Rhetorical Triangle, Part 2

Welcome to celebrate creativity - and this series is Conversations with Shakespeare.  Rhetorical triangle - part two

In the previous podcast we talked about the three central parts of a rhetorical triangle - think of the rock group ELP or Emerson Lake and Palmer from the 70s and you have E for ethos P and L for logos. Hope you've got that down

Now the three aspects of rhetoric shown on the sides of the triangle are: -and stay with me

Purpose
Purpose is the author's reason for the argument or statement. It is used to connect ethos and pathos. The author or speaker's purpose typically reflects personal or societal circumstances. Three common persuasive purposes are to assert, effect change or negotiate.  Again, using the vaccine conspiracy theory as a model - the purpose - always unstated - is to divide and cause unrest.

Tone
Tone is the overall attitude and approach the author has in conveying their argument. It connects ethos to logos. Word choice is the main vehicle for establishing tone. Some common examples of tone in persuasive writing include complimentary, nostalgic or ironic.  Saying a law is wrong and saying that same law is inequitable might mean the same thing  - but the words wrong and inequitable are generally used with different audiences that you want to reach.

Style
Style is the method that the author or speaker uses to convey their message to the audience. It connects logos and pathos. Style usually describes the order of ideas.  When we get into rhetorical devices, you will see how those devices can determine the style of the words used to persuade. An author's choice in delivery method — whether that be a written essay, a speech or a fictional story — is also a part of style.

Transcript

Welcome to celebrate creativity - and this series is Conversations with Shakespeare.  Rhetorical triangle - part two

In the previous podcast we talked about the three central parts of a rhetorical triangle - think of the rock group ELP or Emerson Lake and Palmer from the 70s and you have E for ethos P and L for logos. Hope you've got that down

Now the three aspects of rhetoric shown on the sides of the triangle are: -and stay with me

Purpose
Purpose is the author's reason for the argument or statement. It is used to connect ethos and pathos. The author or speaker's purpose typically reflects personal or societal circumstances. Three common persuasive purposes are to assert, effect change or negotiate.  Again, using the vaccine conspiracy theory as a model - the purpose - always unstated - is to divide and cause unrest.

Tone
Tone is the overall attitude and approach the author has in conveying their argument. It connects ethos to logos. Word choice is the main vehicle for establishing tone. Some common examples of tone in persuasive writing include complimentary, nostalgic or ironic.  Saying a law is wrong and saying that same law is inequitable might mean the same thing  - but the words wrong and inequitable are generally used with different audiences that you want to reach.

Style
Style is the method that the author or speaker uses to convey their message to the audience. It connects logos and pathos. Style usually describes the order of ideas.  When we get into rhetorical devices, you will see how those devices can determine the style of the words used to persuade. An author's choice in delivery method — whether that be a written essay, a speech or a fictional story — is also a part of style.

Now you might ask - who really benefits from using this rhetorical triangle.

Well, anyone who seeks to persuade others using oral or written language can benefit from using the rhetorical triangle. If you are writing an essay or preparing for a debate, you can’t go wrong using the rhetorical triangle to get your point across.  And many professionals, politicians, writers, and even entertainers can benefit from using this technique, including students,  lawyers, proposal writers,, lobbyists, marketing professionals, fundraisers, and consultants - in other words, almost anyone.

Here are 10 steps for using the rhetorical triangle to write a persuasive essay or speech:  And since the use of examples can make a series of ideas clearer, I am going to use the example of writing a script for the first podcast episode that I ever did - like - the script for Celebrate Poe.  And this was five years ago.   Hopefully I've gotten a little bit better!

Anyway, some people can do adequate podcasts by just talking off the top of their heads - expressing their opinions almost effortlessly.  But that is an extremely difficult skill that can take years to develop.  Personally, I need to
write a script to express my ideas - and sometimes even that doesn’t quite do it.  I always listen to my podcasts before I upload them to correct mistakes, but sometimes things slip by.

I will never forget that during one of my first podcast episdoes I read The Raven and pointed out it was written in 1962 - I listened to that episode after I uploaded it, and wondered “Where did THAT come from?” 

By the way the Raven was written in 1849 - the fact that I was definitely aware of!

