Rhetorical Analysis Of Communication

Advertisements are everywhere. From billboards, to magazines, to newspapers, flyers and TV commercials, chances are that you won’t go a day without observing some sort of ad. In most cases, companies use these ads as persuasive tools, deploying rhetorical appeals—logos, pathos, and ethos—to move their audiences to think or act in a certain way. The two magazine ads featured here, both endorsing Pedigree products, serve as excellent examples of how these modes of persuasion are strategically used.

When you see a solider in his or her uniform, you are proud that they are serving this country to protect our freedom, securing our country, and defending democracy worldwide. The solider can come from different branches of the Military. The one you might be familiar with is the U.S. Army. These soldiers are well respected and prepared to serve our country whenever and wherever needed, combat-ready at all times, and trained to counter any threat, anywhere. In 2007, the United States Army department published a recruitment ad for U.S.

In May of 1998, Kipland Kinkel brought a gun to his school. Over the course of two days this escalated from: being sent home, to murdering his father and mother, to murdering 2 students and wounding 26, earning a lifetime sentence of 111 years and 8 months in prison. In the court case being examined, the presiding judge addresses the original case, defendants ground for appeal, and the justification for the State’s decision to deny the appeal. Judge Haselton effectively uses ethos, logos, and pathos to support the Higher Court’s decision to deny the appeal because the original sentence was constitutional and just.

From two perspectives, we see a world plagued by the ignoble aspects of human nature. Through one set of eyes we are shown the global ecosystem imitating the opening motions of a mass extinction, through another we see the inevitable and hellish effects of culturalized greed. In both cases we are treated to the observations of an aggrieved observer, but the means by which these observers show us their perspective on the world are by no means identical. Here we will explore the strategies, expressions, argumentations, and appeals of two authors with intertwining stories to tell.

Larry Karson, of the University of Houston’s Department of criminal justice, wrote his article about how a Grand Jury gets put together in the state of Texas. He clearly explains the process of picking the members for the Grand and Petit Jury and compares these processes with each other. Like two of the other articles I have mentioned, this article also explains the historical background and how Grand juries first started. It goes into depth of how racial discrimination in the Texas juries plays a roll with the proper functioning of the juries and how this problem can be averted.

A rhetorical aim that illustrates that issues on gun control would be to analyze and interpret. Suggested from the two articles; “Why the U.S. is No. 1 – in mass shootings”, and Not just guns: New study looks at why the U.S. is No. 1 in mass shootings, most mass shootings are a result of the deteriorating American Dream. The rhetorical aim, analyze and interpret”, offer readers a different approach on a specific subject matter. For instance, prior to reading the two texts on America’s advancing gun control issues, it was believed that mental illness would be the root cause for mass shootings. However, these two articles have offered different insight on why America is the leading country of mass shootings. Fame, can persuade Americans into

Since before the moon launch, America has been infatuated with winning at any cost. This competitive nature translates from war rooms to athletic fields to the top of corporate ladders. If this is truly our nation’s identity, then why have we not constructed a space elevator? A space elevator is one of the more extravagant ideas from sci-fi and now is being thought of by the capitol of our beloved country. The US must take the initiative and build a space elevator, allowing travel into space at a cheaper price, act as a symbol of greatness for our country, and carry payloads of 11,193kg at once (allowing eight climbers to be sent up by the tether (Chang 2011)) [cumulative sentence]. The thought that an elevator could, or even should, stretch from the Earth into space, allowing people to ride a capsule into orbit baffles many, yet there are

In Bj Gallagher’s article “Donald Trump Is the Epitome of Everything the World Detests -- And Admires -- About America”(Sep.2, 2015), She Implies the positive and negative attributes in Donald Trump, and whether you should vote for him or not. Gallagher first demonstrates by showing the negatives of Donald Trump and his “arrogance” in an article written by Paul Thomas; Gallagher then argued the positive, admirable side of him by comparing his life to one we would all like to live, and to conclude she suggests that Trump is a “fresh breath of air” for millions of Americans by demonstrate that he is unique compared to past presidential leaders. Her purpose is to surpass his brash ego in order to to show he is worth putting your trust in.

