Assistant Professor of English
University of South Florida
Today's class should accomplish 3 things:
I posed the following questions on Blackboard:
| Name Your Ancient Rhetorician | Define Your Rhetorical Theory | Recognize Your Secondary Source | Use Your Rhetorical Tools |
| I argued for a civic form of rhetoric built around paideia, or a dedication to knowing one's cultural history | This term means, among other things, crafting the right time for an argument | "stasis makes rhetoric firmly dialogical, its goal not the imposition of one position on an audience but a critical discussion among the participants" | You have been accused of not doing your homework. Provide a response grounded in ethos |
| I demonstrated the extent to which rhetoric is merely cosmetic performance with little or no underlying substance | What is invention? | "The character projected onto the feminine as "other" shares with Plato's sophists qualities of irrationality (or non-rationality), magical or hypnotic power, subjectivity, emotional sensitivity; all these are devalued in favor of their "masculine" or philosophic opposites--rationality, objectivity, detachment and so on" | Craft a simile |
| I felt that rhetoric was an antistrophos to dialectic (although I don't really think they are equal and I sometimes wish we didn't need rhetoric) | What is epistemology? | "Stated another way, epideictic rhetoric is the rhetoric of orthodoxies, its purpose being the creation and maintenance of orthodox opinions within a culture or subculture" | Craft an exordium for a speech on wearing seatbelts |
| I really wish you all didn't live in such a dark cave and play with so many shadows. In fact, I wrote a book about how you need to submit to the genius of the philosopher king | This snazzy term comes from the ancient Greek word for "gathering" place and signifies an sense of truth as constructed by a group of people at a particular time | "Secondly, Plato's Socrates complains, a written text is basically unresponsive. If you ask a person to explain his or her statement, you get at least an attempt at explanation: if you ask a text, you get nothing except the same, often stupid words which called for your question in the first place" | Give a pathetic reaction to news that USF will raise tutition by another 15% next semester |
| You can't always trust my student and biographer, but you can take his word when he writes that I would rather drink a vial of hemlock than pander to a jury composed of idiot politicians | This terms refers to a system of argument built around synthesizing different positions through dialogue | "Oral speech and thought narratives experience and the environment, whereas philosophy, which comes into being slowly after writing, is radically anti-narrative" | Give (bullshit) an inartistic proof in refutation to news that USF will raise tutition by another 15% next semester |
| I argued that "man is the measure of all things" | The name for a hierarchical system that determines the scope of an argument (more prominent in Roman rhetoric than in Greek rhetoric) | "In practice, rhetorical education is education in two-sided argument, argument where the truth is decided by the judge or jury, where truth is a dramatic criticism handed down on the forensic drama which has been played out according to the rules laid down by a rhetorical education" | Make people believe an improbability by pointing to an even greater one that is true |
| My book, really the only surviving Greek rhetorical handbook, breaks rhetoric into 3 primary appeals and 3 primary rhetorical appeals | Name the 3 primary branches of rhetoric | "Gorgias is no longer interested in conceptual realities since they would generate only conceptual logoi. Gorgias was aware, as were most fifth-century BCE sophists [...] that logoi have a communal basis and that communal realities (ta pragmata, not ta onta) generate socially relevant discourse." | Construct an argument against the proposed 15% USF tuition hike passed on communal values |
| I defended Helen by claiming that she was seduced by the powers of logos | Name the 3 primary rhetorical branches | "He gives the name philosophia to the educational practice that in the fifth and even early fourth centuries had been called mousike, which invovled memorization and recitation of the poetic tradition" |
Beside this quick and dirty history, there is the history of Rhetoric and Composition, parent discipline to your major of choice, Professional and Technical Writing:
Last week we played a game that resulted in the following lists:
Weak Defense |
Strong Defense |
Philosophy |
|
Rhetoric is cosmetic |
Rhetoric is substantial |
Language is a transparent medium |
Language always, already contains values |
Rhetoric [primarily] concerns style and delivery |
Rhetoric [primarily] concerns invention |
It is bad to argue both sides of a question |
It is good to argue both sides of a question |
A rhetorical education ensures moral virtue |
A rhetorical education hopes to promote civic involvement |
Think first, then act [construct the Ideal conception of the good life, person, city, and then put it into practice] |
Action and thought cannot be discrete activities [we do not have the time to construct an Ideal world first] |
