do not work out well. Finally, the psychologist uses the pathos, and revokes the kid’s passion for life.
Rhetoric is discovering all possible means of persuasion. Based on Aristotle’s view, rhetoric is a neutral means by which the orator could either accomplish noble ends or further fraud. There are logical, ethical, and emotional ways of rhetoric proofs, which we call logos, ethos, pathos. In most cases, people use at least two of them to persuade. In the movie The Wolf of Wall Street, we can see that Jordan is a persuader with wonderful rhetoric skills. When he decided to leave Stratton Oakmont, he give a perfect speech to his fellows. In the speech, he talked about the story of one of his employees Kimmie, which is mostly about how he helped Kimmie out of her predicament. Actually, we can find all three rhetoric proofs in this scene. Firstly, logos can be represented by his use of example. Secondly, since Jordan is the founder of Stratton Oakmont and he is so good at stock sale, we can easily assume ethos in his speech. Pathos, which is the most obvious one, also exists in his speech. It could be detected through the audiences’ response towards his speech.
Rhetoric is a concept that was created more than 2000 years ago by Aristotle. Rhetoric is the study a “searching study of audience psychology (289)” as well as “discovering all possible means of persuasion (290).” Rhetoric uses both inartistic and artistic proofs in order to persuaded the audience. Examples of artistic proofs include logical, ethical, and emotional ones. For me I found the 5 canon’s of rhetoric very important to the understanding of the concept of rhetoric. This include invention, arrangement, style, delivery, and memory. An example of a speech that shows the use of rhetoric is Susan B. Anthony’s speech on women’s rights in 1873 after she had been arrested and fined for voting in the presidential election. The line, ” “It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union. And we formed it…to secure…posterity, but to the whole people – women as well as men.” In this quote, you can see Ms. Anthony’s use of logical artistic proofs. As well as intelligence by using the constitution in her argument. She also uses emotional proofs by using words like “friend” to show solidarity and common ground. The entire speech can be read at the link below:
Rhetoric as scene by Aristotle is the act of discovering all means of persuasion in the dialogue of one person addressing many. The book analyzes Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech to explore Aristotle’s different aspects of his ideas on Rhetoric. The ideas I found to be most interesting and that I find most important when listening to or giving a speech are those on ethical proof. The three qualities Aristotle identifies that enable a speaker to deliver a speech that will be persuasive and truly heard by the listeners are: perceived intelligence, virtuous character, and goodwill. Perceived intelligence has to do with how the audience connects with the speaker and the overlap of their beliefs and ideas. In King’s speech he quoted the Bible, the U.S. Constitution, Shakespeare, and patriotic hymns among others in order that besides the bigots very against his message, the majority of the population black or white could connect with his speech. Virtuous character has to do with how the audience views the speaker, whether he is trustworthy and honest or rather dishonest and out to achieve his own means. King is able to embody this aspect of ethos because he does not speak out against whites but rather that we are all created equal as brothers and sisters. Thirdly, goodwill refers to how the speaker connects with the audience in order to give them something that will benefit them. While MLK is probably the best-known speaker of recent history that I have studied, the way the book looked at him made me greatly think of one of his contemporary fighters against racial segregation, Nelson Mandela. I thought of Nelson Mandela also because I recently watched the new movie, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. In the movie Mandela gives many speeches as he did in real life that truly reach out to his audiences and give them a message that they can fully relate too. He uses perceived intelligence by having shared values with both the whites and blacks of South Africa, and in his presidential victory speech that I have attached below he reaches out to all countries of the world for a thank you to their support but also that this is a victory for all. He is a virtuous character as after being imprisoned for about 27 years and nearly half of his life by the whites he stresses that they must make peace and grow together in order that South Africa can prosper. Finally Mandela constantly uses goodwill because his message his constant in that he wants to make South Africa better for all, both blacks and whites, to end apartheid, and to end the racial violence that had plagued South Africa.
