The Six Functions Of Rhetoric

Rhetoric is a course in which students are taught the values of persuasion. And yet, behind this course is the utmost power to corrupt the world, changing it into a world of our own policies. This power, even though seldom discussed, has lead to many intriguing discoveries. One such discovery is how people are able to shape the world they live in simply by choosing the right words. Therefore those who would want the world to be a better place must protect this power. If in the wrong hands this power could cause serious damage. Several authors have striven to protect rhetoric and its power. Few agree on the matter of defining rhetoric, but they know that they must protect rhetoric from dark souls. A single definition of rhetoric must maintain a simplistic nature while incorporating every aspect of rhetoric. However, I argue that rhetoric is a means of persuading audiences of a situation and a particular reality through language and personal appeal. In order to prove this definition I will discuss how rhetoric creates a situation, the shaping of a different reality, the audience, the use of language, and the personal appeal. Finally, I will demonstrate the absolute need for rhetoric.

In Lincoln’s short speech, he persuades his audience of his future plans for the nation by using the rhetorical strategy, ethos. “...Four years ago all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending Civil War,” Lincoln states as he begins to discuss the reason for his speech. Furthermore, he discusses how although both parties “deprecated war,” they were not prepared for what was to come. Lincoln states that neither party anticipated the

Lincoln first executes his address by reframing why the war happened and what the people need to do to prevent the war from reoccuring. First, he [characterizes] the slaves as “peculiar and powerful interests,” (Lincoln 31) to appeal to the slave owners’ emotions of seeing slaves as property, gaining his trust. After having the owners feel understood about their ownership, he decharacterizes them by saying that “this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union” (Lincoln 22-25). Lincoln blames the separation and tension within the Union on the slave owners by calling them insurgents and seeing their slaves as property and not humans in order to have them want to stop wars by the toll on the nation’s unity when having slaves. By reframing the cause

Weeks of wet weather had occurred before Saturday March 4th, 1865, making Pennsylvania Avenue a thick, muddy place; however, the pounding rain did not stop the spectators from listening to Lincoln give his Second Inaugural Address, given one month before the end of the Civil War. The Civil War was the result of a long standing controversy over slavery. The North and the South did not agree with each other. Slavery in the North had died out to the point where almost all blacks were free. The South on the other hand very few blacks were free. Causing a long lastly disagreement between both sides. When Lincoln gave his speech spectators were expecting a speech on slavery when Lincoln gave a dark gloomy speech that no one saw coming. The Civil War had lasted through his passed presidency and ended five days before his death. United States President Abraham Lincoln surprised his massive audience with a very short speech in which he talked about the effects of the Civil War, and expressed his feelings toward the future of the United States. Lincoln wanted to restore faith in the nation, talking about how the war would end soon, and that the nation was going to reunite. In this short speech Lincoln asserts that the audience knows and is knowledgeable about the war, which shows that the Americans know the war was just by using juxtaposition. Lincoln addresses his opinion towards the war, and makes it clear by utilizing biblical allusion, creating a basis of mutual agreement between the North and the South.

Rhetoric’s are used in every occurence of our lives whether we are aware of them or not. From the way we greet new ideas and thoughts, to the way we function with already existing notions, regardless, rhetorics have incorporated into our daily life from the first few months of our lives. The dictionary recognizes rhetorical to mean ‘the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques.’ What’s the main concept to explore of rhetorics, are the main uses and techniques that are commonly used.

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States of America, is well known by his presidency, but also his speeches he has presented. He wrote the Gettysburg Address and it emphasized freedom, equality and unity, and symbolized the significance that the Civil War had on the US and formation of the nation. A month prior to the ending of the Civil War, he wrote his Second Inaugural Address, shocking and surprising the audience by including politics, slavery, and states’ rights. Lincoln uses rhetorical devices to contemplate the effect of the Civil War and offers his vision for the future of the nation by providing logic, affectionate tone, and allusion.

