The Rhetorical Triangle, Part 1

I have decided to call a slight halt to episodes regarding Shakespeare's initial exposure to rhetorical devices for several reasons.  I wanted to concentrate on a few of the major rhetorical devices, and I have done so in the past few episodes.  And I certainly will talk about some of the rhetorical devices that were most important to Shakespeare during future episodes.  And no, this is not the last time that I will mention rhetorical devices.

But ultimately, the “number” of rhetorical devices isn’t like the number of planets. It depends on how finely you slice the pie.

How many rhetorical devices are there?

Well,    At least hundreds show up across handbooks.

If you include every named sub-type, variant, and overlapping term across centuries and languages, you’re in the realm of many hundreds to well over a thousand.

That range isn’t because anyone is sloppy—it’s because rhetoric is a naming tradition, not a fixed periodic table.
And there are many reasons there are “so many”: fine divisions and overlapping names. There is no doubt that Shakespeare had to learn hundreds of rhetorical devices, but I do think we've covered the main ones.

Now there are many ways to explain why there are so many:

Transcript

Welcome to celebrate creativity - and this series is Conversations with Shakespeare.  Don't forget the Rhetorical triangle 

I have decided to call a slight halt to episodes regarding Shakespeare's initial exposure to rhetorical devices for several reasons.  I wanted to concentrate on a few of the major rhetorical devices, and I have done so in the past few episodes.  And I certainly will talk about some of the rhetorical devices that were most important to Shakespeare during future episodes.  And no, this is not the last time that I will mention rhetorical devices.

But ultimately, the “number” of rhetorical devices isn’t like the number of planets. It depends on how finely you slice the pie.

How many rhetorical devices are there?

Well,    At least hundreds show up across handbooks.

If you include every named sub-type, variant, and overlapping term across centuries and languages, you’re in the realm of many hundreds to well over a thousand.

That range isn’t because anyone is sloppy—it’s because rhetoric is a naming tradition, not a fixed periodic table.
And there are many reasons there are “so many”: fine divisions and overlapping names. There is no doubt that Shakespeare had to learn hundreds of rhetorical devices, but I do think we've covered the main ones.

Now there are many ways to explain why there are so many:

Families vs. species
Many “devices” are really one big idea with many cousins.
Example: repetition is a family—anaphora, epistrophe, anadiplosis, epizeuxis… These are basically repetition with the spotlight aimed at a different position (start of line, end of line, immediate double, linking, etc.). The longer the list obviously gets      

Tiny differences get their own labels
Rhetoricians love precision. If a pattern shifts where it repeats, how it repeats, or what it repeats, someone will coin a term.
That’s why you get “fine divisions”: the difference might be subtle to a casual listener, but useful to an analyst.

Multiple traditions named the same move differently
Latin, Greek, Renaissance schoolrooms, modern linguistics, composition studies—each tradition can rename, regroup, or reclassify the same phenomenon. So the list grows partly by synonyms and partly by new frameworks.

Devices overlap in real life
In actual speech, a single sentence can be doing three things at once—rhythm + contrast + repetition—so categories blur. Lists multiply because rhetoric doesn’t stay in neat boxes.

In other words, “Rhetorical devices aren’t a short menu—they’re a whole cookbook. And like cooking, you can name techniques broadly—‘roast’—or obsess over the exact variation. And—‘reverse-sear.’ The more finely you divide, the longer the list gets.”

“For now, I’m focusing on recognition, not memorization.”

“You don’t need the Latin label to feel the effect.”

“We’ll work with a handful of big, high-power tools—repetition, contrast, structure, and questioning—and save the Greek and Latin names for later.”

In preparing this podcast episode about rhetoric, I basically knew what I wanted to say but I was having a really hard time wrapping my head around all the the vast amount of information about the subject- some of the information out there is nonsense and just plain wrong. The study of rhetoric can get really abstract, and I wanted to make it useful. Now stay with me on this one, and hopefully this will make a lot more sense.

In a speech given in 1979 to the Baltimore Poe Society on October 7, 1979,  Dr. J. Lasley Dameron, Professor of English, State University of Tennessee in Memphis, Dr. Dameron Points out -

Being a North Carolinian would, it seems, help me to understand my fellow Virginian, Mr. Poe. But fellow Virginian he is not, either in time or place. His education and training were largely classical, and most of his students, including myself, are ill-equipped to catch the nuances of his frequent allusions to classical literature and culture. Bred on late eighteenth-century rhetorical theory, Poe read rhetoricians like Hugh Blair, Lord Kames, Archibald Alison — names unfamiliar to many students of American literature. Though reared a Southerner, Poe was born in Boston and spent most of his mature productive years as a struggling journalist in Northern cities along the Atlantic coast. A brief glance at the facts of his life clearly suggests his dedication to hard work as editor of and contributor to a variety of American magazines. His life was to a large degree dull, hard, and exasperating. Yet art to Poe was sacred. It was not an imitation of life, but primarily a means to achieve a variety of effects, both aesthetic and psychological. He often creates in his reader a sense of another world lying beyond the reader’s conscious and rational experiences. In nearly all of his best narratives, he stimulates the reader’s imagination by probing the feelings and sensations of characters under great stress.

Before he became a teenager, the man who acted at his father, John Allan,  a man who never adopted him - went with Mrs. Allan to England and spent five years just outside of London. The young Edgar Allan Poe spent several years studying at Stoke Newington a private school that is just a few miles from London. So in all likelihood, Edgar Allan Poe had an education that emphasized rhetorical devices - and an education very similar to that of William Shakespeare.