A focus on language leads to nihilism, chaos, or relativism |
A focus on language leads to a focus on present problems, inclusive partnerships, and messy debates |
The University is a collection of independent disciplines; what justifies learning is mastery and gaining expertise |
Education is an interdisciplinary project; what justifies learning is public performance |
Students need to learn facts in order to share a common culture |
Students need to learn to commit to decisions made by people |
Reason is objective |
Reason emerges through subjects |
Truth is a priori and is discovered |
Truth is determined/invented through agonism |
Truth is abstracted from time |
Time is what prevents us from determining (absolutely) truth |
“revealed religion” |
Secular ethics |
Plato |
Quintilian |
Peter Ramus |
Richard McKeon |
Bloom and Hirsch |
Hook |
Aristotle opens Book 2 with a discussion of pathos, writing:
But since rhetoric is concerned with making a judgment (people judge what is said in deliberation, and judicial proceedings are also a judgment), it is necessary not only to look to the argument, that it may be demonstrative and persuasive but also [for the speaker] to construct a view of himself as a certain kind of person and prepare the judge; 3. for it makes much difference in regard to persuasion (especially in deliberations but also in trials) that the speaker seem to be a certain kind of person and that his hearers suppose him to be disposed toward them in a certain way and in addition if they, too, happen to be disposed in a certain way. (II.i.2-3)
As I have said in class, I am quite interested in this notion of pathos. If we read this passage (and the rest of the introductory material in Book 2) carefully, then we can see that Aristotle's definition of pathos is not necessarily theatrical or performative. In fact, in Book 3, he rails against orators who model themselves after actors in the theater. Certainly, it is proper for the orator to demonstrate investment in her topic, to be passionate, but it is a fine line and slippery slope into baffoonery.
When assessing pathos, Aristotle encourages us to think across three registers:
The emotions Aristotle breaks down across these registers: anger, calmness, friendliness, hate, fear, confidence, shame, shamelessness, kindliness, unkindliness, pity, being indignant, envy, and emulation.
Aristotle then shifts from discussing pathos to discussing ethos. We will discuss Aristotle's take on ethos in more detail on Thursday, after you have read Halloran's essay.
Aristotle then goes on, in chapters 18-26, to address the konia, or "the things that are common to all species (or genera) of rhetoric" (p. 173 n.105). Aristotle begins by presenting 3 konia:
Also, Aristole addresses the importance of paradigm (II.xx) and maxim (II.xxi).
Aristotle concludes this section (chapter 25 on Lysis) by discussing strategies for undoing an opponent's enthymeme (their artistic logos).
Lanham extracts from Aristotle's On Rhetoric 28 valid topics for generating and developing an argument. Today in class we are going to use these topics to collaboratively develop material for a speech dealing with the NBA lockout. To find this list, check pages 167-168 of the Handlist of Rhetorical Terms.
Read: Halloran's essay "Aristotle's Ethos, or If Not His, Somebody Else's" (On Blackboard)
Complete the Project One Heuristic (here is the link to a .docx file of what appears below).
In rhetorical theory, a heuristic is an exercise intending to help you generate or develop an idea. As you begin to shape your first project, your rhetorical performance piece, please write about the following:
Who is the intended audience of your piece? What do you know about them? How do they feel about your topic (friendly, neutral, indifferent)? What evidence can you point to that confirms this suspicion? Are they already familiar with this issue, or are you introducing it to them?
Why is now a good time to talk about this topic? When would it be inappropriate to talk about this topic? When would it be perfect to talk about it? When/why did you start talking about/caring about this topic? What is the aim of your speech—meaning, at its conclusion, what should have changed? What should the audience do (differently)?
What makes you credible to talk about this topic? In order to appreciate your position on this topic, what values does a person have to hold? What kind of people wouldn’t care about this topic? Is this topic something that everyone can care about? Should care about? Who else cares about this topic (anyone particularly important?)
How does thinking about this topic make most people feel? How does it make you feel? What emotions should we be weary of as we contemplate this topic?
What kind of inartistic proof can you point to (statistics, testimony, empirical data)?
What kind of artistic, enthymematic argument can you invent? In other words, turn this into a short if…x, then…y statement as we did with the commercials we watched; what is the underlying logic holding your argument together.
Look at the list of 28 common topics offered by Lanham on pages 167-168. For each topic, write 2-3 sentences of how that Topic might generate an idea.