Description
Over the course, we have been going over some helpful terms in thinking about the design of communication creates effects.
We’ve talked about:
Persuasion
Rhetorical situation
Design
Effect
Audience
Purpose
Strategy
Ethos
Pathos
Logos
Kairos
Modalities
Tropes
In hopes of reviewing these terms, consider the following:
Choose one text that you find especially rhetorical— that you think demonstrates the above terms all at once and shows some patterns between these terms. Remember that a “text” can be anything, as long as you see it as creating an effect and as long as you can either include it in the Canvas post or add a link for it.
Compose a central “thesis.” In other words, what do you think is the most important rhetorical strategy of the text or texts? How could you provide some evidence from the text or texts to support this?
Outline in a series of main paragraphs how you see these terms displayed in text in your reading of them. Do your best to show interconnections between the terms, noting where and when the terms support or contradict one another.
This should all result in a mini essay that discusses the correlation between design choice and intended effect, using the above terms.
Format
approx. 750 words
Unformatted Attachment Preview
Example 1
https://psmag.com/news/interview-with-darris-young
The link above is an article that I find to be especially rhetorical. I feel that this article
encompasses most if not all of the above terms throughout the text. Moving along with
this text I will point out how ethos, pathos, and kairos are extremely important
throughout this article and how they can help lead to successful persuasion. These are all
very important rhetorical strategies that I plan on providing evidence for throughout this
modality or article. I plan to show the effectiveness and importance of ethos, pathos, and
karios and how they are arguably the most significant in this article.
As you read over this article or modality, you can notice that the person being
interviewed is now a researcher but also a former inmate. The article itself talks about
the struggles or obstacles that many inmates face after being released from prison. The
person being interviewed, being a formerly incarcerated individual has ethos and firsthand experience or credibility when it comes to talking about these barriers. Since this
person has more credibility compared to others, people who have been in a similar
situation or just got released are more likely to relate or listen to what he has to say.
Persuasion comes into play here as well as people with credibility are more likely to get
their desired outcomes or goals from their audience. The audience of this modality or
article is formerly incarcerated individuals and people who want to help break this
barrier surrounding recently released inmates within the United States.
The intended effect of this article is to get more people to learn this information and
help fight the barriers that recently released individuals face. Housing struggles,
employment struggles, and family troubles are all parts of the strategy being pushed out.
You can see these types of consequences as being the scare or frighten trope. These
consequences scare or tighten a person away from committing any criminal behavior to
begin with. This trope can also frighten someone with the information being told, which
can actually lead to wanting to help. This is where pathos comes into play and the
emotion involved with it. Many people will read about these consequences and feel a
sort of guilt or sadness for the formerly incarcerated individuals. Knowing that they
struggle a lot once released can force them to get involved in the solution. Bringing out
emotion in people can get them more attached to the topic, hence why pathos is
extremely important within the article.
You may have noticed that at the top of this article, it talks about the United States
Justice Department planning to release about 6,000 non-violent drug offenders from
federal prisons. This is where kairos is extremely important within this article. With the
forthcoming release of these inmates, this was the perfect timing or opportunity to go
ahead and interview Darris Young, the former inmate himself. People around the United
States may have also seen the release of these inmates on the news or the internet
perhaps, making them even more likely to stumble upon or read this article. The timing in
this article was about as perfect as it could be when it comes to getting the most people
to read it and helping those inmates who are being released.
The purpose of this article was to spread awareness of the hardships that many of these
released inmates face and it does a great job at that. Ethos, Pathos, and Karios all
support each other in this text. The interviewee has credibility, the emotion felt for the
released inmates, and the timing of the article being written or released. The frightened
trope also supports these rhetorical strategies in this article as people may be frightened
at how recently released inmates are being treated and how this is happening within our
system. The design of this article was very good in spreading awareness. Using first-hand
experience, emotion, timing, and other rhetorical strategies makes this article encompass
most if not all of the above strategies. However, as I previously mentioned, ethos,
pathos, and kairos seem to be the most important rhetorical strategies used in this text.
