Rhetoric
This section of the class has allowed me to notice rhetoric occurring everywhere I go. Before this section of the class I had no idea what rhetoric even meant. However, once I did understand the meaning of rhetoric I was in awe of the constant occurrence of persuasion used on an everyday basis. Advertisements, commercials, conversations, images, and even my own cereal box. One morning after reading about rhetoric I grabbed my box of Cheerios and noticed something I never picked up on before. The box said "Love your heart so you can....do what you love." This stunned me because I realized that the box was subconsciously telling me that I love to eat Cheerios (which I do) and simultaneously telling me that they are good for my heart so I should eat them.
I was first officially introduced into the true meaning of rhetoric after reading "Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps toward Rhetorical Analysis" by Laura Bolin Carroll. This article allowed me to start this section with a firm grasp on the meaning. Carroll did an excellent job catching my attention with the first few paragraphs and hooking me for the rest of the article. For example, when Carroll talked about "reading a book by its cover" I could completely relate to her. I tend to subconsciously make assumptions and judge people based on my first glance at them. It's nothing I can control because it happens naturally and is caused by previous encounters and experience. Although it is frowned upon in society, these rhetoric analysis's we subconsciously produce are what make us humans. To help readers understand a rhetorical moment clearer Carroll includes a section where she talks about three parts of a rhetorical moment consisting of exigence, audience, and constraints.
These three parts outline the basics of a rhetorical moment but to truly understand rhetorical analysis you need to understand the argument. The argument consists of what the rhetoric wants you to believe or do and how you go about it. Carroll states that rhetoric has been around for centuries, even dating back to BCE when Aristotle taught the basics of persuasion to the men of Athens. He had three "artistic appeals" that he used when teaching persuasion that included logos, pathos, and ethos. These appeals each go about persuasion from different ways.
I was first officially introduced into the true meaning of rhetoric after reading "Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps toward Rhetorical Analysis" by Laura Bolin Carroll. This article allowed me to start this section with a firm grasp on the meaning. Carroll did an excellent job catching my attention with the first few paragraphs and hooking me for the rest of the article. For example, when Carroll talked about "reading a book by its cover" I could completely relate to her. I tend to subconsciously make assumptions and judge people based on my first glance at them. It's nothing I can control because it happens naturally and is caused by previous encounters and experience. Although it is frowned upon in society, these rhetoric analysis's we subconsciously produce are what make us humans. To help readers understand a rhetorical moment clearer Carroll includes a section where she talks about three parts of a rhetorical moment consisting of exigence, audience, and constraints.
- Exigence- The circumstance or condition that invites a response.
- Audience- Those who are the intended or unintended recipients of the rhetorical message.
- Constraints- The things that have the power to constrain decision and action needed to modify the exigence.
These three parts outline the basics of a rhetorical moment but to truly understand rhetorical analysis you need to understand the argument. The argument consists of what the rhetoric wants you to believe or do and how you go about it. Carroll states that rhetoric has been around for centuries, even dating back to BCE when Aristotle taught the basics of persuasion to the men of Athens. He had three "artistic appeals" that he used when teaching persuasion that included logos, pathos, and ethos. These appeals each go about persuasion from different ways.
- Logos- An appeal to ethics, and it is a means of convincing someone of the character or credibility of the persuader.
- Pathos- An appeal to emotion, and is a way of convincing an audience of an argument by creating an emotional response.
- Ethos- An appeal to logic, and is a way of persuading an audience by reason.
Laura Bolin Carroll's Article
My Response To Carroll's Article
After reading Carroll's "Backpacks vs Briefcases: steps towards rhetorical analysis" I realized how fast I make judgments on a daily basis. I never think to myself "Hey let me sit down and make an accurate decision on this person I just met." Instead I end up judging a book by its cover because it's natural to the human mind. People always say don't judge a book by its cover but it is almost impossible to not do so because our minds are forced to constantly make decisions about people without hesitating. Although this is considered a bad thing in society, it is what allows us as humans to make smart decisions based on experience.