Lincoln’s goal for this speech was to not only reassure the Union that the war would end soon and they would be victorious, but he also wanted to make sure the north would not treat the south unfairly. In order to do this, Lincoln would have to ease the crowd into the idea. Lincoln started off by addressing the civil war, how dreaded it was,

Lincoln opened up his address by explaining the progress made in the union. He explains that he has no current prediction because he is stuck worrying about the war, “with high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured.”(Line 15). He mentions this to show his audience that the war is causing a major set back in American economy. He needs people to understand that this war could eventually ruin the country if nothing is done to stop it. He believes that the country could potentially be great, but this war could either make or break the nation. He understands that everyone wants to hear good news, but he wants Americans to know the harsh reality of this war. This will boost his credibility because he is not feeding the community

A war in which bloodshed took place between brothers, friends, and neighbors had luckily come to an end in 1865. Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address occurred on May 4, 1865. In his speech, he talks about how the effects of the war will eventually fade away along with the issue of slavery. Lincoln’s speech uses rhetorical devices such as tone, diction, and imagery to create and emphasize his purpose to unite the divided country. The use of these rhetorical devices allows Lincoln to achieve the purpose of his speech, which is to reunite the nation - one nation under God.

In his Second Inaugural Address, US President Abraham Lincoln informs his audience of the effects of the Civil War and offered his vision for the future of the nation. President Lincoln uses rhetorical strategies to achieve his purpose. Moreover, President Licoln uses pathos, ethos, and logos to spread his thoughts for the future and the effects of Civil War.

Throughout the entire speech Lincoln is very honest with the Americans he asserts, “... all thoughts were anxiously directed to and impending civil war.” By saying this Abraham means that we as a nation wanted this war, we wanted it so bad that all of our thoughts were about the war that was about to happen. “Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself would cease.” He states that even though the Americans were thinking about the war and how to be successful during it they weren’t thinking of the repercussions that come after a war. No one was expecting for the war to have such an impact on the nation and because of this the nation was not ready for such a huge effect on our country. In order to reconstruct our nation Abraham Lincoln emphasizes that the nation must come together because without unity we will be unable to resolve our problems. Not only does Abraham Lincoln declare that we must unite but he uses unifying words such as ‘we’ and ‘us’ to emphasize the importance of being united. Abraham Lincoln states, “ … God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in…” this quotes supports the

Abraham Lincoln and his speech, “The Gettysburg Address” was a major and crucial dialogue in influencing the American people to end the Civil War. Lincoln inspired those to fight for the nation and stated how the people who’ve helped him try to attain his goal will be remembered. He dedicated his speech to the deceased and tried to use vocabulary that emphasized unity with the people of the North and

Four and a half months after the Union defeated the Confederacy at the Battle of Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863. He gave the Union soldiers a new perspective on the war and something to fight for. Before the address, the Civil War was based solely on states’ rights. Lincoln’s speech has the essence of America and the ideals that were put into the Declaration of Independence by the founders. The sixteenth president of the United States was capable of using his speech to turn a war on states rights to a war on slavery and upholding the principles that America was founded upon. By turning the Civil War into a war that was about slavery he was able to ensure that no foreign

Rhetoric is the the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing. This is especially the useful fore speeches in debates and politics and other compositional techniques. Even medias such as logo, images, commercials and advertisements use a tool people use in order to convince people to watch and/or buy something One example of rhetoric in action is in a YouTube video that called, “Brian Williams Raps ‘Gin and Juice.’” This video contains uses the three aspects of rhetoric's, ethos, logos, and patho, in order to convince to younger viewers to watch his show.

Effective rhetoric is essential in order to properly communicate whatever message one may be trying to share. Rhetoric is considered effective if it attracts an audience and aligns their opinion with the message you are giving. In our groups case the message we are trying to share is attempting to unite the student body and the administration of the University of North Dakota and strengthen the communication between them. By doing research on the topic and releasing a communications plan on what we think can help alleviate the issue we hope to accomplish this goal of unification. Being a part of this group I created two genres that were outlined in the communications plan and by using different forms of rhetoric I hope to be successful in bridging