The one that is quite limited in this article would be logos, this can contradict some of
pathos as it may be seen as more emotional than fact or statistic-based. However, the
information revealed in this article and its effect on its intended audience I would say has
been successful. This topic of collateral consequences for formerly released inmates has
only been growing as time goes on, and it is articles like this being released that are part
of the reason why this topic has grown. Rhetorical strategies are extremely important
when wanting to get a message across, and this article does a great job of including
many of them at the same time.
Example 2
https://www.washingtonian.com/2016/01/13/gallaudet-universitys-brilliant-surprisingarchitecture-for-the-deaf/
This is a photo from the lobby of an education building in Gallaudet University. It may at
first look similar to any lobby that you may encounter, but the architecture is decidedly
different in that it has been designed using a certain type of architecture called Deaf
Space. This design and effect architecture is apparent in this photo and piece of writing.
Gallaudet University is a prestigious university for the deaf in Washington DC., and I
have chosen this photo, along with the article linked below, for my mini essay because I
think it perfectly represents the design rhetoric that we have been studying thus far. I
also studied sign language in high school and I found deaf culture to be interesting and
important to incorporate in our society. One particular piece of the rhetorical strategy
drives this space and it is the modality of this design.
The modalities in this photo are labeled in numbers 1-4 in the above photo. The
architecture of this room has been thoughtfully designed to allow for deaf space to rule
this interior. Number one shows wide open hallways where deaf students can have room
to sign between the levels and walk side by side for conversations. Single file lines donât
work in deafspace. The natural light in number 2 allows for those dependent on visual
communication to be comfortable. Diffused sunlight is the best form of lighting to help
everyone to see signs and talk together. The curved seating in 3 is typical for deaf space.
The horseshoe design allows for easy communication in sign language. Whereas rows
would cut off conversation; this horseshoe design is purposeful to allow everyone to be
able to see and participate and have room to move their hands to speak. Number 4
shows curving walkways to allow for signers to continue their conversations without
sharp turns or having to stop talking to open doors. Signers can focus on conversations
and not pause to see what is coming around the corner. As you can see the modality of
this rhetorical design is at the center of the successful deafspace architecture.
Ethos, pathos, and logos can also be seen within this photo. Ethos takes a backseat in
this design as the traditional authoritarian role of conversation and teaching cuts off
communication in deafspace. Professors and instructors can easily lead a conversation
where everyone has a voice to speak their thoughts and learn. There is more space in
front of the horseshoe that allows a speaker to stand in front of the gathering if there is
a need for this. Pathos would be dominant in this learning environment where
engagement is happening. Speaking with hands such a sign language requires emotion
and pathos. Experiencing a learning environment such as deafspace is meaningful and
emotional for many in the deaf culture that had previously been mainstreamed into
hearing schools with the development of cochlear implants. Finally, those with hearing
loss can be surrounded around others that are deaf and feel comfortable and
appreciated. Logos is also happening in this learning environment in an important way.
The architecture flows together seamlessly to allow the space to be maximized and used
in multi-function ways. Acoustics are studied and mathematically applied to allow for
those with cochlear implants to not have harsh echos for learning and talking.
Calculations are used in deaf space to allow certain spaces for conversations with hands.
Lighting is also important for signers to be able to see and speak. Automatic doors and
their width were also considered to provide for deafspace. Previous tropes for the usual
architectural educational spaces had to be reconsidered for this audience.
Kairos is also seen in the design of Gallaudet university as the building of it has
revitalized a lower socioeconomic class neighborhood in Washington DC. The article
explains how the building of Gallaudet was during a time of a larger architectural
philosophical shift where the architecture is designed around more creativity. The actual
entrance to Gallaudet university takes the entire neighborhood into consideration and
allows the flow of deaf space into the surrounding neighborhood. Taking timing into
consideration, the time was ripe for this expansion and revitalization into the community
of Washington DC. The timing of the building was also during a time of a shift of
thinking about accessibility within buildings. Previous tropes of elevator measurements
and ramps to accommodate wheelchairs are being replaced with more creativity to allow
all humans to function and live and learn together. Compliance based rules are taking a
backseat to more creative architecture to open more possibilities for all.