As Carroll stated, media is one of the biggest areas where rhetorical analysis is the main focus. This is because the news uses certain ways to persuade its viewers and keep everyone up to date with everyday life. Ethos, pathos, and logos expressed by aristotle have a major role in the argument of the rhetorical analysis. Ethos explain the ethics or the credibility of the persuader. Pathos is the emotional side that brings the reader to believe they have to listen due to the emotional side of the author. Logos is the logical side that explains why you should believe the argument based on rational points. All of these come together to get the main focus across and persuade the reader. Another section talks about "The Rhetorical Situation" which contains three parts as stated by Llyod Bitzer. These parts are exigence, audience and constraints which all have different meanings. Exigence talks about the circumstance or the condition while the audience worries about the type of text you write based on who is going to read it. Last but not least, constraints are what limits what you do. An example of this is only allowing you to express your opinion with a certain number of words instead of allowing you to explain yourself fully.
Carroll, Laura B. "Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps toward Rhetorical Analysis." Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing. Vol. 1. N.p.: Parlor, n.d. 45-58. Web.
As Carroll stated, media is one of the biggest areas where rhetorical analysis is the main focus. This is because the news uses certain ways to persuade its viewers and keep everyone up to date with everyday life. Ethos, pathos, and logos expressed by aristotle have a major role in the argument of the rhetorical analysis. Ethos explain the ethics or the credibility of the persuader. Pathos is the emotional side that brings the reader to believe they have to listen due to the emotional side of the author. Logos is the logical side that explains why you should believe the argument based on rational points. All of these come together to get the main focus across and persuade the reader. Another section talks about "The Rhetorical Situation" which contains three parts as stated by Llyod Bitzer. These parts are exigence, audience and constraints which all have different meanings. Exigence talks about the circumstance or the condition while the audience worries about the type of text you write based on who is going to read it. Last but not least, constraints are what limits what you do. An example of this is only allowing you to express your opinion with a certain number of words instead of allowing you to explain yourself fully.
Carroll, Laura B. "Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps toward Rhetorical Analysis." Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing. Vol. 1. N.p.: Parlor, n.d. 45-58. Web.
Rhetorical Analysis Final Project
This projects objective was to allow for the student to portray their understanding of rhetorical situations and show that the student can also conduct rhetorical analysis. For this assignment students were required to pick one ad with less than 15 words that was not a logo like nike. This ad had to contain rhetoric so the student can portray their knowledge on the subject. I chose an advertisement about sports that had two separate messages by using the phrase "Drink and Drive". Most people have heard the common phrase "don't drink and drive" and this made me believe that gatorade was using this advertisement to raise awareness about drinking and driving while simultaneously selling their product. I have attached this advertisement below along with my final project on rhetorical analysis for a more in depth grasp on the advertisement and project.
Revision
I've learned through experience that revision for major projects is crucial. However, during this assignment I was medically excused from school and could not physically go to class to get peer reviews. I also did not have anyones phone number from the class which made me become nervous because one of my biggest fears is turning in a finished project without someone looking over it first. I had no one to help me revise my project until my friend Chance walked in on me putting some finishing touches on it. He told me that he had recently taken the same class as me at UCF and he could review the project for me. He pointed out a few things that I completely overlooked. One of these things he gave me advice on was to give background information on gatorade before going right into the context of the advertisement. I took his advice and gave some background information in the beginning of the video. I believe it allowed for the video to flow much better and allowed for the audience of the video (intended or not intended) to understand the background of gatorade before hearing the context of the advertisement. I personally believe I did excellent on this assignment considering it was my first time ever using video editing software and not obtaining other classmates reviews. Although I feel like I did very well on the assignment there is still plenty room for improvement. If I could go back I would make sure I spoke more clearly into the microphone, had better transitions from one subject to another and touched on some more constraints.