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last.updated 8.25.07

Rhetorical Principles

Purpose

The following principles will give us a useful working vocabulary for our discussions throughout the semester. Please note that these defintions are oversimiplied and you will be expected to develop a more nuanced understanding of these terms as you become exposed to various rhetorical theorists.

Appeals

Ethos
An appeal that relies upon the character of the rhetor or the character of another

Pathos
An emotional appeal; moving your audience by getting in touch with what they value

Logos
Rational appeal; the truth of the word

The Five Canons of Rhetoric

Arrangement
The order in which the content is organized for a communication (think five-paragraph essay); genre

Invention
The process of coming to the content we are going to communicate; rhetors have debated whether this is a process of developing knowledge or not.

Heuristics
Strategies for developing knowledge often through investigation, especially useful in local contexts

Style
The signs-often words-one chooses for communication

Memory
The pedagogy for remembering what one will state during a given communication

Delivery
The process of relating the word to the given audience; often understudied, but becoming more important in an electronic age

...and Kairos

Responding to what happens or fails to happen during in a given rhetorical situation