College is one of the biggest financial burdens in today’s society for many. Since the recession, people often ponder what the best financial options for students looking to go to college are and what path they should take to get them there. Mike Rose, faculty member at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Karen Lawrence, the president of Sarah Lawrence College, have both written articles about this epidemic stating the advantages and some possible downsides to pursuing a higher education. During these articles, the two writers are trying to persuade their intended audience that college is an option that could be beneficial for them to take advantage of. They both have different

In their article, Students Step up to Lead Tech Implementation at Their Elementary School, Taryn Handlon and Tiffany Costa write about how TechXpert all started with an idea for prominent engagement. The Roosevelt Elementary School in Park Ridge, Illinois, had begun implementing new tools such as Chromebooks, Spheros, Dash and Dots, Cubelets, Snap Circuits, Osmos, Marble Mazes and a 3D printer to the classrooms, which highlighted the schools desire to collaborate technology with learning. This would not only transform the whole classroom environment, but also open the door for young students to explore computer science and technical engineering. The only issue seemed to be that teachers had no time to educate themselves on the tools and how

In the online article found on the CNN website titled, “U.S gun violence: The story in charts and graphs” the article provides the readers with multiple graphs from bar graphs to pie charts. The graph I will be looking at critically is titled “Firearm background checks by months since 2012.” It’s important to note that this article was written in December of 2015. For this reason, the graph stops on December 2015. Before providing the graph to its readers the author states that the year of 2015 was “was a record year for background checks on guns. Some have pointed out the requests for background checks have gone up after mass shootings, the idea being that shootings cause people to worry about their safety and buy a gun to protect themselves.”

Children need guidance to become successful in life. One exceptional man wrote about the wrong type of parenting that causes children to be unproductive. In this article, he talks about how these styles can ruin a child’s life, because they are not being taught to be survive everyday life. Throughout this piece, the audience begins to understand his argument, because he uses many examples and rhetorical questions to persuade the readers. During the reading, he also brings up that severe parents are overprotective, since they think they are helping their children become wise, but they are actually afraid of teaching them about the necessities of the world. Furthermore, he supports his idea by saying things such as the wrong type of parenting

The Editorial Board of The Sacramento Bee, in their opinion editorial, “California is Adult in the Room Amid Childishness Over Bathrooms” (16 February 2016), argues that going to the bathroom is a necessity, and thus, lawmakers should not pass laws that base the legal use of bathrooms on the gender from one’s birth. They support their claim by first exposing the faults in the opposite side's opinions, then providing information on California’s plan for bathrooms, then promoting California’s policy that takes safety and comfort into consideration, and finally posing the solution of replacing gender-biased signs on the bathrooms with “all-gender” signs. The Editorial Board’s purpose is to make people who support strict gender-based bathroom laws

Lisa, head publisher of a rising publishing firm company. She starts her day by speaking to her publicity team on some new marketing strategies. Lisa then spends time on the phone talking with all of the editors she represents. At a lunch meeting Lisa talks to the executive board on a couple of manuscripts she has been championing. Would one think that Lisa is a public speaker? Most people would say no, but after reading Stephen Lucas the Art of Public Speaking, I have learned that Lisa is a public speaker and is using her public speaking skills to inform her coworkers. Chapter 15 is about speaking to inform an audience. Lucas begins this chapter with the types of informative speeches and some analysis and organization skills for each topic. There are many ways to classify an informative speech, Lucas breaks it down into four main topics: objects, processes, events, and concepts. Lucas begins this chapter by speaking on speeches about objects. Lucas defines an object as “Objects include anything that is visible, tangible, and stable to form. … Here are examples of subjects for speeches about objects e-book readers, Susan B. Anthony, service dogs, titanium, human eye and Golden Gate Bridge” (Lucas, 2012, pg. 278.). Lucas reminds us that whatever subject a speaker will pick they must know that they will not be able to tell everything on the subject. To instead pick the most important ideas the speaker wants to get across and use those to develop a main point. Next Lucas shows

When it comes to getting a better understanding of what someone is trying to communicate through their writing, it is easier to try and put the date into categories. Back in his time, Aristotle created a system of elements called Rhetorical Elements to help fill the goals of the communication system. The three rhetorical elements are: ethos, which appeals to ethics and credibility, logos, which appeals to logic, and pathos, which appeals to emotions (“Business Communication, n.d.). Much later in time, two men named Charles Kostelnick and David Rogers created a sub-set of goals comprised of nine strategies that fit into each of the three rhetorical elements. These new elements are called Cognate Strategies.