It’s All Just a Bunch of Rhetoric

We tend to hear the term rhetoric a lot, especially in the mainstream media and politics where it’s commonly used as a way to villainize the language used by oppositional individuals or groups. Rhetoric, though, is not inherently bad; it can be used to bring about progress and positive change as easily as it can be used to usher in destruction and everything in between.

Okay, but what is rhetoric? Put simply, rhetoric is the “art of persuasion.” It’s a way to examine how someone uses language, visuals, and other modes to convince someone else to think a certain way or perform an action. While rhetoric is used in various contexts, it certainly isn’t hollow or empty; in fact, the term rhetoric implies that the words and other modes of communication used are done so with the clear intent of having an idea on a topic resonate with a specific individual or group.

A (Very) Brief History of Rhetoric

Understandings of rhetoric in much of North America and Europe can trace its roots to Aristotle. Aristotle lived in ancient Athens, the birthplace of democracy as we know it. Statesmen would gather to discuss problems facing the state and propose methods to address those problems. After listening to various solutions or approaches, those in attendance would vote on the idea they thought would be the best. Often, a simple majority would determine what action they would take. With so many representatives offering solutions, each would need to carefully craft their speech in a way that would most likely convince the others to vote for their idea.

Aristotle sought to better understand how the statesmen were able to convince one another of their ideas. He named the process of persuading others rhetoric. With this term, anyone could take a text –like a speech, an advertisement, or a social media post– and more precisely pinpoint how the text was able to persuade others.

The Rhetorical Situation

Rhetoric is more than just the words included in a speech or in a text. When determining how a text persuades others, we need to consider the entirety of the rhetorical situation. The rhetorical situation encompasses several factors that contribute to how someone constructs a persuasive message.

Purpose

What does the speaker want the audience to agree with them on? Purpose lives at the core of a message –it’s what the speaker (defined below) wants their audience to think, believe, do, etc. In fact, it’s why the message exists in the first place: the speaker needs their audience to accept a certain idea or perform a specific action to achieve something they want.

Audience

Who is the speaker trying to convince? Audience includes anyone who is willing to listen, consider, and can potentially act upon the message being presented. An audience can range from one individual who you know well (like your roommate, partner, or boss) or countless unknown individuals (like the tens of thousands of users who like a post on TikTok).

Speaker

Who is the person delivering the message? The speaker can range from a specific person, like a friend trying to convince you that their sports team will win the upcoming game, or to a larger entity, like a company aiming to persuade you as a consumer to purchase their product over their competitor’s product.

Context

What is going on in the world that may affect the way a speaker presents their message to their audience? Context can include everything from where the message is being delivered, when the message is being delivered, general feelings toward the message based on historical or current events, etc.

The Three Appeals

To help better understand exactly how a text functions rhetorically –or in a way to persuade others– Aristotle developed the rhetorical appeals: Logos, the appeal to logic; Pathos, the appeal to emotion; and Ethos, the appeal to trustworthiness and credibility.

• Logos is the appeal to logic. This is commonly seen in a speaker’s ability to support their message with existing facts and data.
• Pathos is the appeal to emotion, or evoking an emotional response from the audience as it relates to the purpose of the message.
• Ethos is the appeal to the trustworthiness or credibility of the speaker.

Examples

Everyday Life

• You (the speaker) are trying to persuade your friends (the audience) to go to Taco Bell instead of Del Taco for a quick lunch (the context).
• A club representative (the speaker) convinces new Utah Tech students (the audience) to join their organization during Club Rush (the context).
• A car salesperson (the speaker) is trying to persuade an expecting couple (the audience) to purchase a larger vehicle than they initially intended (the context).

In Advertising

• Privacy on iPhone (Apple)
• Football is for Food (Uber Eats)
• Miss Dior (Dior)

In Media and Politics

• Disagree Better (National Governors Association)
• One Vote (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Congressional Campaign Ad)
• Greg Abbott: Hard Work. Perseverance. Family. (Greg Abbott, Texas Gubernatorial Campaign Ad)

More on Rhetoric (Resources)

• How We Use Rhetoric in Everyday Life by Madeline Mulford (reading)
• How to Use Rhetoric to Get What You Want by Camille A. Langston (video)