Aim: How can an analysis of Aristotle’s techniques of Rhetoric reveal continued relevance in today’s world?
Do now:
The do now for today’s lesson was to think about a time where I’ve persuaded someone to do something I wanted. I, for one, could not think about a particular scenario where I have successfully persuaded someone to do something. In fact, the only things I can think about were times where I have FAILED to persuade someone to do something. Since this is around Christmas time, I’ve been trying to convince my parents to buy me certain things that I don’t exactly need. I have not been successful in my quest and I think the only way to sell it to them is to tell them that the item will help me on my academic journey.
As I heard the responses from my classmates, I realized that I was really overthinking everything. For example, one of my classmates said that they persuaded their parents to make them food, and the way he did it was that he told them that if they cook, they’ll all get to eat, therefore, it is mutually beneficial. I thought, “I’ve done something like that too. Why didn’t I think of that?” Following that, Nathan told us another tale about his sister, this time about how she persuaded her parents to get her a violin. Our class discussion was a very good introduction to the topic of today’s lesson.
Rhetoric- the art of persuasion.
The history of the art of persuasion, ethos, pathos and logos stemmed from Greece.
The goal of persuasion is to change other’s points of view or to convince others to take action.
Philosophers: Aristotle.
The word philosopher translated from Greek literally means “one who loves wisdom.”
Aristotle was a famous Greek philosopher who studied the art of persuasion. He was taught by another Greek philosopher named Plato. He was also Alexander the Great’s tutor.
**The picture depicts Aristotle.
Art of Persuasion: Ethos:
In around 300 B.C.E, Aristotle wrote a book called The Art of Rhetoric. In it, he introduced the 3 main methods of persuasion, ethos, pathos and logos.
The goal is to persuade the audience that your ideas are valid, or more valid than someone else’s.
Today, we specifically focused on ethos.
Ethos: appeal to ethics
A speaker must establish moral credibility in the beginning of his speech. The speaker must show that they are an expert in the subject they are speaking on.
Ethos is effective because when we know that a person knows what they are talking about and do not intend to do us any harm, we are more likely to listen to them.
Examples of Ethos in Everyday Life:
We trust our doctors and listen to them even if we don’t necessarily understand the medical terms that they use.
We trust and learn from our teachers because they’re teachers, so they must know what they’re talking about.
In an example that we reviewed in class, we see Nancy Mairs establishing credibility by showing honesty.
We also often see ethos in advertisements.
Companies take advantage of ethos and often use celebrities (people who are viewed with high regard by the public) to promote their products.
In an example that we watched in class, we see two famous athletes starring in a commercial for an airline. These athletes were not only good at their respective sports but they were also known as good people.
[Lionel Messi and Kobe Bryant in a commercial for the Turkish Airlines]
Reflection
When the words “ethos,” “pathos,” and “logos,” were first mentioned in class, my mind immediately thought that those words sounded familiar. I remember watching a video some time ago on YouTube on how Cher Horowitz from Clueless argues. The video mentions the three methods of persuasion and how Cher uses each of them throughout the movie. I loved the movie so much that I considered doing debate when I started high school (I didn’t end up doing this.) Today, I learned about one method of persuasion, ethos, or the character of a speaker. I learned that one should show credibility and moral character at the beginning of a speech to appeal to the audience because this will make the audience keener to listen to me. We learned this because, not only will it help us when we write argumentative essays, but it will also help and assist us in planning speeches, debate, and other forms of communication where persuasion is needed in the near future. I see myself using what we learned when I run for president. I think appealing to the general public by promoting myself as a good person putting the people’s interest at heart will definitely elevate the chances of me winning the election. In a less extreme and more possible example, ethos can be used when we are writing an argumentative essay, when we are participating in a debate tournament and when we are trying to pitch a product.
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