During the Renaissance, there were seven subjects/skills that were considered essential for a free person to know, known as the liberal arts. Among those seven is the art of persuasive speaking and writing called rhetoric. Rhetoric became increasingly popular during this period and this could be seen through a lot of Renaissance works such as in “Letters of Catherine of Siena”, “Letters of Petrarch”, and “Erasmus, Julius Excluded from Heaven.” The three works all have one thing in common; it utilizes the art of persuasion. However, due to the fact that the authors have different motives and backgrounds, they ended up using different strategies to persuade their audiences. In “Letters of Catherine of Siena”, Catherine resorted to using the …show more content…
He could not use the same technique as Catherine because, like Petrarch, he had a different motive then her. While her purpose was to better the Catholic church, Erasmus’s purpose was to expose the wrongdoings of the church. Using the scare tactic in this situation would have not been appropriate because instilling fear only works when you want someone to perform a certain action and by showing them the consequences of not doing in they will be persuaded into doing it. However, in Erasmus’s case, he wants to persuade his audience into believing the church is corrupt. He also couldn’t rely on Petrarch’s technique because although it would’ve been persuasive, it was also risky. The Pope was a very influential and powerful figure, therefore by explicitly exposing the him to the public, Erasmus could’ve been severely punished. However, by using satire, his crime will be less severe and yet he could still get his point across the audience. In his pamphlet, Erasmus used mostly humor to criticizes Pope Julius II. For example, on page four, Erasmus pointed out that the Pope had the “belch and stink like a man just come from a drunken debauch and fresh from the a fit of vomiting,” (Erasmus, Julius Excluded From Heaven, pg. 4). Through this, you can see that the tone of the dialogue is very light and humorous. This strategy is the most effective in Erasmus’s case because he is trying to reach out to a broader audience than Petrarch and Catherine, therefore by making the tone less serious, it can attract more attention. If Erasmus had made it too political then people would’ve been less compelled to read it because the content would’ve dry and not as interesting. The dialogue had a lot of witty comments in it such as when Genius exclaimed, “Only listen to the bragging of the beast!” as a response to Julius talking about how he “[brought] goodly sums into the papal
Aristotle also believed that rhetoric can be forensic, epideictic, and deliberative, which is the second division of his work. The art of persuasion and a way of advising about things to come is the best definition of deliberate rhetoric. This pattern has been used throughout the film and it is another obvious appeal to make it more effective and achieve its goals. Aristotle argues that “for using deliberative rhetoric, the speaker needs to consider deterrents, inducements and the motives people have for avoiding or doing the actions in the question”
Devices used in public persuasion have been used in politics for as long as politics have been alive, some of which will be explored in rhetoric. Rhetoric being different compositional techniques for persuasive speaking or writing, which idea is to have an impressive effect on its audience. There are three main rhetorical devices that I’ve noticed in speeches/ writing: allusions, metaphors, and parallelism. Patrick Henry was an exceptional example of a historical revolutionary figure using rhetorical figures in his most popular speech, “Liberty or Death”. I will be exploring his and others uses of allusions, metaphors, and parallelism as I go on.
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.
While Henry’s speech was not particularly long, it packed quite the proverbial punch through its efficacious use of rhetoric and symbolism, and is looked to even today as an example of persuasive oratory. Throughout this paper, Henry’s rhetoric will be analyzed via an Aristotelian method of rhetorical analysis called the “rhetorical triangle.” According to an article on Study.com, written by Diedra Taylor, almost every form of rhetorical device can be categorized as one of the three points on this triangle: “Ethos,” “logos,” and “pathos.” While Aristotle, himself, did not originally postulate a triangular method of examination, he was the first influential intellectual to write about the three points previously mentioned, and because of this, the theory is credited to him. Taylor uses the analogy of a nacho chip to represent a particular piece of rhetoric, and toppings of guacamole, meat, and cheese to represent ethos, logos, and pathos, respectively. While a chip with only one or two of the toppings is still good, it is most delicious with all three in conjunction. The same is true of rhetoric; it is most persuasive when it contains a variety of the three types of devices, all working in concurrence with one another. In addition to this, it is very possible for some rhetorical anecdotes and devices to fall under the umbrella of more than one point on the triangle, but for the purposes of this paper, they will be examined one at a
Rhetoric is defined as the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques. It is used to persuade an audience. According to Michael Austin in Reading the World: Ideas That Matter (661,664), Aristotle has three elements to persuasion: ethos, pathos and logos. Ethos is not just appealing to ethics, but it is establishing the speaker’s credibility and character. Pathos is an appeal to emotion to persuade an audience of something. Logos is an appeal to logic with things like facts and research. Any speaker that wants to persuade an audience to believe something should have an equal amount of all three elements. In the three videos, the speakers use
The four texts that I have read seem to all use a variety of rhetorical appeals. After analyzing them, I noticed each had a speaker, an occasion, an audience, a purpose and a subject. Not only did they use “SOAPS” but they also used ethos, logos, and pathos to strengthen their speeches and to really connect with the audience. They proved that they’re credible, then they used sources and quotations and eventually they hit the audience with emotions.
