Chapter 11 · Content Analysis: Understanding Text and Image Additional Resources

After the completion of my initial draft for “Black Lives Matter”, I have learned that rhetorical analysis means more than just identifying the rhetorical elements. Its main intent is to critically analyze the elements the author uses to persuade the audience in order to get his/her point across. Rhetorical analysis is focused on identifying and answering who the author is writing to, the purpose, what message is the author trying to convey, and why. Then to further conclude, how do all these elements come together and impact the reader. As described above, there are many elements that go behind a rhetorical analysis. For example, an effective analysis may include and discuss

Logos, ethos, and pathos are essential components used in advertising. By learning to recognize logos, ethos, and pathos in advertising, we are able to understand the message and what is being portrayed. (Albert et al, 2014), suggested that Aristotle postulated that a speaker’s ability to effectively convince an audience is constructed on how well the speaker appeals to that audience in three different areas: logos, ethos, and pathos. These appeals together form what Aristotle calls a rhetorical triangle.

Aristotle has an idea that there are three rhetorical appeals people can use to persuade someone else – ethos, pathos and logos. Each of them is very useful and the persuasion will be most effective when three of them are all used. Amy Tan used all in “Mother Tongue.”

In speaking of effective rhetorical persuasion, we must appeal to our target audience in a way that will get them to accept or act upon the point of view we are trying to portray. Aristotle said that we persuade others by three means: (1) by the appeal to their reason (logos); (2) by the appeal to their emotions (pathos); and (3) by the appeal of our personality or character (ethos) (Corbett and Connors 32). When Socrates, an infamous rhetorician, gave his “apology” to his fellow Athenians after being accused of atheism or not believing in the gods and corrupting the youth with similar teachings, he employed all three modes of persuasion to prove his innocence. Despite the

What captures the attention of people when they view an advertisement, commercial or poster? Is it the colors, a captivating phrase or the people pictured? While these are some of the elements often employed in advertising, we can look deeper and analyze the types of appeals that are utilized to draw attention to certain advertisements. The persuasive methods used can be classified into three modes. These modes are pathos, logos, and ethos. Pathos makes an appeal to emotions, logos appeals to logic or reason and ethos makes an appeal of character or credibility. Each appeal can give support to the message that is being promoted.

There are many ways to convey a message to readers. Often times authors, speech writers, etc., refer to Aristotle’s three main concepts of rhetoric, Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. Ethos is considered to be the, “credibility,” of the author. Pathos is the idea of, “emotional appeal,” to the audience. Finally, Logos is the translated as the, “logic,” involved when making a point. All forms of rhetoric have at least one of these concepts, while good arguments incorporate a well balanced mixture of the three.

In reference to the 100A assignment sheet for the rhetorical analysis, a rhetorical analysis is a written work that focuses on analyzing and understanding a published article. In this assignment, students will get opportunities to develop their writing and improve deep analytic skills to identifying rhetorical strategies that writers will use to achieve the purpose of a well-written document. The audience for this analytical paper will be my classmates, professor, and the committee members of the 100A.

Aristotle believed Rhetoric’s main purpose was to persuade an audience. (Rorty 1996). Aristotle claimed that there were 3 main appeals that the persuader would use in order to convince the audience that their view is the right one, or that their product is the best. Aristotle would argue that these arguments all have a basis in “common sense”, meaning that the persuader can come to a conclusion based off of the audiences shared, and agreed upon knowledge (Gregoric 2007). Logos, Ethos, and Pathos are the three type of appeals Aristotle uses to describe the rhetoric of persuasion.

Rhetorical Analysis is the careful examination of texts, videos, and images to understand how they function in conveying their message. The definition of rhetorical analysis will help me better understand what I should be looking for when I receive a text, as rhetorical analysis is different than literary analysis. Therefore, the devices for each are also different (Lunsford et al. 88).

The first essential of persuasion involves the structure of the argument being posed by one who is trying to provoke others to action. In order to convince someone of a new argument, idea or moral, one must use the proper methods: logos, ethos and pathos. According to Hauser, “The method

Aristotle defined three parts to being an effective communicator: ethos, pathos, and logos. Ethos is the credibility that a speaker or a writer brings to the subject that he or she is communicating about. Some people are able to gain more trust in certain areas because of their experience. Logos is the appeal to reason, to the forcefulness of a well-thought-out and well-structured position. It uses facts and solid evidence to get a writer’s point across. Pathos is the use of emotion in debate or argument. This is used a lot in visuals such as advertisements or videos (Losh, 44) In William Wilson by Edgar Allan Poe, the narrator, who calls himself William Wilson, enrolls in a school and meets another student that looks and acts exactly

In reference to the 100A assignment sheet for the rhetorical analysis, a rhetorical analysis is a written work that focuses on analyzing and understanding a published article. In this assignment, students will get opportunities to develop their writing and improve deep analytic skills to identifying rhetorical strategies that writers will use to achieve the purpose of a well-written document. The audience for this analytical paper will be my classmates, professor, and the committee members of the 100A.

When using ethos you create a sense of authority to the reader that what you are saying is reliable. For example, in commercials athletes advertise athletic products, while models advertise beauty products. This shows a reader that professional people in a certain field backup a product in a positive way. Ethos is also used when someone uses actions that a person has completed in the past, to help persuade people that they have experience and are reliable. When using logos you can cite statistics, analogies, and historical context about a topic to show you are a credible source and that the information you are using can be proven with evidence. It enhances a rational and fact based reasoning on a topic. If you use pathos and appeal to the more emotional side of a topic, a reader could immediately identify your source as bias, as it uses a human’s sense of emotion to get someone to agree with a topic.

Persuasion is a part of our everyday lives. Whether we are persuading our mother, using persuasion through speech, or threw advertisements, we are using rhetoric strategies to get the response we desire. With the help of minor details in many advertisements, Ethos, Logos, and Pathos are a way of persuading the audience to buy or think a certain way. A Colgate toothbrush commercial used Logos, Pathos and Ethos to spread the word that they have the best toothbrush of all, in which they target everyone who has teeth. Through the use of advertisements, Colgate has convinced the world that they have the best toothbrushes, they’re even recommended by dentists.

An overview of semiotics. Shows how language and signs cannot be regarded as neutral carriers of meaning.