Midterm Exam Essay Assignment
Rhetorical Analysis of a Poem
Read and re-read these instructions carefully!
YOUR PROMPT/TOPIC FOR THE MIDTERM EXAM ESSAY: Write a 500-plus word critical rhetorical analysis of one of the following Romanticist/Romantic-era poems: “Ode: Intimations of Immortality” (by W. Wordsworth) or “Dejection: An Ode” (S. T. Coleridge) . NOTE: Don’t fail this assignment by failing to realize that “Romanticism” has NOTHING to do with “romance,” “love,” and such.
HOW TO STUDY FOR THIS MIDTERM ESSAY: Read carefully THIS ASSIGNMENT SHEET and all related documents on the Blackboard website for this course as well as the SAMPLE RHETORICAL ANALYSIS ESSAYS there.
RUBRIC: THE MOST IMPORTANT CRITERIA FOR GRADING YOUR MIDTERM ESSAY
- DOES IT contain at least 600 words? IF NOT, it’s an F
- DOES IT identify the essay’s/author’s thesis (in only 50 words or less)? IF NOT, it is an “F”
- DOES IT identify and analyze only THREE highly important rhetorical elements used by the author in his/her poem? IF NOT, it’s an F
- DOES IT provide “warrants” in each body paragraph, i.e., does it explain exactly how each of those three rhetorical elements make the thesis persuasive, i.e., how each element reinforces the poem’s/poet’s thesis? IF NOT, the essay deserves no higher than a “C”
- HAVE YOU corrected any grammar/spelling/punctuation or other non-content errors? IF NOT, the essay deserves no higher than a “C”
- Assignment In Detail:
What is a rhetorical analysis? It is a discussion in which you examine how a text works in order to communicate what it means. The focus is not on what that text says but how it says it. What is the text doing to persuade its readers? A successful critical rhetorical analysis shows that you have recognized the various “rhetorical elements” (also known as “writing strategies/devices/
tools/techniques/’tricks’”) that make a text “work” or “be effective.”
Rhetorical analysis can only happen as the result of thorough critical reading. So, you first have to spend a great deal of time interrogating – and re-interrogating — the text you are analyzing. That means: you must always be asking why the author makes the conscious (presentational) choices he or she does. Why choose a certain word or phrase? Why choose that organization or structure? In short: you must constantly be asking how the author achieves certain effects. In other words, what are his or her primary techniques or tools for getting the thesis (the main message) across?
Those tools and techniques are called the rhetorical elements (a.k.a. “writing strategies” or “literary devices”). Below are FIVE of the main categories of rhetorical elements–and the questions to ask when searching for and identifying them. You should apply the elements in these categories in your several re-readings of the text, before you draft a critical rhetorical analysis:
- Rhetorical Modes/Patterns of Development/ Modes of Discourse: Compare/contrast? Narrative? Classification? Description? Exemplification? Etc.
- Figurative Language (also known as figures of speech): Where does the author use metaphor/simile, hyperbole, understatement, personification, irony, anaphora, asyndeton, etc.? (WARNING: primarily when you are doing critical analysis of poetry: are there “figures of sound,” such rhyme, onomatopoeia, alliteration, etc.?
- Diction (also known as word choice): Why does the author choose certain words or phrases? Is the language used more connotative or denotative? More formal or informal? More “archaic/old-fashioned” or more “contemporary / up-to-date”? And so on…
- Form /Structure of Text: Are there features of the text that are organized unusually? Is the thesis not in the first paragraph(s)? Why are some paragraphs longer (or shorter) than others? Is there special “formatting”? Why are some sentences longer (or shorter) than others. And so on… (WARNING: primarily when you are doing critical analysis of poetry: is the syntax/word order normal or unusual?)
- Appeals: emotional, logical, credibility?
You might be asking yourself: so, what are the parts or elements of a text that are NOT considered rhetorical elements? Those would be content elements, such as the text’s
- thesis
- author
- title;
- plot;
- audience;
- etc.
The content elements should be mentioned in the introductory paragraph of your essay. However, they are NOT forms/elements of rhetoric!
SUMMARY OF RHETORICAL ANALYSIS ESSAY:
Craft a thesis/claim that addresses EACH ONE of the TOP THREE rhetorical elements that the author uses. You will need at least three in-depth body paragraphs, one on each element. In other words: what are the main three rhetorical elements that help to persuade not only you but also every other reader of that text’s TOP THREE rhetorical elements?
Then: explain how each rhetorical element makes the poem’s thesis truly persuasive, i.e., how those elements reinforce/stress (i.e., give rhetorical form to) the poem’s thesis (i.e., meaning) for (most of) the poem’s readers.
For good examples of this type of essay, do not forget to refer to the samples Brenner has provided you (e.g., the handouts on the Blackboard website).
- Structuring Your Essay
Your Thesis:
The thesis is one to two sentences that convey the central idea of your whole paper. It may also indicate the order in which you will discuss your analysis (which can be very helpful for your reader).
When considering a thesis specifically for this type of rhetorical critical analysis essay, your thesis = the original author’s thesis + the TOP THREE rhetorical elements you’ve identified that help the author develop his or her thesis.” Those elements will then be the focus of your analysis in this essay.
The thesis should be no more than 50 words and it must appear somewhere in the introductory paragraph in this kind of essay.
Introductory Paragraph:
You probably should not launch immediately into your thesis: “In Nick Gillespie’s ‘Rant,’ the writer is ridiculing English-only bigots. . . ” Only after you introduce the topic (in Gillespie, “immigration”) and its significance (Americans are obsessed with it) should you bring in the thesis. And do not begin an introduction with, “In David Adesnik’s ‘Spider-Man India,’…” That’s boring and flat, revealing little preparation or thinking on your part about the text.
Nonetheless, keep this paragraph and your thesis statement clear and concise (“short and sweet”). You should always briefly describe what the title of the text is, who the author is, what kind/genre of a text it is (e.g., poem, short story, or op-ed), where it first appeared, when it was published, and so forth. But keep it very short!
You should not have many, if any, direct quotations in the introduction (or in the conclusion).
Body Paragraphs:
The body paragraphs are the substance (the “meat”!) of your paper. Most of your time should be invested in them. The key to strong body paragraphs is having 1) strong and focused (i.e., including one point only) individual paragraphs, i.e., paragraph unity, 2) paragraphs that transition smoothly from one to another (and within themselves), i.e., paragraph coherence; and 3) compelling textual evidence that you analyze (and provide a warrant for) within each body paragraph.
