Logic can be used as either a rhetorical appeal and a fallacy. For a writer to purposely use logic as a device, it attracts the reader and anchors them to the author. Historical context, as seen in Annie Proulx’s “Job History”, is laid out for the audience to see and fix an idea of the characters, setting, and theme of the story. Proulx begins her story with, “Leeland Lee is born at home in Cora, Wyoming, November 17, 1947,”; immediately, the author presents specifics of an individual, informing here audience the story's direction. Where there are reasonable sounding facts that resonate with people, the author’s credibility increases and the audience’s emotion can overlap into the logic; however, the device is flexible by itself. Authors place
Authors, people, and writers over time have used the available means of persuasion and making sure that they include what the rhetorical situation is. In the four texts about the 1969 Apollo 11 mission that talk about the first humans that landed on the moon, all were effective due to them showing ethos, pathos, logos, and soaps which are the rhetorical appeals that one has to use when making an argument in a rhetorical situation.
Deductive and inductive logic makes for a persuasive and effective argument. Reasoning is the heart of argumentation. Wallace begins his use of logos with a description of the Maine Lobster Festival. With carnival rides, thousands of pounds of lobster, and the World’s Largest Lobster Cooker, it is no wonder that the MLF is “one of the best food-themed galas in the world,” (Consider the Lobster). Providing an in-depth explanation of the fair makes the reader feel more connected, even if they have never been in attendance.
Both of these rhetorical elements help the reader to truly understand Barbara Jordan’s particular struggle to acquire reasoning skills as a law student at Boston University. “… I did not want my colleagues to know what a tough time I was having understanding
Authors, people and writers over time have used the available means of persuasion and making sure that they include what the rhetorical situation is. In the four texts about the 1969 Apollo 11 mission that talk about the first humans that landed on the moon, all were effective due to them showing ethos, pathos, logos and soaps which are the rhetorical appeals that one has to use when making an argument in a rhetorical situation.
In a debate, one aims to have the audience develop a certain opinion on a topic by presenting logical evidence and data that supports their point of view. The person that presents the most compelling argument that is supported by evidence wins the debate. The application of logical information to influence one to form a certain opinion is applied in all life scenarios , and especially in literature,. In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, a contemporary biography, by Rebecca Skloot, Skloot uses logos to convey the immoral practice of doctors to the readers.
The world is a massive place full of endless literature, beginning from ancient scrolls to daily news articles, filled with many secrets, perspectives and surroundings that help connect literature to an individual’s daily life. Some writers use the skills of literary elements to express and discuss an event that has happened to them or what has happened to others. This helps others to comprehend the perspectives of the author’s understanding toward an incident that one might experience. For instance in Flannery O’Connor’s short story, she uses many literary elements to express her views over most of her stories. O’Connor expresses her views in her short story, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by using the literary elements of point of view, irony, and setting.
Richard Wright, both the author and main character of “Library Card”, experiences prejudice first hand throughout his piece. Acting as an obstacle, this prejudice often prevents him from being able to visit the library. Along with this, his lack of books leaves him ignorant. Questioning the world around him, Wright struggles to see the world as anything but black and white. This impairs his reading and writing skills. He demonstrates this with the use of rhetorical questions. What is a rhetorical question? It is a rhetorical device that is often used to persuade or subtly influence the reader in a form of a question. Used correctly, these stylistic devices can have an enormous impact on the reader. In “The Library Card”, Wright uses rhetorical questions to emphasize and accentuate his points.
| Conclusion: Do these lines enhance or detract from the credibility of the narrative voice.
The author writes in
David Foster Wallace, author of the essay “Authority and American Usage*,” praises and advocates for “good” writers who have a strong rhetorical ability, which he defines as “the persuasive use of language to influence the thoughts and actions of an audience” (Wallace 628). To have a strong rhetorical ability, an author needs to be aware of whom their audience is, in order to present their information in a way that will be influential on their audience. Wallace recognizes that an author who applies a strong rhetorical ability will be able to connect with the audience so that they respond “not just to [their] utterance but also to [them]” (Wallace 641). An author needs to take into consideration not just content, syntax and grammatical
Through logos a writer appeals to the logical aspects of his or her argument that includes common sense,
Choices are something we all make. Not necessarily important choices, but there will always be a time to make them. It's not always good choices, but they have to be made. There will always be consequences, whether it's bad or good. Throughout the story, Leeland Lee has to make a lot of choices. Where to live, where to work and when to work. All the different choices he made, put him in the position he is now.
Most stories are not just stories written to entertain the reader. Intentional or not, writers are often commentating on the world around them. Social commentary is interwoven in the fabric of novels, and it is often up to the reader to determine what they take away from any given work. Although written for entertainment’s sake, stories usually include the social or political views of the author and serve as a platform for their views to be made known.
I have already observed one of the pieces of the triangle, the audience. It is believable that Rose targeted his audience to be blue-collar workers. Now the writer and the context, the other two pieces of the triangle, can come into play as well. First, I will touch on the audience. When targeting an audience, there are a few moral questions to ask oneself. Various questions include the intention of the writer, what emotions they would crave to evoke from the audience, how the audience will practice or perceive the information the writer provides, in addition to how the audience will benefit from the writer’s message. Rose has definitely engaged all of the questions into consideration. For example, Rose’s intention was to educate blue-collar workers and let them comprehend that an academic education isn’t the end-all-be-all. Furthermore, their education on the job is just as valuable. Another example is that Rose put thought into how the targeted audience would benefit from the message he was trying to convey. The audience can definitely gain from reading the article, “Blue-Collar Brilliance.” The following point to consider would be the writer. This is beyond concerning the purpose of why the writer is trying to progress a message. One might consider if their purpose is to educate, entertain, persuade the audience, or construct a call to action. A writer could have multiple reasons for addressing an audience. Mike Rose’s intention is to definitely educate and persuade his audience to believe that blue-collar jobs require intelligence and that not everybody has to achieve a higher education to be successful. He also builds an effort to provide a little bit of background information as writers must set up credibility for the audience to listen. This is extremely imperative for it ties into the argument that Mike Rose raises in his persuasive article. The last piece of
To be logical appeal the statement does not necessarily have to be considered logical. In Roberts essay, he persuades the readers to improve their writing by using the information he has provided. One of the ways he displays logical appeal is when Roberts suggest, “Look at the work of any professional writer and notice how constantly he is moving from the generality, the abstract statement, to the concrete example, the facts and figures, and the illustrations” (Roberts). By him telling the audience if they can write and think how professional writers do, they will be successful as well. I gathered valuable information while reading the essay but could also relate some of my past work to