Now I like to think that your delivery gets better - and it has in some ways - but a few years later episodes, I was talking in a podcast script about notable people who had studied in England, and mentioned Cory Booker is a Senator from New Jersey.  Then I mentioned Pete Buttigeg - not as Secretary of Transportation - but as SENATOR of Transportation.  Again, how did THAT get through?

But anyway, I am going to use the discipline of writing a podcast script using Aristotle’s rhetorical triangle.

1. Research your topic
First I have to find credible resources to study and interpret. And a podcast is very research intensive - separating the true stories from the myths that may have arisen about the writer.  And not surprisingly, the most reliable resources regarding someone like William Shakespeare seem to be Shakespeare scholars who do not have an axe to grind.

2. Develop an opinion
Your opinion is the claim you intend to make regarding a topic. This partially serves as the purpose for your essay or speech. To be successful in persuading an audience, I must first decide on the message to convey - sometimes obvious, sometimes subtle. I do try to be relaxed - it doesn’t always work the way I want it - but sometimes I have to stop and clarify to myself what approach I want to talk about - and why!

3. Decide on your method
The method is the vehicle a person uses to convey their message and opinion.  I guess you could say that the vehicle I use is a researched script and the accompanying software that makes it possible to disseminate the message of the story.

4. Identify your audience
The audience is the person or group of people to who you want to present your message. If I knew you personally, then this might be easier, so I just speak to that imaginary person out there who is probably interested in learning more about Shakespeare and his works.

When I first started Celebrate Poe - now celebrate creativity, I assumed - always dangerous - that the vast majority of my listeners would only be from the United States - but after a year, my stats show that Celebrate Poe has downloads in 104 countries - including Nepal, Mongolia, Serbia, and countries I had never heard of.

5. Find the emotional appeal
The emotional appeal is the pathos of my argument. I try to identify why a person or group of people might care about the subject - at first, Edgar Allan Poe, and now William Shakespeare

6. Evaluate the ethics of your argument
A person's ethics are their governing morals. After writing a script, I always need to review the work to see that the points are accurate and ethical as well as hopefully persuasive.

7. Decide what rhetorical appeal to start with
Remember that the rhetorical appeals within the rhetorical triangle are ethos, pathos and logos. The model can be delivered in any order that a writer or speaker chooses. So when I started this podcast, I thought it best to start briefly with my personal credibility.  Of course, relating the historical facts surrounding Poe’s or Shakespeare's life requires logical facts. 
8. Connect to your audience
With a rhetorical triangle, a writer uses tone and style to connect and engage with their audience. For example, sometimes I might be comedic and lighthearted, uplifting and optimistic, ironic or serious and sometimes very somber.

9. Write your first draft
It is a truism that writing your ideas down in a draft helps to clarify your message and locate areas in need of improvement.  I originally thought that this look at rhetoric would require just one - maybe two - episodes.  But after doing basic first draft, I realized that it was one of those things you just couldn't plan on
.
10. Revise and finalize
Revision is a stage in editing where the writer makes adjustments and improvements. It is always a good idea to review your draft to ensure that it successfully establishes your authority on a subject and appeals to the logic and emotion of your audience.  And then after I review and hopefully improve my work, then - and only then - is it time to edit the final draft.
Sometimes I find myself editing the final draft right up until the time I press the record button.

I will start writing an episode and then keep going back and asking myself “how can i say this better”   And sometimes - not anywhere as much as I would like - what I write is exactly what I want to say.

Now getting back to ethos, logos, and pathos - the Career Guide that I am using has some excellent examples of those points on Aristotle’s rhetorical triangle -

See, the idea is that you long as you appeal to ethos, logos and pathos, a persuasive argument can be written in almost any order you think is best. Let me illustrate this with three examples -

Example 1: Using a rhetorical triangle leading with ethos
Here is an example of a persuasive argument that leads with the credibility of the speaker:

"As a top-ranked cardiologist and heart surgeon, I recommend that all adults get adequate nightly sleep and engage in a light exercise routine as a baseline for heart health. On average, adults need between six and eight hours of sleep per night and 150 minutes of light or moderate exercise per week. This is about 35 minutes every other day. Call up a friend or loved one to take a brisk walk in a park. Making a habit of it can help both of you improve your overall heart health."