Body paragraphs will be the most challenging and the most important piece of your “critical analysis” essay. Each one will focus on a rhetorical element and how the author of the text you chose uses it to support his or her thesis. Analytical body paragraphs should contain the following required parts (so use the following three bullet points as a checklist):
- A topic sentence that identifies the rhetorical element that will be analyzed.
- At least two textual examples of this rhetorical element in use (evidenced by direct quoting or paraphrasing).
- Discussion of how that evidence is really/truly an example of the rhetorical element (i.e., providing the warrant). Put differently: explain how the evidence/example shows that the claim of the topic sentence is true.
BIG WARNING: Typical Problems with Body Paragraphs:
- Students summarize –or worse, paraphrase – the content instead of analyzing the rhetorical. In successful rhetorical analysis, you never reiterate (i.e., “regurgitate”!) the content. Always keep focused, explaining how the single rhetorical element you discuss in a paragraph relates back to the author’s thesis.
- Students do not tell the reader what the evidence indicates/shows/suggests.
- Students lose their focus. The best way to avoid this is to write strong topic sentences, then expand on them and explain how they relate back to YOUR essay’s thesis (= the original text’s thesis PLUS its rhetorical elements). So, keep your paragraphs organized (while making sure they flow into one another).
- Students quote (or paraphrase) too little or too much from the original text. After all, each topic sentence (or “paragraph point”) needs support and evidence. However, don’t spend half a paragraph just quoting someone or something directly. In fact, no more than 20 percent of any essay should ever consist of direct quotations!
- Finally, students get stuck, instead of continuing to ask questions about the text, such as: “Why is the author doing this here?” “Why did he or she make that choice there?” To understand rhetoric behind the thesis, you need to keep digging, questioning, wrestling with the text. In the end, a strong rhetorical analysis shows that you have conducted several critical readings of the text.
Concluding Paragraph:
Conclusions typically go one of two ways: You can use a conclusion as a “wrap-up,” paraphrasing your thesis and the steps you took in the body paragraphs to demonstrate it (the easiest and best way).
Or you can also present the conclusion in a more meaningful way, discussing how your analysis might apply to the real world or open the door to questions we should be asking ourselves more often.
Regardless, the conclusion should inspire a sense of closure in the reader, so that the reader feels he or she has been walked by the hand through a text–in a reader-friendly way!—and now has a deeper rhetorical understanding of it.
- CHECKLIST FOR ASSIGNMENT
- Your complete critical rhetorical analysis essay MUST contain the following parts (though it is not limited to only these):
- A non-boring title
- An introductory paragraph—with a clear, explicit thesis statement
- Three (or more) in-depth body paragraphs analyzing how the author put his or her piece together and analyzing only ONE rhetorical element per paragraph!)
- A concluding paragraph
- Strong grammar and punctuation
- Absolutely no typos or spelling errors
- A compelling, academic voice, meaning that you will:
* eliminate repetitive words and ideas – they weigh down your entire essay!
* improve your diction/word choice where appropriate. For instance, “Kristof writes” is dull and doesn’t really tell the readers anything. “Kristof defensively targets” tells us a lot about him and a lot about your interpretation of his work. Use “signal phrases” (but never “say” or “state”!)
* use your own set of rhetorical devices: play with and vary your descriptions, figurative language, etc.
*avoid informal language: “you know,” “dude,” “pissed,” “I feel,” “a lot,” “okay,” “well,” etc.
*avoid hostile/inflammatory diction as well as any perspective that could create bias in your paper. “Daragahi and Fleishman may know a lot about wars, but they are morons when it comes to rap music” is simply too biased. Compare this improvement: “Daragahi and Fleishman do not approach rap as seasoned music writers. Often, their descriptions are overly . . .”
*find a way to be – or at least sound — genuinely interested in your topic. Disinterest always shows!
- HIGHLY significant things (that many people FORGET when re-editing/revising!):
- Your essay should stay in the third person (avoid using second-person “you” and first-person “I”, “we,” and “our”)
- Your essay should be analytical, not evaluative or judgmental. It isn’t important how you feel/think about an author, a text—and especially about their thesis. Rather, it’s all about how the text works — and why it works that way! Again, remember to focus on the rhetoric, not the content.
- Your essay should refer to an author by his or her whole name when you first introduce him or her. After that, refer only to the last name. Don’t write, “According to Dave . . . ”
- Your essay should be “reader-friendly” toward your audience but remember to maintain a formal, academic style (that is: don’t write it the way you would speak/say it!). So, keep paragraphs, sentences, and words CLEAR AND CONCISE (i.e., SHORT and SWEET)!
- A BRIEF BUT CRUCIALLY IMPORTANT INTRODUCTION TO THE RHETORICAL ELEMENTS AND THE RHETORICAL ANALYSIS OF TEXTS
[The following is quoted from Comp I Study Guide by the Teaching and Learning Initiative, 2012 (pp. 40-47; 24-26; 100-103)]
[ . . .]
The Writer’s Diction or the Value of a Word
You can delve deeper into critical [rhetorical] analysis by examining the specific word choices a writer makes. Diction involves the words, phrases, and descriptive language a writer uses to create meaningful texts. When you analyze the diction of a piece of writing, you can describe the quality of the word choices with adjectives and nouns like formal, informal, elevated, colloquial, or slang. For example, a report in a medical journal on the discovery of a gene linked to diabetes will probably have more formal and scientific diction, whereas a gossip column about an actresses’ latest tattoo or singer’s latest outfit will probably have slang and colloquialisms.
A great example of a contrast in diction, from the elevated to the casual is Alan Shapiro’s poem “Old Joke.” In the poem, the speaker addresses Lord Apollo, the Greek god of music who witnesses human behavior and human suffering and then sings about it to the other gods. The speaker asks,
What was it, though, that overwhelmed them [the gods], that suffused,
astonished, even the endless ether? Was it the freshest,
most wonderful stops of breath, the flawless intervals
and scales whose harmonies were mimicking in sound
the beauty of the gods themselves, or what you joined
to that, what you were singing of, our balked desires,
the miseries we suffer at your indifferent hands,
devastation and bereavement, old age and death?
Farworking, radiant child, what do you know about us?