Example 3
https://neworleansmom.com/perspectives-in-parenting/an-interview-with-a-recovering-addict/
The link above is an interview between the interviewee and someone who is a
recovering addict of alcohol and marijuana and much harder drugs like cocaine and
psychedelics. This article in my opinion depicts all the following topics and terms that we
have covered before. The first thing that we can point out from this article is the
extensive use of ethos, pathos, logos, and even most importantly kairos. It goes in depth
by combining these terms and expressing the overall message of this recovering man’s
story and how he is going about to tell it. I will now describe how these terms are not
only being used within this article, but how the terms are also being used together like
patterns within this article.
The first topics I would like to talk about that are mentioned within this article
repeatedly is the constant use of ethos, pathos, logos and kairos. Ethos and pathos are
being used strongly together within this article because it goes in depth with his
credibility by describing how he was a former addict and using emotion on how he
started at a very young age. The timing in when he started his addiction can go along
with kairos sense of how he started was in his late teens and he needed to also make
more money so he started selling marijuana as well in the streets. Just within the first
two paragraphs alone within this article, it describes all four of Aristotle’s rhetoric in
great length and in detail.
When diving deep within this article, it clearly displays its purpose by persuading the
audience that the misuse of alcohol and marijuana can lead into scenarios that it has led
for this former addict. He persuades the audience that alcohol and marijuana was his
gateway drug and from that it had an effect on him to continue down the path of opioids
and stronger drugs like cocaine. When reflecting on this, it allows us to really think of
what is going on in this man’s life and it persuades the reader into thinking that if you
start in one of these gateway drugs, it may cause a downward spiral into something
more self destructing way and affect their lives in a way that is not positive but negative.
The overall intended effect that the article is trying to relay to its reader is that drugs are
very self harming and can lead us into a downward spiral or a trap that we may never
find a way out of. This article then later describes how he was able to be pulled out of his
overall drug addiction of him being in a courtroom where a judge took it upon himself to
instead of just punish the man for his actions, he wanted to provide an opportunity for
the man by giving him a choice of recovery and making him go through these programs
that will help him along that path. This can also be described as a type of trope of scaring
him by giving him one last chance of if he doesn’t get better by going through this type
of program, then he’s going to be facing real charges next time which will lead him to
having to spend time in jail. When the options were laid out before him by this judge, he
seemed that he had to make one of the most important choices in his life which was to
turn over a new leaf and start a life free from drugs so he can get his life back into order.
This article expressed an important rhetorical situation by describing a man that has
struggled with addiction all his life, and his story of getting out of that struggle by a judge
that took pity upon him. The overall design of the article made it so it seemed more
personal and made it so the assumed audience of others that are struggling with
addiction as well. The article expressed ethos, pathos, logos and kairos by showing how
he struggled with drug use, how it affected him, and how the timing of him being
introduced with drugs played a key role in getting him addicted. The article then went in
depth in persuading the reader in telling us how much he struggled because of his
addiction and how hard it was to overcome that challenge of losing that addiction to
those hard drugs. This alone shows us that this article is a perfect piece of media that
can describe all the topics that we went over in the past few assignments and we can
even show patterns of terms between one another to explain proper rhetorical writing.
