Today’s Plan:
- Reviewing Herrick
- Job Codes
- Homework
Rhetorical Theory
Let’s take a crack at defining rhetoric.
And then let’s take a crack at defining “the humanities.” What does it mean to study a humanity? *Why* study the humanities?
Reviewing the Herrick
Let’s carve up and quickly summarize the Herrick article. Here’s how I usually divide it:
- Rhetoric and Persuasion (pg. 3-5). How does Herrick attempt to nudge/change/complicate our understanding of persuasion? Sean K., Ryan K., Grace
- Rhetoric is Adapted to an Audience (pg. 8-10) Shay, Dakota
- Rhetoric Reveals Human Motives and Rhetoric is Responsive (pg. 10-12) Justin, Joey
- Rhetoric Addresses Contingent Issues (pg. 15-16) Augustus and Rae
- Rhetoric Tests Ideas (pg. 16-17)Macaila and Sam F
- Rhetoric Assists Advocacy (pg. 17-19)Dave and Riley
- Rhetoric Distributes Power (pg. 19-21)
- Rhetoric Discovers Facts and Rhetoric Shapes Knowledge (pg. 21-22) Arianna, Lily
- Rhetoric Builds Community (pg. 22-23) Mya, Josh, Sam H
I’ll give you five minutes to review your assigned pages and give us something specific.
Rhetorical Appeals:
- Logos
- What is the argument?
- What evidence is presented?
- What is the nature of that evidence? Stats, scientific, personal experience, common wisdom, historic example)
- Ethos
- Who is speaking? Why are they credible? What kind of voice are they? What grounds their authority?
- Who are they speaking to (and how do you know this)?
- Who are “we” (are they speaking to us or to another audience through us? Or both?
- Pathos
- What emotions does the speaker feel? Assume we feel? Assume the target audience feels?
- How would you describe the speaker’s emotional state/style?
- What emotions does the speaker attempt to engender?
- How do you feel as you listen to the speech?
- Kairos
- Why is now the right time for this speech?
- What historic/contextual information would someone need to know to understand this speech in 10 (or 100) years?
- What must we do after the speech is done?
Rhetorical Theory Part 2
Let’s take another crack at defining rhetoric.
Plato and Aristotle:
- What is truth?
- What is reality (from where comes reality?
Protagoras, Gorigas, and Isocrates:
- How do we get people to change their minds?
- How do we mvoe people from thought to action?
At some point I might want to point to this [Lanham].
And maybe this [Proctor–40,42,56,58].
Coding Questions
Okay, who has questions?
Homework
The work for the next week is pretty simple. By next Wednesday at midnight you’ll need to code another 10 jobs. Please pick jobs that have not already been coded. Our collective goal is to code as many of the jobs in the sheet as we can. We will review codes a bit in the computer lab this Thursday, and review a few more next Thursday.
Additionally, I’ll ask you to read the Carolyn Miller essay “A Humanistic Rationale for Technical Writing.” There’s a Canvas discussion post.
I consider rhetoric as the study and practice of how we can develop experiences, spaces, collaborations, encounters, through which we help ourselves and others negotiate the disequilibrium produced by difference in order to potentially foster more productive collaboration, negotiation, and change.
Rhetoric seeks a way to inhabit the world that recognizes the dangers like lie in our selfish, powerful, and often unconscious desire for security, comfort, and mastery.