Here is my father, half blind, and palsied, at the toilet,
he’s shouting at his penis, Piss, you! Piss! Piss!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .; here, too, my mother with her bad knee,
on the eve of surgery, hobbling by the bathroom,
pausing, saying, who are you talking to in there?
and he replies, no one you would know, sweetheart. (7-22)
In this quote, do you find that you recognize more of the words toward the end rather than the beginning? Are there words that you don’t know and need to look up in a dictionary to understand? For example, early in the quote we see the word “ether.” Did you know that it means “sky” or that “bereavement” is another word for “grief?” In contrast, many of you already know the words toward the end of the quote—words like “piss,” “surgery,” “toilet” and “bad.”
This quote provides an excellent example of both elevated and colloquial diction, the elevated being the words that we don’t often hear in everyday speech like “suffused,” and the colloquial being the casual language we use all of the time like “bathroom”. As a critical reader, it is good to recognize this shift, and, to ask why the author includes both types of diction.
If analyzing Shapiro’s choices here, you could note that the speaker uses the more difficult, less familiar language when he is talking about the god Apollo; he uses the casual, everyday speech when he is talking about his father and mother, or the humans. Why do you think this might be the case?
Understanding the diction in a text will also help you better understand the audience that the writer is trying to target as well as its purpose and thesis. For example, the diabetes report, mentioned at the beginning of this section and written in scientific diction, is probably targeted towards the medical community with the purpose of sharing and encouraging further research into diabetes treatment.
You can analyze a writer’s choice of words even further by looking at word connotations and denotations.
Connotation and Denotation
Thin, skinny, bulimic… what’s the difference?
All of these words are adjectives that could be placed in front of a noun, such as
“teenager.” In that context, each word refers to the teen’s weight. However, if
you call Susie Q “thin,” that’s probably complimentary; but if you call her “bulimic,”
you’re referencing her psyche as well as her physique. There are many more
synonyms for thin, such as
- Trim
- Slender
- Slim
- Emaciated
Each of these adjectives has a slightly different meaning and evokes a different
image. To be “slender” entices, while “emaciated” repulses. If you were to rank
these words from the one with the most positive connotation to the most
negative, you’d grow conscious of each word’s “weight” or “value.” So, “slender”
has a positive weight, whereas “emaciated” has a negative weight or value.
When we say someone looks bulimic, we might not know if this is a medical truth.
Rather, we’re implying that the person looks thin beyond the appearance of
health and we’re also suggesting that the person has a self-destructive tendency.
More than likely, these are all assumptions. Since we don’t know for a fact that
the person has the condition known as bulimia, we’re in the linguistic realm of
connotation rather than denotation.
Here’s a simple example. Look up the word “pig” in a dictionary. It’s a
domesticated animal that provides bacon for your BLT sandwich. Most people
aren’t pig experts, but we generally think of pigs as fat, pink, ugly, stupid, and
filthy.
Now, imagine you’re driving home at midnight and suddenly you see a police
car’s lights flashing in your rearview mirror. You pull over, and as a slightly portly
officer steps from his car, you might just think, “Pig.” You’ve suddenly relegated
this hardworking public servant to the barnyard.
Connotation is the definition a
word gains through association.
Of course, culture and time period
seriously affect connotation. The
connotation of a word in one
language often doesn’t translate to
another.
Denotation is the definition you’d
find in a dictionary.
Connotative language can come in many flavors. Let’s suppose you’re an
environmental activist lobbying against the logging industry. If you were being calm,
you might say, “The cutting policies of the logging companies harm the ecosystem.”
For greater dramatic impact, you might say, “The loggers are raping the land.”
Just pause for a moment and think about the verb “rape.” What sort of person, what
gender, rapes another? “Rape” suggests violence, brutality, sexual violation, coercion,
victimization, and excessive use of force. It often causes lasting damage. Society
condemns it.
By using “rape,” you’ve personified the land, giving it a human quality, that it can be
sexually violated. A logger can’t physically rape the land in precisely the same way a
man rapes a woman. So as you can see, connotation and figurative language, here
comparing the earth to a woman, overlap. The word is powerful in itself; and as you
can see, the connotative associations of this word are gargantuan.
Here’s another example. Look at the following sentence. Iraq is another Vietnam.
If someone were to ask you what that means, you’d probably say something like
“We’re in the same mess in Iraq that we got into in Vietnam.” Soldiers are dying and it
seems like we’re stuck in this quagmire. We immediately and unconsciously insert the
word “war,” and this translates into “The Iraq War possesses many of the same negative
qualities as the Vietnam War.” This reading is purely connotative. Because we share a
common history, we can associate the past war with the current war.
If someone time traveled from the 1800s to today, he’d be baffled at the statement,
“Iraq is another Vietnam.” Would anyone in his or her right mind say that Iraq is like
Vietnam, that these two countries resemble one another? Well, if we look at the
sentence through the lens of denotation, that’s exactly what we’re saying.
Through the lens of connotation, however, “Iraq is another Vietnam” makes perfect
sense. Here we witness that connotation, created through our shared language,
culture, and history, can function very efficiently by generating what could be called a
linguistic shortcut. We natives just automatically fill in the blanks.
Barack Obama in his speech “A More Perfect Union,” says the Constitution was “stained
by this nation’s original sin of slavery.” For a moment, consider the penetrating,
ruinous, and perhaps permanent quality of a stain; and then consider what a punch
this simple verb adds to his message. As readers and writers, we must increase our
sensitivity to the nuances of individual words, which, after all, are our building blocks.
Figurative Language
Another way to examine diction is through a writer’s use of figurative language.
Figurative language, sometimes called figures of speech, depicts one thing in terms of
another; that is, it explicitly or implicitly compares things. Although there are several
types of figurative language, the most common types involve a stated or implied
comparison of the thing being described to something else. Simile, metaphor,
personification, and analogy all do this. In The Iliad, when Homer describes Achilles as
being “like a lion,” he is using a simile. When he mentions “the rosy fingers of dawn,”
he is personifying the dawn by giving it human characteristics. In both cases, the
comparisons are clear.
In an article by Rush Limbaugh called, “Condoms, the New Diploma,” Limbaugh makes
an argument that schools have overstepped their bounds by distributing condoms
to students. In his metaphoric title, he compares condoms to high school diplomas.
Instead of helping students obtain diplomas and graduation, Limbaugh argues that
schools are helping students obtain condoms and sex. Some fans of Limbaugh may
applaud his metaphor and be entertained by its humor, while other readers may
feel outraged or appalled. Analyzing a writer’s use of figurative language can help
you better understand the writer, his purpose, and his target audience. Figurative
language can also help you discover the writer’s tone.
Types of Figurative
Language
There are several types of figurative
language; the most common
types involve a stated or implied
comparison of the thing being
described to something else.
