{"id":2922,"date":"2022-02-19T17:56:14","date_gmt":"2022-02-19T22:56:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/4writers.net\/blog\/?p=2922"},"modified":"2022-02-19T17:56:14","modified_gmt":"2022-02-19T22:56:14","slug":"what-is-rhetoric-and-why-is-it-important","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/4writers.net\/blog\/what-is-rhetoric-and-why-is-it-important\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Rhetoric, and Why Is It Important?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Whenever you write a persuasive essay, talking points for a debate, or an <a href=\"https:\/\/4writers.net\/blog\/handy-tips-on-how-to-write-an-argumentative-essay\/\">argumentative essay<\/a>, you use rhetoric. Even if you are not familiar with the term, you have used rhetoric to support the points you make in your writing. Rhetoric is the language you use to communicate your writing\u2019s core message. <!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Academic writing is not the only kind of writing where rhetoric shows up. Rhetoric can appear in just about any kind of writing\u2014but the\u00a0<em>type<\/em>\u00a0of rhetoric you use depends on the kind of writing you are doing and the message you are communicating.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2926\" src=\"https:\/\/4writers.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Rhetoric1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"505\" srcset=\"https:\/\/4writers.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Rhetoric1.jpg 800w, https:\/\/4writers.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Rhetoric1-300x189.jpg 300w, https:\/\/4writers.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Rhetoric1-768x485.jpg 768w, https:\/\/4writers.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Rhetoric1-275x174.jpg 275w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<h4><strong>What Is Rhetoric?<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Rhetoric is language that is carefully constructed to persuade, motivate, or inform the reader or listener about the speaker or writer\u2019s position. You might have heard the term used in discussions about politicians and political goals. That is because politicians, alongside people in other roles that involve public speaking, employ rhetoric regularly. In fact, the word \u201crhetoric\u201d comes from the Greek \u201crhetorikos,\u201d which means \u201coratory.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>You are probably familiar with the concept of a rhetorical question. A rhetorical question is a question that is often asked to a broad audience in an effort to get the audience thinking seriously about the question and its implications. The speaker or writer does not typically expect answers to the question; their goal is to facilitate a discussion. Here are a few examples of rhetorical questions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Are we doing the right thing?<\/li>\n<li>What is this, a joke?<\/li>\n<li>Can you imagine that?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>However, in academic writing, rhetorical questions are prohibited; they are used in informal writing mostly.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Why Is Rhetoric Important?<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Rhetoric is important because it provides a framework for critical thinking. It demonstrates your thought processes as a writer and speaker. By doing this, it illustrates your arguments\u2019 strengths.<\/p>\n<p>To understand rhetoric, you need to understand the concept of\u00a0<strong>heuristics<\/strong>. A heuristic is a practical approach to problem-solving or self-discovery. When you make an educated guess about something or use trial and error to reach a conclusion, you have used a heuristic. With heuristics, you do not necessarily have to reach a precise answer; the goal is to reach an approximate or otherwise \u201cgood enough\u201d solution.<\/p>\n<p>Examples of heuristics:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Drawing a diagram to work out a logistical or mathematical problem<\/li>\n<li>Working out a solution to an obstacle by assuming you already have a solution, then working backward through the theoretical steps you would have taken to reach that solution<\/li>\n<li>Using a concrete example to illustrate an abstract challenge<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Here is a quick example of a heuristic in action: You throw a holiday party every December. Despite inviting about twenty people to the party, an average of six or seven people show up each year. This year, you have invited twenty people again, but while planning for the party, you decide to order food for a group of ten. You know, from experience, that all twenty people likely will not show up. But to err on the side of caution, you order slightly more food than you anticipate needing, so you have got enough in case this year has a higher-than-average turnout (and leftovers if it does not).<\/p>\n<p>Heuristics play a key role in rhetoric because speakers and writers often use them to illustrate the points they are making. You might write a\u00a0persuasive essay\u00a0about the value an overnight campus shuttle service would provide by calculating its approximate cost and discussing the benefits it would provide in contrast to the percentage of the campus\u2019 operating budget it would require. In this example, your rough monetary calculations and their value compared to the shuttle\u2019s intangible benefits are heuristics.