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Jill Klooster
Kristin Parker
Gene Ross
Kateri Spellecy
 Definition
 Features of Rhetorical Communication
 The 4 Bases of Interpretive Scholars
 Opposition – Behavioral Scientists
 Research Methods
 Rhetorical Approach Applied
 Rhetoric
 Viewed by Aristotle as “discovering all possible means of
persuasion” (Griffin, 280)
 Three approaches to a convincing argument (Griffin, 280):
 Logos
 Pathos
 Ethos
 Logos (Griffin, 280)
 Uses logical argument (induction and deduction)
 Inductive argument
 Uses specific example
 Claims that what is true for it is also true for a general
category
 Moves from the specific to the general
 Deductive argument
 Begins with a general or universal rule accepted by most
people
 Applies that claim to a specific example
 Most important means of persuasion to Aristotle and only
legitimate one for Plato
 Pathos (Griffin, 280)
 Uses language, examples, diction, or images to create an
emotional reaction in the reader
 Most common types
 Anger at a social injustice, sympathy for another's
misfortune, or laughter at a humorous or illogical state of
affairs
 Greek rhetoricians realized that humans sometimes can be
persuaded by the force of feeling alone, rather than rational
discussion
 Ethos
 Aristotle noted that sometimes trust alone is sufficient to
persuade the audience if the speaker or writer appears to be
trustworthy, knowledgeable, and benevolent (Kennedy, 1991)
 Ethos involves three traits (Wheeler, 2001):
 Rhetors must show themselves to be honest individuals of good
moral character who sincerely believe what they claim
 Rhetors must show themselves competent, intelligent individuals
who know the material or subject-matter they are addressing
 Rhetors must show themselves as open-minded individuals who
write because they are also concerned about the audience's best
interest or well-being
 Rhetoric (Griffin, 45)
 Art of using all available means of persuasion
 Focuses on:
 Lines of argument
 Organization of ideas
 Language use
 Public speaking delivery
 Rhetorical Approach
 Interpretive approach (Griffin, 15)
 Assigns meaning/value to communicative texts
 Assumes multiple meanings/truths possible
 Burke’s Dramatistic Pentad (Griffin, 15)
 Five-pronged method of rhetorical criticism
 Analyzes a speaker’s persuasive strategy through act, scene,
agent, agency, and purpose
 As a drama develops, the symbolic action moves through
different stages
 Rhetoricians
 Part of a larger group of interpretive scholars (Griffin, 16)
 “Separate world views of interpretive scientists and
scholars reflect contrasting assumptions about ways of
arriving at knowledge, the core of human nature,
questions of value, the very purpose of theory, and
methods of research.” (Griffin, 16)
 Characteristics (Griffin, 45)
 Speech distinguishes humans from other animals
 Public address delivered in a democratic forum is most
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effective in solving political problems
Single speaker attempts to influence an audience of
many listeners through persuasion
Oratorical training as the cornerstone of a leader’s
education
Focus on power and beauty of language to move people
emotionally and stir them to action
Public persuasion dominated by males
 Multiple Realities (Griffin, 17)
 Regarded as socially constructed through
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communication
Language creates social realities always in flux
“A word, gesture, or an act may have constancy within a
given community, but it’s dangerous to assume that
interpretations can cross lines of time and space”
(Griffin, 17)
Largely subjective
Objectivity is a myth because knower and known cannot
be separated
 Free Will (Griffin, 17-18)
 Individuals make conscious choices
 People’s actions possess conscious intent
 Emancipation (Griffin, 18-19)
 Often introduce their own ideologies when reviewing a
communication text
 Value socially relevant research that seeks to liberate
people from any oppression
 Focus on all points-of-view affecting collective decisions
and individuals openness to new ideas
 Interpretive Guides (Griffin, 19-20)
 Use of theory to make sense of unique communication
events
 Explore meaning that makes up human existence
 Use works of other interpretive scholars to establish a
basis from which to provide interpretive criticism
 Definition (Griffin, 13)
 Scholars applying the scientific method to describe,
predict, and explain recurring forms of human behavior
 4 Bases of Behavioral Scientists
 Truth (Griffin, 17)
 Waiting to be discovered by the Five Senses
 A discovered and validated principle will hold true as long as
conditions remain the same
 Determinism (Griffin, 17-18)
 Heredity and environment shape human experience
 Behavior is a response to a prior stimulus
 4 Bases of Behavioral Scientists (cont…)
 Objectivity (Griffin, 18-19)
 No individual influence from theorists
 Ideas must be validated by an independent observer
 Focus on effectiveness where successful communication of
information, ideas, and meaning to others remains top
priority; persuasion also important
 Universal Laws (Griffin, 19)
 Cover a variety of situations
 Scholars repeatedly test their theories to validate laws
 Main use of qualitative research methods (Griffin, 20)
 Experiments (Griffin, 20)
 Do not allow room for relationships to other people or
interpretation of communication other than defined by
established groups
 Surveys (Griffin, 22)
 Results still determined by groups/types of people
surveyed
 More availability of information about individuals, but
still limited to those surveyed
 Textual Analysis (Griffin, 22-23)
 Rhetorical criticism the most common form
 Interpretive scholars use this as a way to present and use
theory to reveal unjust communication practices creating or
encouraging an imbalance of power
 Ethnography (Griffin, 23)
 Exercises careful observation, extensive notes, and
participation that allows a researcher to experience a culture’s
meaning
 Geertz states that he would not want to impose his way of
thinking onto a society’s construction of reality
 Suggests a method used by behavioral scientists, but is often used
by interpretive scholars as well due to the understanding nature
 Interpersonal Communication
 Coordinated Management of Meaning
 Relational Dialectics
 Group & Public Communication
 Cultural Approach
 Critical Theory of Communication
 Mass Communication
 Cultural Studies
 Cultural Context
 Muted Group Theory
 Interpersonal Communication
 Coordinated Management of Meaning
 Asserts “persons-in-conversation co-construct their own
social realities and are simultaneously shaped by the worlds
they create” (Griffin, 69)
 Relational Dialectics
 “A dynamic knot of contradictions in personal relationships;
an unceasing interplay between contrary or opposing
tendencies” (Griffin, 155)
 Group & Public Communication
 Cultural Approach
 Culture: “Webs of significance; systems of shared meaning”
(Griffin, 251)
 Cultural Performance: “Actions by which members constitute
and reveal their culture to themselves and others; an
ensemble of texts” (Griffin, 251)
 Critical Theory of Communication
 Approaches communication in the sense of corporate control
over areas of life outside the workplace (Griffin, 262)
 Mass Communication
 Cultural Studies
 States that mass media manufactures consent for dominant
ideologies (Griffin, 334)
 Cultural Context
 Muted Group Theory (Griffin, 455)
 A muted group is one made up of people with little power
 The people in this group have trouble giving voice to their
perceptions because they must re-encode their thoughts to
make them understood in the public sphere
 Aristotle. On Rhetoric: A Theory of Civic Discourse. Trans.
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George A. Kennedy. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1991.
Griffin, Em. (2008). A First Look at Communication
Theory. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Kennedy, George. (1991) "Aristotle. On Rhetoric: A Theory
of Civic Discourse." Oxford: Oxford UP, 1991.
Wheeler, Douglas.(2001). Rhetoric. Retrieved Octover 1,
2008, from: http://web.cn.edu/wheeler/resource_rhet.html
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadre
am.htm
 Definition
 Features of Rhetorical Communication
 4 Bases of Interpretive Scholars
 Opposition – Behavioral Scientists
 Research Methods
 Rhetorical Approach Applied