- Simile
- Metaphor
- Personification
- Analogy
Tone in Critical Reading or How the Writer Feels
Another element of writing worth examining critically is the tone of the text.
The term “tone” indicates the attitude a writer has about his or her subject and
the feelings he or she evokes about it. For example, a tone could be concerned,
serious, humorous, nostalgic, annoyed, flippant, sarcastic, and so on.
Many of us have difficulty identifying tone in a text, though we often recognize
it in everyday speech. What if one of your parents asks, “Are you really going
out dressed like that?” You would immediately recognize the criticism in
your parent’s voice from the inclusion of the word “really.” But a fundamental
difference exists between hearing everyday speech and reading a written text.
When your parent asks the question, you can hear the emphasis on the word
“really” or “that” in the voice, and you can see your parent’s body language, the
squinting of the eyes as you are looked up and down. These auditory and visual
clues about tone are not always available in a written text, which can make
recognizing tone more difficult.
In the above example, you can recognize your parent’s attitude toward your
choice of clothing as critical or disapproving through the reading of the auditory
and visual clues.
Understanding the writer’s topic, purpose, and intended audience (discussed in
previous sections) will also help us to recognize the tone of the piece, as the tone
exists to uphold these key components.
Let’s examine the following example:
All of this [melting of ice caps and glaciers, changing of ocean and wind currents,
extinction of species], incredibly, could be set in motion in the lifetime of children
already living—unless we act boldly and quickly. Even more incredibly, some of
the leading scientific experts are now telling us that without dramatic changes
we are in grave danger of crossing a point of no return within the next 10 years!
So the message is unmistakable. This crisis means danger!
But in order to move through the danger to seize the opportunity, we have first to
recognize that we are in fact facing a crisis.
(from Al Gore’s “The Moment of Truth” in May 2006 Vanity Fair)
Though we are not standing in front of Al Gore when he says this and we cannot
read those auditory and visual clues as we can when a parent criticizes our
outfit, we can recognize his tone through examining his choices as a writer and
through understanding his purpose and audience. For example, Gore repeats
the word “danger” three times in a short amount of space. In one instance, he
uses the word “grave” to describe the type of danger; in another, he includes an
exclamation mark after the word, and in the last occurrence he italicizes it.
The sentence and paragraph structure can also help us to determine tone. In
the first paragraph cited, we have longer, more complex sentences than we do
in the second paragraph, which consists of two short sentences. This structure
(inserting short sentences and/or short paragraphs amidst longer ones) can
emphasize the sentence “This crisis means danger!” In this quote, Gore excludes
specific, scientific data and instead focuses on the impending crisis. All of these
details can help us to see that the tone is an urgent one, that it is alarming. This
tone, if viewed as effective, helps to serve his purpose of getting his audience to
recognize that global warming is serious and that they must do something to
stop it.
Here’s another example:
A temperature hike of just 3 degrees could melt enough of Greenland’s massive
ice sheet to raise sea levels by 3 feet. A recent study found that Greenland is
losing ice twice as fast as it was just a decade ago, and it already accounts for
about 20 percent of the recent rise in sea level. The most conservative estimates
of expanding oceans predict the displacement of millions of people who live
on islands or along seacoasts. . . . [I]t is now essential that the citizens and
government of the United States rapidly assume a leadership role in developing
comprehensive strategies to prevent the most severe dangers.
(from Tabitha Alterman’s “Global Warming: Now’s the Time to Act” in June/July
2006 Mother Earth News)
Although the topic of Alterman’s article is similar to Gore’s, we can see a dramatic
difference in the attitude Alterman has about the topic through the choices she
makes as a writer. For example, the inclusion of statistics and the exclusion of
alarmist language (notice how differently she uses the word “danger”) can create
a more objective tone, one that serves the purpose of informing the readers so
that they act to fight global warming. Alterman, in this quote, also does not vary
the sentence or paragraph structure nearly as much as Gore alters his, which can
create a more even tone throughout the text.
One final note on tone: A writer might include a humorous tone but with serious undertones, or shift the tone from humorous to forceful and then back again. Tone can be nostalgic and
angry, sympathetic and bitter. It is important for us to notice the complexity of
the writer’s choices.
How Do We Detect Tone in
a Written Text?
We can detect tone by examining
the choices the writer has made,
choices like:
- The specific language the writer
uses (which includes casual
versus elevated and denotations
and connotations, as discussed in
earlier sections);
- The structure of the sentences,
the punctuation, the typeface;
- Details that are included and
excluded; and
- Literary devices like imagery,
simile, metaphor, and repetition.
Rhetorical Modes: The Kinds of Essays
You’ll Be Reading and Writing
You know that one writes with a thesis, a purpose, and target audience in mind.
You know that the writer must include supporting ideas and examples to support
the thesis and explain it clearly. So how does the writer organize these elements?
It’s not random. There are basic forms or strategies that every writer, from
beginner to professional, learns and then uses to organize material. These forms
are called rhetorical modes or patterns of development. Break it down: Rhetorical
means you are using carefully planned language to communicate your ideas
effectively. Modes are methods or forms. Once you know what you want to
say, and what you need to support it, what form will it take when you try and
communicate with your audience? You see this question answered all the time.
Imagine planning to approach a professor to question your grade. Will you plead
for mercy because you’ve been ill? List all your accomplishments and exactly
why they deserve greater credit? Tell a long story about your normal workday,
or compare your work to someone else’s who did better? This is choosing a
rhetorical mode to best convey the information.
Imagine modes as moves in a game in which each action is followed by a
reaction. A text is not limited to one rhetorical mode; however, there often is
one primary mode, a main one that controls most of the text. A narrative essay
might need to define a situation, use description that appeals to the senses, and
discuss cause and effect to explain how the situation started and what happened
afterward because of it.
Successful writers intentionally choose rhetorical modes to meet an audience’s
needs and expectations, and to influence that audience’s reception of their
ideas. Writers who don’t understand and use these modes intentionally will
often damage their own arguments. Readers feel confused, have unanswered
questions, doubt the author’s authority, and remain un-convinced or even
become downright oppositional.
Rhetorical Modes:
Once you know what you want to
say, and what you need to support
it, what form will it take when
you try to communicate with your
audience?
Rhetorical means you are using
carefully planned language to
communicate your ideas effectively.
Modes are methods or forms.
Below we’ll examine the characteristics of some of the most commonly used
rhetorical modes and when they might be used.
Narration: Tell Them a Story
Probably the oldest pattern of arranging thought is narration, or story-telling.