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>The Rhetorical Triangle: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>In his writing on rhetoric, Aristotle defined the three distinct modes of persuasion that we still recognize and use:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Pathos<\/li>\n<li>Ethos<\/li>\n<li>Logos<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Logos<\/strong>\u00a0is language crafted to appeal to logic and reasoning. When you appeal to logos in an argument, you support your position with facts and data. Here is an example of an argument that appeals to logos:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>None of the kids were home when the cookie jar was raided, so the cookie thief could not have been one of them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Ethos<\/strong>\u00a0is language whose credibility comes from its speaker\u2019s reputation or authority. This authority can come from their credentials, like a doctor discussing the most effective means of preventing pathogen transmission, or from their position within a narrative or situation, like a car accident witness describing the collision they saw. In your writing, you might appeal to ethos like this:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I started exercising twice per week because my doctor said it would help alleviate my pain.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Pathos<\/strong>\u00a0is language that creates an emotional connection with the reader or listener. Pathos attempts to persuade, motivate, or inform the audience by making them empathize with the speaker. Here is an example of pathos:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Please donate to the animal shelter. We are desperately in need of funding to help our animals, and every dollar counts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The rhetorical triangle is the graphical representation of the three modes of discourse as an equilateral triangle. By showing all three concepts as equally spaced-apart points, it demonstrates their equal importance to effective communication. This does not mean every piece of effective communication uses all three\u2014pathos has no place in a lab report, for example\u2014but that all three are equally effective when used appropriately.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Rhetorical devices<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Rhetoric in types of writing like narrative writing and poetry often relies on linguistic tools like\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.grammarly.com\/blog\/figurative-language\/\">figurative language<\/a>\u00a0and well-known figures of speech. These tools are known as rhetorical devices. Through a rhetorical device, you can make your argument feel more pressing, make it stick in listeners\u2019 and\/or readers\u2019 minds, enable them to empathize with you or your characters, and drive them to think differently about the issue you are presenting.<\/p>\n<p>There are lots of different rhetorical devices you can employ in your writing. Here are a few common ones:<\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Hyperbole<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n<p>Hyperbole is an extreme exaggeration meant to highlight the issue presented:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cI deal with thousands of angry customers every day.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>With hyperbole, both the speaker and the listener know it is an exaggeration. The goal is to demonstrate how an issue compares to the norm or to other issues by positioning it as wildly outside the norm.<\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Meiosis<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n<p>The reverse of hyperbole, meiosis emphasizes how far outside the norm an issue is through extreme understatement:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cCompared to others in the area, our school was empty.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Epistrophe<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n<p>Epistrophe is the repetition of a word through successive phrases, clauses, or sentences for the purpose of emphasizing it as a concept. Typically,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.grammarly.com\/blog\/parallelism\/\">parallelism<\/a>\u00a0is employed to underscore this repetition and give the speech a poetic quality. Abraham Lincoln used epistrophe in this famous excerpt from the Gettysburg Address:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201c. . .\u00a0government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Metaphor<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n<p>Metaphor is a type of figurative language that compares two topics by claiming that one literally is the other:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cMy mother\u2019s cooking is heaven on earth.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Chiasmus<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n<p>Chiasmus is the repetition of a sentence with the word order switched around. Perhaps the most famous example of chiasmus comes from President John F. Kennedy:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cAsk not what your country can do for you\u2014ask what you can do for your country.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Whenever you write a persuasive essay, talking points for a debate, or an argumentative essay, you use rhetoric. Even if you are not familiar with the term, you have used rhetoric to support the points you make in your writing. Rhetoric is the language you use to communicate your writing\u2019s core message.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[738,734,746,742,730,750],"class_list":["post-2922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writing_tips","tag-ethos","tag-heuristics","tag-logos","tag-pathos","tag-rhetoric","tag-rhetorical-devices"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/4writers.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/4writers.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/4writers.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/4writers.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/4writers.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2922"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/4writers.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2922\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2930,"href":"https:\/\/4writers.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2922\/revisions\/2930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/4writers.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/4writers.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/4writers.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}