Example 4
https://www.gilderlehrman.org/sites/default/files/inline-pdfs/king.dreamspeech.excerpts.pdf
I have decided to use a speech that I believe everyone knows and I find to be especially
rhetorical. I feel that this speech contains most of the above terms throughout the
text. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech is a masterful example of
persuasive rhetoric, skillfully navigating the rhetorical situation to achieve its purpose of
advocating for civil rights. The speech employs a strategic combination of ethos, pathos,
and logos, weaving them together within a carefully designed structure. King effectively
addresses the audience’s emotions, intellect, and sense of justice, creating a powerful
and resonant message that endures as a defining moment in the fight for equality. Martin
Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered during the March on Washington
for Jobs and Freedom in 1963, is a seminal example of persuasive rhetoric. This analysis
will explore how King strategically utilizes various rhetorical elements, including ethos,
pathos, and logos, to create a persuasive impact. The examination will also consider the
rhetorical situation, design choices, the intended effect, the audience, the purpose, and
the incorporation of kairos, modalities, and tropes. The rhetorical situation of King’s
speech is deeply rooted in the historical context of the Civil Rights Movement. The
pervasive racial injustice and the quest for equality formed the backdrop, shaping the
urgency and significance of King’s message. The march itself provided a platform for
King to address a vast audience, including activists, sympathizers, and those yet to be
convinced of the need for change.
The design of King’s speech is deliberate, beginning with a reference to the
Emancipation Proclamation and gradually building towards the iconic “I Have a Dream”
section. This progression creates a climactic effect, emphasizing the vision of racial
harmony and justice. King strategically uses repetition, anaphora, and allusion to
reinforce key points, fostering a sense of unity and purpose among the audience. The
effect is profound, leaving an indelible mark on the collective consciousness and serving
as a catalyst for the Civil Rights Act of 1964. King’s audience comprises a diverse group,
from civil rights activists to those opposed to the movement. His purpose is twofold: to
energize and mobilize his supporters while persuading those skeptical or hostile towards
the cause. By addressing both the African-American community’s aspirations and the
nation’s commitment to its founding ideals, King seeks to bridge divides and unite his
audience under a common vision of justice. King’s overarching strategy is to appeal to
the audience’s ethos, pathos, and logos simultaneously. Ethos is established through his
role as a respected clergyman and a leader in the Civil Rights Movement. Pathos is
evoked through emotionally charged language, vivid imagery, and the dream metaphor,
which resonates on a deeply emotional level. Logos is present in King’s use of historical
references, legal arguments, and statistics to substantiate his claims and reinforce the
intellectual basis of the movement.
King’s ethos is built on his moral authority, evident in his role as a minister and the leader
of nonviolent protest. His pathos is compellingly expressed through poignant metaphors,
such as the “promissory note,” and emotionally charged language that stirs empathy and
conviction. Logos is demonstrated through historical references, legal arguments, and
the delineation of the stark contrast between the reality of racial injustice and the
promise of freedom outlined in foundational documents. The timing of King’s speech is
pivotal, aligning with the heightened attention on civil rights issues during the March on
Washington. The urgency and historical significance of the moment contribute to the
speech’s persuasive impact, seizing the opportune kairos to address the nation on a
grand stage. King’s speech primarily operates in the oral modality, leveraging the power
of spoken language and the rhythmic cadence of his delivery. Tropes such as anaphora
(“I have a dream”), alliteration, and metaphorical language contribute to the speech’s
memorability and emotional resonance.
In conclusion, Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech stands as an enduring
testament to the transformative power of persuasive rhetoric. In navigating the intricate
landscape of the Civil Rights Movement, King employed a strategic blend of ethos,
pathos, and logos, creating a rhetorical masterpiece that transcends its historical context.
The deliberate design of the speech, with its gradual crescendo and evocative
metaphors, achieves a profound effect by not only inspiring immediate action but also
embedding itself in the collective consciousness of generations. The enduring impact of
King’s speech lies not only in its rhetorical brilliance but also in its ability to resonate
across time and cultural boundaries. The persuasive strategies employed by King
continue to serve as a blueprint for activists, leaders, and communicators seeking to
effect positive change. The speech’s success lies not only in its eloquent articulation of a
dream for racial harmony but also in its ability to transcend the particularities of the
moment, addressing the universal yearning for justice and equality.
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