While eating mammoth steaks, Og recounts to his tribe how he hunted down and
killed the creature. Narration is the telling of events that are logically connected.
When you see a movie or read a book, the first question is usually, “What happens
next? And then what?”
Epic poems, narrative essays, short stories, novels, biographies, and
autobiographies are all literary forms that are primarily narrative. Their main
purpose is to tell a story, either true, fictional, or a combination. But many
other kinds of writing also use narration. For instance, an account of a personal
experience could be inserted into a persuasive paper to demonstrate a point. An
essay about a complicated political issue could start and end with a story about
how one particular person has been affected by that issue. People like stories,
especially true ones, and telling one is an excellent way to keep an audience’s
interest.
Description: Show Them Something
To describe means to communicate how something looks, feels, sounds,
smells, or tastes or what its qualities are. Description can be mostly objective or
subjective. Objective description usually is precise and factual; for example, “That
cloud is grayish-yellow and has a cone-shaped protrusion extending toward the
ground.” Subjective description usually contains judgment or emotional reaction;
for example, “That angry black cloud hangs over me, the tornado sprouting from
it making terrifying noises like a freight train.”
Words of emotional reaction and judgment are used when we say something is
beautiful, ugly, inspiring, horrifying, or delightful. A hurricane is just wind; the
feeling that it is angry is an emotional reaction, while the feeling that it is good
or bad is a judgment. In most writing, a writer tries to find a balance between
these two extremes and provide accurate observations while also implying some
reaction to them or judgment about them. To do this, a writer makes use of a
particular viewpoint, specific sensory details, and connotative and figurative
language. Successful description allows readers to share and experience what the
writer is showing them. The readers see it and feel it for themselves, and then feel
as if they are discovering it themselves instead of being told what to feel.
Comparison & Contrast: Tell Them How Things Are Different and the Same
In rhetoric, comparison means pointing out the similarities between things,
whereas contrast means pointing out differences. Comparing and contrasting
are natural thought processes. People compare and contrast cars, computers,
homes, friends, clothes, restaurants–the list can go on and on. Sometimes we
focus on the differences, sometimes on the similarities, or sometimes we use
something familiar to talk about something unfamiliar but possesses similar
qualities.
A paper comparing and contrasting two similar computers or motorcycles might
show why one is a better choice for most buyers. However, comparison and
contrast are more often used as a part of a paper because, like examples, they are
an excellent method for clarifying or explaining. This mode satisfies the reader’s
need to understand relationships between parts of the whole.
One common technique for comparing and contrasting is called juxtaposition.
This means putting things together in a way that makes their relationship
meaningful. The effect is in putting them together. If we saw them separately, we
might not notice or think about it. Characters in stories often take on different
appearance through juxtaposition: a woman who is five-foot-four might not look
small until she walks with a man who is seven feet tall. One platinum-blonde man
is less striking than two of them together. Juxtapositions work best when readers
can get the point without much explanation.
Cause and Effect: Show Them What Causes Things To Happen
This mode examines causes and results. As humans we always think about cause and effect:
Did she leave me because I said she was too skinny, or because Fred has more money?
If I dance in a circle, will that make it rain?
Every time I punch that rock, it hurts. Maybe I should stop punching the rock.
A cause-and-effect essay might look at why something happened, what effect it had
or might have, or what might happen if something is done or not done. The writer
may base the arguments on facts and evidence, on logic, supposition, or hope and
fear. The difference between the words “will,” and “might,” is very important in this
mode.
Cause-and-effect analysis helps readers see the relationship between events,
especially those that might appear separate, and encourages readers to explore
new connections and create new knowledge. Since one event follows another, ideas
become clear and can easily guide the reader to the conclusion you desire.
Definition: Tell Them What It Means
In English, we have common definitions of “foot,” “chair,” or “meat.” If we didn’t, we
would have no idea what anyone else was saying. We have dictionaries to help us
when we encounter an unfamiliar word. A dictionary supplies us with the denotation
of a word, and sometimes also explains the connotation— the various associations
attached to a word.
However, words change meaning over time; the meanings of many words differ
from region to region and from person to person (Do you drink soda or pop? Does
barbecue have sauce?); and most importantly, abstract words such as “freedom,.”
“happiness,.” and “moral.” can mean very different things to different people. Many
essays and political speeches are mainly attempts to define abstract terms.
A writer uses the mode of definition when it becomes important to explain clearly
what he or she means by a certain term or when there’s a word or phrase that readers
might not be familiar with. In fact, how one defines a word might be the whole point
being argued.
Division & Classification: Show Them How Things Go Together
Division and classification are natural thought processes that help us to understand
the world. We can divide society according to race, according to nationality or
religion, or according to economic status or musical taste. We can classify foods by
whether they are meat, or whether they are fruit. The process of dividing up a whole
into parts or categories according to some particular trait or principle is division. We
then use the same trait or principle, such as income or skin color, to classify. That is,
we place each trait or principle in the category we think it belongs. This principle is
our criterion (the singular form of the plural criteria).
For example: A hamburger can be divided into its parts – meat, vegetables, bread,
sauces – or classified as fast food according to the criteria of what is in it and how it is
cooked.
This mode allows a writer to work from a part to the whole or from the whole to a
part, and to make clear what kinds of categories and criteria he or she is using.
Exemplification: Give Them A Good Example
One of the most valuable tools any writer or speaker has for clarifying ideas to an
audience is the use of examples. Why do charities requesting money describe or
show a picture of a starving animal or a sick child? The specific example is much more
powerful and clear than the abstract idea of suffering. The specific, not the general,
makes us sympathetic and interested.
Examples can be factual (Bernie McDougal was standing on the street when a
Hummer ran him over) or hypothetical (Imagine you are standing on the street
and someone runs over you). It is very important to consider whether an example
you are reading, or using yourself, actually shows what intend it to show. Your job
as a writer is to make sure the reader understands and believes the example.
Process Analysis: Tell Them How It Happens
A process analysis explains how something works or how to do something,
and shows the steps that must be performed or that regularly occur in a specific
sequence. Sometimes a process analysis is written to enable people to do
something themselves, such as install a light bulb or perform brain surgery. A
process can also explain a procedure or process that can be observed, such as
fetal development, physical decay, or what happens after a bullet is fired.
