Afraid of Missing a Rhetoric Question on Your CSET English Exam?

People have been trying to influence one another for a long time. Possibly one of the most articulate early debaters was the ancient Greek scholar Aristotle. His views are as relevant in the present as they were when he was teaching at the Lyceum around 305 B.C.

Persuasion is the routine of persuading. It is the great power to dissuade using the written or spoken word. Persuasion is a type of social influence. It is the process of leading people toward the adoption of an attitude, idea, or action by intellectual and symbolic (not always logical) means. It is a scheme of intellection relying on "appeals" as an alternative to force.

Persuasion is conveyed via forms of persuasive appeals:

Logos = The appeal to reason or the intellect.
Pathos = The appeal to emotion or the feelings.
Ethos = The persuasive appeal of one's character or reputation.

We will analyze each of these appeals separately, but know that these three appeals work together in combination toward persuasive ends.

Aristotle delineates these "artistic" or "intrinsic" proofs—those that are set up by means of the art of rhetoric—in comparison to "extrinsic" or "nonartistic" proofs such as attestants or written agreements that are merely used by the speaker, not found through rhetoric.

Logos

Aristotle hoped that all communication that happened could be done only through this framework, but given the short comings of humanity, he bemoans, we need to resort to the use of the other two appeals. The ancient Greek term logos can be defined as "reason".

Example of Logos

"My ex-wife is a materialistic woman, as well as a murderer and drug user. My ex-wife was driving a SUV while under the influence of a controlled substance and had an accident which killed my only daughter Jenny."

Pathos

Aristotle gives a large amount of discourse of impacting the emotions, and defining the sorts of reactions of various demographic groupings. Thus, we come across the tight-fitting dealings between assessment of pathos and of audience. Pathos is also the class by which we can understand the psychological characteristics of rhetoric. The ancient Greek term pathos can be defined as "emotion". Criticisms of rhetoric are inclined to focus on the overemphasis of pathos, feelings, at the sacrifice of logos, the message.

Example of Pathos

"Jenny lived with me, her father, about half of the time, ever since she was 10 months old. While Jenny was in my custody, I had the role of father and mother. Along with being a single dad, came a tremendous amount of responsibility. It was a responsibility I certainly liked. I washed her clothes, and cooked for her and took care of Jenny when she was sick. When Jenny got the chicken pox, I got the chicken pox. All of my life was dedicated to Jenny. It was the best time of my life. Never once did I ever have to scold Jenny, disciplining only with patience and love. During my divorce, my former wife's income was $160,000.00 + a year. I was just above the poverty level. I even signed away the home to my former wife in divorce, which had $210,000.00 of equity in it. All I needed was my daughter Jenny. All my former wife cared about was money. In 1996, when I was going through an extremely rough time financially, my former wife offered to help me out financially. She offered to purchase my parental rights for $10,000.00. Even though I was facing eviction, I told her that my daughter was not for sale at any price. For 8 years, my former wife tried to take Jenny away from me. She finally did. On March 22nd, 2004 Jenny's mother was driving her to school. She was driving in excess of 45 mph in a 15 mph speed zone, around a curve, on a wet road, near an elementary school, with no seatbelt on my daughter. Jenny was thrown through the glass windshield of the SUV driven by her mother. The vehicle then rolled over my daughter. With two collapsed lungs, my daughter got up, took a several steps gasping for air, and fell back down. My former wife never even went over to Jenny after the crash. A witness claimed that my former wife was more concerned about her SUV and jewelry than her own daughter. Jenny was rushed to the hospital, hooked up to what looked like 15 tubes and a brain monitor. I waited on the cold floor in the waiting area for two weeks. Jenny's heart stopped beating at 8:22 p.m. on April 5th, 2004 at the age of 7 1/2 years old. My former wife tested positive for hydrocodone, cocaine and other drugs."

Ethos

Ethos names the persuasive appeal of one's character, particularly how this character is established by means of the speech or discourse. Aristotle asserts that someone should attempt to appear both knowledgeable about one's subject and benevolent. Cicero wrote that in speech the first portion of a speech (its introduction or exordium) was the space to demonstrate one's credibility with the audience.

Example of Ethos

"My Dear Fellow Clergymen:

While confined here in Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities "unwise and untimely."...Since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable in terms.

I think I should indicate why I am here in Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the view which argues against "outsiders coming in."...I, along with several members of my staff, am here because I was invited here. I am here because I have organizational ties here.

But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their "thus saith the Lord" far beyond the boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco-Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid." - Martin Luther King, Jr. "Letter from Birmingham Jail"

This report is an excerpt from ACE the CSET English study guide and online course. In the course, we look at specific examples of logos, pathos, and ethos, and we analyze all forms of persuasion such as a bandwagon, red herring, straw man, shifting the burden of proof, and many more. The CSET English course has interactive chronology, fill-in, and matching exercises that enable you to quickly memorize the information you need to ace the rhetoric and media persuasion sections of the CSET English exam.

If you’re looking for a big publishing company that sells dozens of instant downloadable test preparation pdfs or ebook study guides with which to pass your CSET examination, we’re not for you.

But if you’re looking for an affordable interactive software program or an online CSET class from a small company that specializes exclusively in the California curriculum as applied to the CSET exam, I encourage you to check out our Web site.

Article Source: http://articlekarma.com

Jolene Wise is a test expert and critic for ACE the CSET English which is the best way to ace the CSET English exam.

Please Rate this Article

Not yet Rated

Click the XML Icon Above to Receive Jobs and Careers Articles Via RSS!

Additional Articles From - Home | Jobs And Careers

	Print This Article
	Post Comment
	Add To Favorites
	Email to Friends
	Ezine Ready

Submit Articles
Member Login
Top Authors
Most Popular Articles
Submission Guidelines
Ezine Notifications
Article RSS Feeds
Sitemap

Bankruptcy Attorney Encino

Home
New Stuff
About Us
Site Blog
Forum
Link to Us
Contact Us
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service