SCHOLAR: ESTABLISHING GOOD RHETORIC

Rhetoric is a form of public speaking wherein the speaker conveys a message to solve a particular problem.  It invokes collective thinking.  Effective rhetoric is possible through three concepts as described by Aristotle which are as follows:  ethos, logos and pathos.  I will be describing each in detail in the hopes that you can understand more thoroughly effective rhetoric.

Ethos refers to the credibility of the speaker.  Ethos develops character and persona with the audience.  To establish ethos, one must have a firm grasp of phronesis, virtue and goodwill.  Phronesis refers to practical wisdom.  This concept is used to convey the ability that the speaker can make a, “tough decision.”  Virtue, however, refers to an individual’s consistency.  An example can be that the speaker is a, “hard worker.”  Lastly, good will is a concept which depicts that the speaker is selfless.  This is conveyed through the speaker’s ability to be able to represent the needs of others rather than himself. In order to have effective ethos one must develop a good persona.  A persona is essentially a constructed ethos.  This can be done in several ways.  The speaker must choose to be an apologist, agent, partisan or a hero.  An apologist corrects a certain narrative to be able to create his or her persona.  The agent represents the authoritative body such as the government.  Partisan’s, however, are polarizing and support one side.  Heroes help those who are in need. 

Moreover, the speaker can evoke the audience.  This is when the speaker tells the audience who they are.  He or she can also claim distinction.  This concept contrasts the speaker from the audience by possessing special or unique knowledge.  Special knowledge is something like university and unique experience is, “been there, done that,” knowledge.  The speaker can also polarize people.  This is when the speaker divides the audience.

Logos refers to a person’s logical arguments.  The ability to make sound judgements in rhetoric is very important.  Arguments must have logical progression wherein the audience can easily understand what is being said.  Logos can be established by having a claim, warrant and grounds.  A claim is a stance.  A warrant therefore is supportive evidence or proof.  And, grounds connect a claim with the warrant.  Ineffective logos can result when an individual establishes fallacies or arguments that don’t hold up, so be careful.  To clarify warrants a bit more ill detail the five specific warrants that are available.  The first is deductive reasoning.  This warrant uses a general rule as proof.  Another is an example.  In this the speaker will use a specific case.  Analogy is another warrant in which one uses a similar situation.  Causation is also a warrant.  This one is based on cause and effect.  Lastly, signs uses an indicator. 

Pathos is the ability of the speaker to use emotion to stimulate the audience.  In contemporary politics scholars argue that politicians are using too much of this causing bathos.  Pathos can be very effective in mobilizing the public.  Pathos has an orientation and a target.  Lets first talk about the orientation.  This could either be attraction or repulsion.  Attraction is a positive emotion while repulsion is considered negative.  The speaker can target people, actions, events, and objects.  Targeting people results in the use of either saint or sinner while targeting actions correspond to virtue and vice.  If the speaker chooses to target an event he or she will have to select a utopia or a wasteland.  Finally when targeting objects the speaker must select the idol or abomination approach.  Notice that each four of these targets has a positive and a negative.  It is wise to select an appropriate style to invoke the audience.