Process Analysis vs. Narration: While process analysis is similar in many ways
to narration, narrative essays are concerned mainly with a story itself, while
a process analysis is concerned with the audience’s understanding of how
something happens or is done. For example, a narrative paper about receiving a
rifle for a Christmas present might focus on the excitement you felt. This is very
different from a process analysis essay, which might explain the steps in correctly
cleaning and firing the gun. A process analysis is almost always presented in the
chronological order of the steps.
[ . . . ]
The Appropriate Tone
As stated earlier, the term “tone” indicates the attitude a writer has about his
subject and the feelings he evokes about it. In the section on critical reading, we
discussed how to recognize tone in a writer’s work and how the tone supports
the writer’s intentions regarding purpose and audience. Now you are the writer.
Now you are the one figuring out the purpose and audience of your text. Now
you get to decide what tone is appropriate to support these key elements and
how best to achieve that tone. As in the texts we have analyzed, the tone of your
writing can be objective, concerned, serious, humorous, nostalgic, sarcastic,
or it can be a combination of various tones. Is it a little scary to have all of
these choices and goals at your disposal? Sure. But it is also wonderful. Now
you have the opportunity to experiment with language and to decide how to
communicate your ideas.
You have at your disposal all of the tools that a published writer does, where you
can choose the specific language to use (elevated versus casual; connotations
and denotations); how to structure your sentences and paragraphs; how to use
punctuation; what details to include and exclude; and what literary devices like
imagery, simile/metaphor, and repetition to incorporate. All of these convey the
appropriate tone for your writing.
Many of your assignments may call for a more formal, objective tone with
elevated language, but not all assignments require this. Once again the
appropriate tone comes down to your purpose.
Let’s look at a few student examples that can help illustrate language and tone
for us. These examples are from student anthology projects, where students
create a collection of songs, poems, and stories and then write about why they
collected the texts and what the purpose of their project is.
At left is our first example. Here the student uses casual language that we
recognize in everyday speech (“keeping the ole temper in check”), uses a
humorous tone (which we see in her use of parenthesis), uses the first person “I”
(often perceived as a no-no in academic writing), and uses sentence structure to
convey attitude (the long sentence that lists the responsibilities of adults helps
us to see her point that they are a burden, as the sentence itself becomes one).
All of these choices made by the student reinforce her point that adults need a
break and need some nonsense in their lives. The casual, humorous tone makes
sense for this topic and for the student’s feelings toward it. A formal, objective
tone with elevated language that requires a dictionary to understand would not
be a break from the burdens of our lives; it would become another task, another
job. This student needs the light tone, the humor, the “whimsy” to help serve the
purpose of her project and the essay.
At right is another example from a student anthology. Here the student uses
a tone that differs from the previous example. In this quote, the student
incorporates more elevated language (though not necessarily requiring a
dictionary) to create a more formal, objective, serious tone. For example,
compare the sentence “This is why I have chosen to create an anthology of
nonsense poems . . .” in the former example to the sentence “My primary purpose
for designing this anthology is to discuss the importance of rhythm and meter
. . . ” in the latter. We can hear the more formal, objective tone that is created
through the use of words like “purpose” rather than “this is why” and through
the connotations of the words “design” and “create.” In this second example, the
student’s purpose for the project was to educate undergraduate students about
rhythm and meter in poetry. A more formal, academic tone helps to serve that
particular purpose. If the student instead incorporated the humor and “whimsy”
of the first example, the tone would register as inappropriate, given that the
speaker is taking on the role of an educator who wants us to take the lesson
seriously.
Revising for Tone:
In our rough drafts, we are often sloppy in regard to tone, especially if we write
the paper in pieces. Your attitude toward your subject may shift as you write the
essay, perhaps because your own feelings are changing as you work through
your ideas, perhaps because it is the eighth page, and you have spent the last
fourteen hours at your computer without taking a break, and you now hate
everything about your writing and your assignment. That is perfectly fine in a
rough draft.
For a final draft, however, we need to make sure that we do not have confusing
shifts in tone and that our writing accurately represents our attitudes toward
the subject. The second student example actually contains a confusing shift in
tone. As previously discussed, the student develops a more formal, academic
tone in the opening sentences, but she then shifts abruptly when she writes, “I
understand how daunting it can be to have to read through multiple pages of
large-volume literary texts that employ dozens of technical words (that possibly
lack clarification!).” The parenthetical statement and the exclamation mark create
a tone (humorous or exasperated) that differs from the material that precedes
and follows. A reader might now wonder about the writer’s attitude toward her
subject. To strengthen the writing, the student should have read over her drafts
and revised her writing so that the confusing shifts do not occur.
Keep in mind, however, that this does not mean that your writing should include
only one tone. It may be appropriate to have a tone that is complex, one that
includes both humor and seriousness, for example, but you do not want those
shifts to be jarring or confusing for your reader, like the abrupt change in the
student example at right.
Figurative Language
As you draft [an] essay, you may consider ways to “spice it up.” Figurative
language can add interest and drama to your writing. In order to be effective,
figurative language must be appropriate and fresh. A metaphor or simile can
add a great deal to your paper, but if it isn’t appropriate or original, it can do just
the opposite. Consider, for instance, this simile: “My girlfriend’s beautiful white
skin was like the belly of a fish.” Needless to say, this image didn’t create quite the
impression the writer wanted to give! Even though a fish’s belly may be the same
color as her skin, the reader couldn’t help but picture the poor girl as looking like
a fish—hardly a compliment. To decide whether your image is appropriate, ask
yourself: Does this image create the kind of impression I want to give?
The more unusual and original an image, the more likely a reader is to notice and
respond to it. Notice, for instance, the powerful, negative impressions we get
from these examples [. . .] by Raymond Chandler in the novel, The Big Sleep.
“The [orchids] filled the place, a forest of them, with nasty meaty leaves and
stalks like the newly washed fingers of dead men.”
“The old man licked his lips watching me, over and over again, drawing one
lip slowly across the other with a funereal absorption, like an undertaker drywashing
his hands.”
Although many comparisons like similes and metaphors are expressly stated,
they may also be implied. In “Grant and Lee,” historian Bruce Catton implies rather
than states his simile when he writes, “Lee might have ridden down from the
old age of chivalry, lance in hand, silken banner fluttering over his head.” This
description paints a far more vivid picture than saying “Lee was like a knight”
would do.
You can also use a simile to make only a specific aspect of something clearer or
more interesting. In “Summer Rituals,” Ray Bradbury writes, “The rocking chairs
sounded like crickets….” The chairs themselves aren’t like crickets, but the
sound they made remind Bradbury of the sound crickets make. Writing about
being the only Caucasian in a Japanese bathhouse, Charlotte Gray says, “…I was
as inconspicuous as a yellow Labrador in a cluster of Siamese cats.” Obviously,
although the image is humorous and fits the tone of her essay, Gray is not saying
she looks like a dog and the other women looked like cats; she is only pointing
out how she stood out because of her physical appearance.