You can think of literary rhetoric as a system of language and creativity to achieve a result. Effective rhetoric is kinda like delicious, exotic dishes - you want to know the ingredients - what makes a thick, juicy steak different from a stale MacDonald’s burger. 

My original intention for this podcast was to jump right into rhetorical devices - using the works of William Shakespeare - but after a great deal of research I came to the conclusion that I better talk about Aristotle’s rhetorical triangle first before talking about what a rhetorical device means - I think looking at Aristotle’s rhetorical triangle makes understanding rhetorical devices much, much easier, and puts them in perspective.  So I am looking at Aristotle’s rhetorical triangle in this and the following episode.  By the way, I have some information about language and communication skills in this episode that could help you in almost ANY situation you encounter - stuff that is really practical - and can even change your life. But more about that later.

As I hope you realize by now - if you were unaware of it before - the study of rhetoric was once an essential part of western education. But skill with rhetoric today is just not held in as high esteem. I know in college, all this rhetoric stuff - especially rhetorical devices - something I will really get into later - was new to me.  There were several really bright students from England in my class, and I assumed they were taught lots about rhetoric - but no, even in England, the principles of a classical education seem to be a thing of the past. 

Today rhetoric is often seen as a synonym for shallow, deceptive language-empty words, empty rhetoric--and therefore as something quite negative.
How many times have you heard someone say, “Oh, he or she is just empty talk - meaningless rhetoric.”  But if we think of rhetoric in more neutral terms, as the "art of persuasion," then we can see it as an essential part of any democratic process, as well as using language to get your personal point, narrative, or idea across.

Even before rhetorical devices there was the rhetorical triangle - a design from Aristotle - and certainly one that Shakespeare would have been familiar with.  During the period after Aristotle’s death, rhetorical study became an increasingly essential part of young men’s education.

So what is the rhetorical triangle?  Well, I thought you’d never ask.  First a little bit of background -

Using rhetorical triangles has helped perfect the art of persuasion for over 2,000 years.  Shakespeare was a master of the language that he used in his plays to express the indecision of a Hamlet, the innocence of a Juliet, the bravery of a Henry V, and the evil actions of an Iago - in 37 plays with hundreds of characters.  Spoken language was greatly respected in  England of 500 years ago - a young male would traditionally impress a young lady through writing a clever love poem, like a young man might today impress a young lady with a fancy car.   And audiences loved the spoken word in performance - not a 10 minute youtube video, 30 minute television program, or 2 hour streamed movie - but spoken plays that lasted all afternoon - even when you were standing outside in the rain in a playhouse without any roof.  And spoken rhetoric, as taught in a classical education - was also held in high esteem during Poe’s life.

But getting back to the rhetorical triangle - it has a three-part structure and is relatively easy to learn.  If you are preparing a speech, essay, written proposal, or presentation for your school or job, it can be a very good idea to use this basic method.

Now rhetoric is basically persuasive language, and there are many aspects of rhetoric that people use to make their communication - especially their words - stand out and have the desired effect.

Writers and speakers can use an triangle to visually map out and organize the flow of ideas within their persuasive argument. A rhetorical triangle consists of both the three points of the triangle and the three sides of the triangle. Let’s break the triangle down and see how it fits together.  And while each element is important, the ones you might want to concentrate on are the three points of the triangle - ethos, pathos, and logos.  Don’t worry if they seem like Greek - no pun intended - to you now.  Hopefully you will have the three terms down within the next few minutes.

You see, the three points of the triangle represent the rhetorical appeals that the Greek philosopher Aristotle considered essential to persuasion and debate.  -  Ethos, pathos, and logos

Getting back to those three appeals and what they represent:

Ethos
To appeal to ethos is to show the credibility of the speaker or writer. Doing this establishes the author as an authority on the subject they are speaking about. It explains why the audience or reader should trust the information and opinions given by that person.  Ethos is not exactly the same as ethical, but it is important to realize that being credible regarding the subject you are discussing is at the root of ethics. In other words, it would be very unethical to try and appeal to an audience when you don’t know
what you are talking about.  Just look at many of your typical vaccine conspiracy theories out there that are clearly unethical because they have no basis in fact, and are even dangerous.

Pathos
Using pathos is to appeal to the emotions of the audience. This angle is probably the most effective and most immediate rhetorical appeal within the triangle. Using it establishes common ground and connection between the audience and the speaker.  Again, using the medical conspiracy theory as an example - pathos appeals to the emotions, fears, and often insecurities of an audience, and not their logical thought.  In other words, pathos DOES appeal to emotions - but in a bad way.

Logos
To appeal to logos is to present the logic and reasoning behind a claim. This portion includes facts and evidence that support the point the author conveys. Objective science based on medical research and knowledge
is forgotten or even demonized when reasoning is ignored.

Now I have a memory aid for those three central parts of a rhetorical triangle - you know, me and my memory aids.  It helps me to think of the rock group ELP or Emerson, Lake, and Palmer from the seventies.  So you have E - ethos, P for Pathos and L for Logos.  By the way, if you are unfamilar with the group Emerson, Lake, and Palmer - check them out.  They are really fantastic.

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Join conversations with Shakespeare for our next episode when we continue a look at Aristotle's rhetorical triangle, and how it can practically help your own personal written communication.

My name is George Bartley and thank you for listening to this podcast