Download Persuasive Text 11th

Persuasive Text: 11th grade Activity and Benchmark (Prepared by E. Ragus, 2006)
Term Definitions: (paraphrased in part from Gong, Gwendolyn and Dragga, Sam. A Writer’s Repertoire. HarperCollins College
Publishers: New York. 1995)
Rhetoric: The art of persuasion; the tools the speaker or writer uses to convince his audience of the
soundness, importance, and necessity of his position.
Rhetorical Appeals: These consist of the ethos (how ethical and credible the character of the speaker is);
logos (the soundness of the evidence and reasoning, appeal through words or logical reason); and pathos
(whether the information stirs the reader’s emotions or not). Does the writer make his argument based on his
reputation, authority /expertise on the subject, the established authority of other writers/speakers, the
emotions of the audience or the reasonableness of his position and evidence?
Rhetorical Stance: The position of the writer or speaker toward his subject matter and audience. ( Is the
writer or speaker trying to persuade, entertain, amuse, inform, argue? Is the writer supportive, hostile,
inflammatory, objective, sympathetic, emotional in his stance toward the subject and ultimately, the
audience? This may be similar to the tone, but it is not connected to the diction choices as much as to the
purpose and organization of the work.)
Rhetorical Devices: These are tools of the trade that help the writer or speaker effectively convey his position
to the audience and will include parallel structure, repetition, alliteration, allusions, apostrophe (a direct
address either to an absent person or abstract or inanimate entity) figurative language, and rhetorical
questions (a question asked, not to evoke an actual reply, but to achieve a emphasis stronger than a direct
statement) anaphora (repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of several consecutive
sentences or verses to emphasize an image or a concept).
Rhetorical Modes: Narration, description, exposition and persuasion
Rhetorical Situation: The situation of a piece of discourse involving its audience, the problem that elicits the
discourse, and the constraints on the writer and the audience, all of which determine which of the available
means of persuasion will be used: ethos, pathos, and/or logos.
Rhetorical Analysis Guidelines
When we analyze the rhetorical position of a writer or speaker, we are examining closely his word choice, his
stance (attitude or position) toward his subject and his audience, and the various tools he uses to persuade
the audience to believe him/her. The primary tools the writer relies on to convince us to listen to him and
accept his point of view are the rules of argumentation that present his ethos, logos, and pathos.
Ethos – the ethical position of the writer and his subject. What is his/her credibility? How does the writer
establish his/her credibility? What is his/her background? Training? Experience in this subject matter? How
does he/she present him/herself in throughout the argument? As believable? Sympathetic? Intelligent?
Angry? Vengeful? Argumentative? Offended? Reasonable? We must consider all aspects of the writer that
are available to us to determine how credible he or she is. If we do not believe the person has a good sense of
right and wrong, or a value system we can agree with, then we will not accept his right to claim an ethical
position in relation to the subject matter.
Logos - the logic of his argument. Is the evidence clear? Reasonable? Verifiable – can we check to see if it is
true, factual, complete? How does he present his argument? Through deductive reasoning? ( A statement of
fact/premise followed by an specific instance/example, followed by a conclusion? ) Does the writer open with
a generally accepted truth from which he draws a reasonable conclusion? If so watch out for this fallacy of
reasoning: a sweeping generalization – all teenagers behave this way; everyone knows this… Does he use
inductive reasoning? (begin with observable evidence, present more examples, draw a hypothesis based on
the evidence presented) Does he lead you to a conclusion through several facts, pieces of information? If so
be careful about another fallacy of reasoning: jumping to a conclusion – too few instances provided to arrive
at the conclusion. Does the writer present logical steps in his argument to demonstrate how he moved from
point A to point B to point C?
Pathos – the ways in which the writer appeals to the feelings or sympathy of the audience. He can appeal to
our sense of altruism – the belief in the good benefits of this argument for others, or the good of the whole.
Or he can appeal to our own self-interest – we need to believe him because it will help or hurt us if we do not.
How does the speaker effectively appeal to the emotions of his audience and get them involved with him and
his subject?
Diction choices refer to the kind of language a person uses: formal, informal, polite, vulgar, colloquial, slang,
unemotional, emotional. Diction is also a choice of figurative or literal language, monosyllabic or polysyllabic
words, simple or complex language. Diction choices help to reveal the writer’s feelings about the subject
matter and his or her attitude toward the audience.
Guiding Questions/Directions
1. Identify the writer/speaker - are there clues to his background, biases, expertise, experience in the
text or any visuals associated with the text? (Any background information contributes to the credibility
of the writer/speaker).
2. Who is the intended audience? (Audience can determine types of evidence used, the diction choices,
organization pattern – the manner in which the author presents his argument and leads us to his
conclusions)
3. What is the writer’s purpose? To persuade, inform, entertain, anger, convince, or refute someone
else’s argument?
4. Analyze the claim or position of the writer and his evidence. Is his claim acceptable? What kind of
evidence does he use? (Factual, opinion, relevant, public knowledge) Is it sufficient to convince the
audience? Are the ideas in the sources explained and supported with facts, statistics, and examples, or
merely thrown in for effect?
5. Examine the writer’s ethos or credibility. What evidence or references that the writer uses add
credibility to his position? Does the audience agree with his value system as revealed in his argument?
Is his experience or background sufficient to create credibility? Is the tone appropriate to support his
credibility as a reliable source? Is the evidence balanced?
6. Look at the logos of the argument. Is the evidence valid, credible, relevant and sufficient? Does the
writer/speaker use deductive or inductive reasoning patterns to lead the reader to his conclusion?
7. Locate areas that create the pathos, or emotional appeals. Does the speaker/writer appeal to the selfinterest of the audience or altruism? Is following the writer’s argument going to benefit the individuals
in the audience or the general good?
Persuasive Argumentation Chart
Tactic
Ethos (how is credibility
established?)
Pathos (how is emotion
used?)
Logos (how is logic used?)
Fig. Language (imagery)
Fig. Language (metaphor)
Quotes
Analysis
Fig. Language (allusions)
Level of Diction
(tone/word choice)
Rhetorical devices
(questioning, repetition,
parallel structure,
alliteration, etc.)
Most powerful/effective
word
choice/repetition/style