Avoiding Clichés [Or: Really Bad Figures of Speech—to be avoided!]
On the opposite extreme of figurative language are clichés. We are so used to
these that they no longer make an impression; in fact, they are so common we
use them without even being aware of them. In some cases, they have been
used for so many years that we are not aware of the context [or meaning] of the
original comparison.
Here are examples of clichés you might have heard. You can see that most of
them have a metaphoric basis.
- Old hat
- The bottom line
- Blind as a bat
- Pale as a ghost
- Butterflies in my stomach
- A knot in my throat.
- Shit happens
- Puppy dog eyes
- Quick as lightning
- Back in a flash
- Give 110 %
- Quiet as a mouse
- Pitch black
- My life flashed before my eyes
- Eyes are the windows of the soul
- Love is blind
- Over the hill
For instance, a writer could write, “He’s over the hill.” That could mean that the
writer’s neighbor lives over the hill, but we would take it to mean that he’s old,
beyond his prime, on his way down and inching toward death. People used
to “be over the hill” when they reached 30 (that accounted for all of the black
balloons sold for thirtieth birthdays); now that many live to be 100, what is the
age of the “new” hill, or what keeps the black balloon makers in business?
Consider another cliché: “Think outside the box.” This cliché suggests that the
thinker or speaker is original. She’s not trapped within the cramped confines of
a four-walled box out of which she can’t see. She has a vision, an altogether new
perspective. It’s a wonderful idea, but it is the epitome of a LACK of originality to
use such a cliché. In fact, the speaker is so limited, that she can’t even think up
her own fresh image.
You might ask yourself about the origin of “the bottom line.” First of all, what
does it mean to you? When you’ve answered that question, you might ask, the
bottom line of what? Well, a balance sheet, of course. It’s a financial term. When
you deduct all of your expenses from all of your income, you hopefully come
up with a profit, but it might be a loss. Whether it’s a profit or a loss, that’s the
bottom line.
And that’s the problem with clichés. They’re someone else’s language, someone
else’s imagery, and many of them come from someone else’s time frame. For
instance, you might have heard the phrase “toe the line.” That means, keep
in step with others and don’t “do your own thing.” Most of us probably have
imagined this to be “tow the line,” as in we all work together to haul in that big
rock that’s blocking the entrance to the palace. But it actually comes from the
language of a foot race. Think of the Olympics. The racer’s toe can’t cross the line
before the race begins, or he’ll be disqualified.
So a phrase that was once original and fresh gets used so often that it becomes
tired and boring. We skim over it and don’t really even think about its origin or
what makes it interesting. In effect, we swallow the line whole without savoring
every imagistic bite. It might as well be just blurry smudges on a page for all the
fresh clarity it provides.
Using clichés is like using Hamburger Helper: the food is prefabricated and has
a slightly salty, hydrolyzed, predigested flavor. They might fill the page, or your
tummy, but with little satisfaction, nourishment, or insight. Like Hamburger
Helper, a cliché is a group of words you can just reach up and take off the shelf.
When we use clichés, we’re just rolling over on our backs and revealing our soft
underbelly of laziness.
If you’d like to find your own voice, to develop a sound and tone and rhythm
distinctly your own, then you’ll definitely opt to avoid clichés like the plague
(oops, squishy underbelly).
This section is littered with clichés; we jumped from the refinements of gourmet
cooking to great black boils. Now that’s appetizing. Yet it’s one of the problems
that arises from prepackaging. We stop thinking and add lots of pectin and
stabilizers because we’re lured into thinking those strings of words sound so
good next to one another, whether they make sense or not.
So when, if you find yourself snoozing into a cliché, WAKE UP. Scratch it out,
delete, and go searching for language and images that only you can create.
Connotative Words
Just as you must be careful to use figurative language that is appropriate to the
impression you want to create and to avoid using clichés, the specific words you
use can either reinforce or destroy what you are trying to do. As you write your
essay, consider the weight of your words. The connotations or associations of
words create emotional reactions in readers. You might like to be described as
“strong-minded,” but being called “stubborn” or “bull-headed” is not so flattering,
even though both denote the same trait.
For this reason, it’s important to be very careful when using a thesaurus. Don’t
assume all the words listed together have the same connotation. For example,
when writing about a well-known person you admire, you might say that he or
she is famous. However, you would undercut the positive impression you want to
create if you said the person is notorious, which means famous, but for criminal
or immoral reasons. If you were writing an argumentative paper in support of
the legalization of marijuana, using the words, “weed” or “pot” might sound too
informal and reduce your credibility, whereas the word “cannabis” might sound
more appropriate in an academic essay.
[ . . . ]
[The Three Rhetorical APPEALS—perhaps the most important aspect of rhetorical analysis]
If the purpose of persuasion is to influence beliefs and behavior, how can we
go about doing that? The Greeks classified three forms of appeal, i.e., ways to
“appeal” to the audience: emotional (“pathos” in Greek), logical (“logos” in Greek),
and ethical (“ethos” in Greek). Ideally, all these appeals are used in an essay, and
they work together to reinforce one another. In reality, most persuasion essays
emphasize one of the appeals more than the others. In deciding which appeals
to emphasize, you need to consider the requirements of your writing assignment
(You may be asked to emphasize logic.), your topic, and your audience.
The Ethical Appeal: “Ethos”
You might guess that an ethical appeal is one that calls on the reader’s ethics.
Somewhat surprisingly, that wouldn’t be correct. Rather, in an ethical appeal, the
writer presents himself or herself as a person having good sense, good
intentional and a reliable character. The writer wants to be considered reasonable and
credible—that is, believable and trustworthy. No matter how sound your logic is,
if your readers don’t trust you, you are unlikely to persuade them to agree with
you.
The Emotional Appeal: “Pathos”
If you look at advertisements in magazines or watch commercials on television,
you know that many of them appeal to people’s emotions rather than to logic.
On Saturday mornings kids are encouraged to own some wonderful new toy so
that they will be popular with the other kids. The most striking ads are the ones
that ask for money for a good cause. We are shown hurricane victims or starving
children, and, because we feel sorry for them, we are much more likely to send a
contribution. Good writers aren’t always so obvious in appealing to their reader’s
emotions, but they know that it can be a powerful tool.