Rhetoric seems like a big word but the meaning is simple- persuasion. In the book Julius Caesar, Antony and Brutus, two major characters, are fantastic at persuading the Roman citizens. When one is reading the story, they might think that both have equal amounts but when you look closer, Antony has the better rhetoric strategies. In just a few short sentences, Antony convinced the people to believe that Caesar needed revenge even though he never came out and told them that. Just a couple of minutes ago, the citizens were on Brutus’s side and thought that Caesar needed to go.
Many authors use rhetorical devices and strategies to get their point across and try to convince the reader to believe in their perspective. It can also be used to get emotions from its readers, but that isn’t really the whole point of persuading someone. For instance, Martin Luther King Jr. uses an abundance of pathos in order to make the reader or clergymen feel sympathy towards the black people. Along with pathos, he uses logos and a bundle of hypophora. In order to obtain the goal of persuasion, Martin Luther King Jr.’s letter contains rhetorical devices.
Aristotle’s rhetorical strategies can help a writer achieve the art of persuasion. John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech is a perfect example of this. In
Erasmus even includes himself as a subject of this whimsical criticism showing that it is meant to be constructive not harshly judgmental as it was taken by his many critics. His criticisms of wise men, Seneca, women, and pedantry all apply to himself and he jokes about them all (xvi). He knows that, in her first and most humorous voice, Folly is criticizing aspects of life that are of small significance in comparison to her later targets, and Erasmus takes no shame in admitting his participation in such minor foolishness. With Folly’s first voice, Erasmus points out the insignificant foolishness that plays into every person’s life, including his own, with
Cassius, Brutus, and Antony use rhetoric successfully in William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, albeit each differently and for different causes. Each of these men uses his skills in rhetoric to convince each other and at some points the entire population of Rome to follow his beliefs. However, each of these men has different motivations to do so, as well as different characteristics and general worldviews.
In Aristotle’s Rhetoric, Aristotle argues that rhetoric should be used to portray the truth and to persuade people to follow the truth, not to manipulate the audience. According to Aristotle, rhetoric is both a natural method of persuasion and something that can be learned. Aristotle says, “ordinary people do this either at random or through practice and from acquired habit” (Rhetoric). There are three modes of persuasion, logos, ethos, and pathos, each used in a unique way. “The modes of persuasion are the only true constituents of the art: everything else is merely accessory,” according to Aristotle (Ibid). For rhetoric to be effective each mode of persuasion must be used correctly - ethos to exhibit ethics, logos
Rhetoric is the art of using language to persuade an audience. Writers and speakers often use rhetoric appeals. Aristotelian Rhetoric appeals are used in arguments to support claims and counter opposing arguments. Rhetoric used four different approaches to capture its audience’s attention: pathos, logos, and ethos. Pathos bases its appeal on provoking strong emotion from an audience. Ethos builds its appeal based on good moral character of the writer or speaker and relies on good sense and good will to influence its audience. Logos persuades its audience through the use of deductive and inductive reasoning. The kiaros approach requires a combination of creating and recognizing the right time and right place for making the argument in the
If a writer wanted to appeal to the audience, what would he have to do? He is going to have to utilize some rhetorical devices of course! Rhetorical devices are key in writing persuasion papers and just any paper that is meant to be read to an audience. In the Inauguration Speech of 1961 given by President John F. Kennedy, he was able to really connect with his audience that day by using lots of different rhetorical devices. By using chiasmus, anaphoras, and metaphors, JFK was able to effectively reach and persuade people to have faith in him despite his age and religion.