Example 2: Using a rhetorical triangle leading with pathos
Here is an example of a persuasive argument that opens by appealing to the emotions of the reader:

"Imagine the smiles on the faces of your children if you were to surprise them by bringing home a dog. They would be filled with excitement as they giggle and rub the scruff behind his ears — and while they try to decide what to name him, it's doubtful anyone would ask for his pedigree or paperwork. We brought our dog Max home from a shelter six years ago, so I know firsthand how important animal adoption is. There are approximately 6.5 million dogs and cats in need of adoption across the country. Consider opening up your home to one of them today.”

That makes me almost want to talk about my rescue dog - a beautiful Labrador Retriever - and how he - in my totally unbiased opinion - was the best dog in the world.  But I will go on to Example 3 - Using a rhetorical triangle leading with logos.

This is an example of a persuasive argument that opens with information that appeals to the audience's sense of logic and reasoning:

"Did you know that most major health insurance companies offer discounts or reimbursements for gym memberships? They are called wellness reimbursements. I have been going to the gym three times a week for the last two years, and I haven't paid a dime. Joining the gym helped me to get fit and feel good, and it even helped me find some health-conscious workout buddies. Call your insurance provider and see what type of wellness reimbursements you have and let someone else pay for you to get fit.”

If all this makes writing seem like a lot of work - well, it IS - it is very hard to effectively communicate and persuade someone to agree with your opinion in a spur-of-the moment tweet.  Communication takes effort - on the part of he communicator, as well as the listerner or reader.  I once had a Shakespeare professor who was fond of saying “Writing is a vail of tears” - and - at the risk of sounding repitious - good writing CAN be hard work.

Now one important part of rhetoric that doesn’t really fit on the rhetorical triangle is another OS word - Kairos.  KAIROS  The word kairos is an ancient Greek word meaning “opportunity,” “season,” or “fitting time.” A Greek word for “ sequential time” was chronos.

William Shakespeare scroll to the top of document scroll to top of documentcertainly studied Aristotle in grammar school - or at least Aristotle’s ideas - and was also familar with the principles of rhetoric. You can see that he had a deep knowledge of rhetorical devices from his use of language in his works. 

In summary, think of the rhetorical triangle as the toolbox of language - and rhetorical devices as excellent tools to accomplish the job of communication.  You wouldn’t want to use all the tools in one communication - that would be overload - you just want to creatively use the right linguistic tools for the job.

In any aspect of a democracy, we should not force people to agree with us by threatening, or appealing to their prejudices and hatreds.  That is just a way of drifting towards an autocratic form of government where people are not allowed to make decisions for themselves.  Instead, we should give citizens reasons based on facts - not random statements, emotional outbursts, or conspiracy theories. 

And that is what the best rhetoric is about - the finding of good and honest reasons for people to understand ethical and moral ideals that speak to - as Abraham Lincoln said - the better angels of our nature.  When used as a tool to appeal to the basest natures in people, rhetoric - the art of persuasion - can be a technique can lead to persecution and suffering, as well as appeal to the worst elements of its listeners - witness Nazi Germany.

When used properly, solid and honest rhetoric is the best and most convincing way to truthfully communicate with the public. That is why good rhetoric is a fundamental part of political and ethical life in any country or society that considers freedom and the welfare of its citizens more important than autocratic power.

Well I think I've done all the talking in this and the previous episode, I intend to have some conversations with master Shakespeare in the upcoming episodes - dealing with his life in Stratford, the presence of the plague in that town, and several episodes about the facts surrounding his son Hamnett.

Sources for this and the previous   episode include - and this is a long one -

The Rhetorical Triangle: Ethos, Pathos and Logos from the Career Guide website, Shakespeare’s Use of the Arts of Language by Sister Marian Joseph, Edgar Allan Poe, Rhetoric and Style by Brett Zimmerman, A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms by Richard A. Lanham, Trivium: The Classical Liberal Arts of Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric by John Michell, The Art Of Rhetoric Made Easy by John Holmes, Rhetoric: A Historical Introduction by Wendy Olmstead, A Companion to Rhetoric and Rhetorical Criticism by Wendy Olmsted and Walter Jost, Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography by Arthur Hobson Quinn, The Reason for the Darkness of the Night by John Tresch, and Poe and Place by Phillip Edward Phillips,

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

Join Conversations with Shakespeare for our next episode where I talk with the ghost of Mr. Shakespeare about a typical day at grammar school in Stratford upon Avon.