The emotional appeal should be used to enhance the other appeals, not prevent
your reader from thinking clearly. The writer who tries to overwhelm readers
with emotion or blind them to weaknesses in logic or lack of evidence is likely to
destroy his or her own credibility.
As a writer, how can you use the emotional appeal?
- Use vivid, detailed descriptions and carefully selected narratives to create an
emotional reaction from the reader.
- Use words with strong connotations.
For example, in “The Barrio,” Robert Ramirez creates a positive feeling
about the homes in the barrio by describing them as “color-splashed” and
“brightly colored” and contrasts them to Anglo houses that are “narcotizing”
in “revolting rows.” Ramirez’s word choice clearly indicates his feelings and
tries to influence the reader to feel the same way.
- Give examples that appeal to the emotions you want your reader to feel
about various aspects of your topic.
Michael Levin argues in “The Case for Torture” that torture is justified in some
situations. He gives several emotionally-charged examples in which only
torture of a terrorist might save innocent people. In one example, he says,
“Suppose a terrorist group kidnapped a newborn baby from a hospital. I
asked four mothers if they would approve of torturing kidnappers if that
were necessary to get their own newborns back.” Not surprisingly, the
mothers said “yes,” and the readers’ sympathy for them and outrage at such
an act make them more likely to agree with Levin.
- Use figurative language and allusions so the reader will transfer his
emotional associations from the reference or comparison to whatever you
are discussing.
The Logical Appeal: “Logos”
A logical appeal, called argument, is based on reasoning. Logic follows two
patterns of thought: inductive and deductive.
Induction
Induction reasons from a set of instances, a series of observations and eventually
draws a conclusion. We use this thought pattern often in our daily lives. The first
time we meet Marie, she is laughing and cheerful. The second time we see her,
she is the same way. Over time, we see her often and she appears happy every
time. So, we come to the conclusion that Marie is a happy, upbeat person. Our
conclusion is based on a number of observations.
Induction moves from specific instances to a general conclusion. In a persuasive
paper, that conclusion would be your thesis. When you use induction to structure
an essay, you need to present the evidence you used and explain why these
instances seem representative and sufficient to lead to your conclusion. How
many observations, examples, or pieces of evidence do we need before we
can come to a reasonable conclusion? There is no set number, and this is one
possible weakness with inductive reasoning. What convinces one person may not
convince someone else. Further, there is always the possibility that the examples
don’t give an accurate or a complete picture. In the scenario described above,
perhaps the only time we see Marie is on weekends when she doesn’t have to go
to work. During the week she may hate her job and be miserable.
Your Conclusions Cannot Exceed Your Evidence
Inductive reasoning is based on experience and empirical evidence, and your
conclusions must be limited by the evidence you have. Instead of concluding
that Marie is always happy—which might be true but we have little evidence for
it—we could more safely conclude that Marie is happy on weekends. Even then,
we have to admit that there may be exceptions.
Conclusions of an inductive argument can never be certain. No matter how strong
the evidence, we will simply never has access to all the possible circumstances,
experiences and observations. In inductive reasoning, we can never be sure that
we have all the important facts, and so our inferences will only be probable, not
certain.
Use Evidence That Is Representative
A good inductive argument generalizes from typical, common experiences, not
the exceptional or bizarre. Therefore, any inferences, conclusions, or predictions
based on this type of argument must also be typical and realistic. Never make
claims that go beyond the boundaries of the evidence given. For example, say
you wanted evidence about the quality of instruction in English classes at HCC,
and you decide to ask twenty-five students about their experiences in Comp
- If all twenty-five students were in the same class, your survey wouldn’t be
representative. To get a more accurate picture, you would have to ask a random
sample of students in a number of different classes.
Deduction
Deduction is reasoning that allows you to come to a conclusion from given
statements. Unlike induction, which begins with specific data and moves toward
a generalization about it, deduction moves from a general statement to a
specific conclusion. Deduction reasons from a set of premises—a series of true
statements—and quickly draws a conclusion. To be convincing, that conclusion
must be both valid and true. A conclusion is valid if the reasoning sequence
has been done properly, and it is true only if the premises it is based on are true.
This sounds complex, but it is like saying that you only get sugar cookies if you
make them the correct way and if you use the right ingredients. When you use
deduction to structure an essay, you need to explain and provide support for all of
the premises—showing what is meant and how the ideas are true.
The set of premises used for deductive reasoning is called a syllogism; each
syllogism is composed of a major and a minor premise and a conclusion.
Major Premise: Stimulants keep people awake.
Minor Premise: Coffee is a stimulant.
Conclusion: Therefore, coffee keeps people awake.
This syllogism logically concludes that coffee keeps people awake, because coffee
is a stimulant and because stimulants keep people awake. In a paper, you would
support these premises through definitions of stimulants and through available
data about the effects and properties of coffee and other stimulants.
The Structure of the Syllogism
Understanding the structure of a syllogism will help you construct valid
arguments. One way to understand a syllogism is as a simple formula.
The Syllogism Formula
If A = B (major premise), and C = A (minor premise), then C = B (conclusion).
A = B
MAJOR PREMISE Anything that is easy to understand can be mastered.
C = A
MINOR PREMISE Syllogisms are easy to understand.
C = B
CONCLUSION Therefore, syllogisms can be mastered.
Chains of Syllogisms
Several syllogisms may be arranged to form a chain of syllogisms; the conclusion
of one syllogism becomes the major premise of the following syllogism. As
the chain moves the idea forward, the writer reaches more and more specific
conclusions, relevant for more and more focused reasons.
Notice the following example of a chain:
All animals will die eventually.
All pets are animals.
Therefore, all pets will die eventually.
All pets will die eventually.
My dog Spot is a pet.
Therefore, my dog Spot will die eventually
My dog Spot will die eventually.
I love my dog spot
Therefore, what I love will die eventually.
Note that this chain would be expressed in ordinary language by something like:
“I know that my dog Spot, whom I love, will die eventually since this is the fate of
all animals.”
Fallacies
Fallacies are flaws in logic, and they usually lead to conclusions that are
inaccurate or insupportable. For instance, a writer might say that everyone in the
world enjoys watching television. This is most likely inaccurate since people in
non-technological cultures don’t have televisions and some people don’t like TV.
Even if the statement might be true, how could the writer possibly support this
sweeping generalization? Obviously, he couldn’t.
It’s easy to make such statements when we aren’t thinking, but in a persuasive
essay they can undercut the strength of the logical appeal.
[…]
