Rhetoric

 

Rhetoric

                Everyday we run into all types of persuasion: advertisements, articles, commercials, etc. We can determine the exigency, what is wanted to be accomplished with the persuasion, by looking at the rhetoric devices used.

·         Rhetoric: using language persuasively

There are three types of rhetoric: ethos, logos, and pathos. Ethos refers to the character using ethics, morals, and right from wrong to persuade. Logos, however, uses logic to persuade. This would include facts, logical reasoning, and evidence. Then there is pathos which appeals to the emotions of the audience. This works the best because it can be related personally to the viewer and has a more influential effect on them.

                Along with rhetoric, Steve Martin and Robert Cialdini explain in their video “Secrets from the Science of Persuasion,” the six shortcuts of persuasion. These six include:

• Reciprocity:
• Scarcity
• Authority
• Consistency
• Liking
• Consensus

In Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, there are many examples of rhetoric. The main characters, Burnham and Holmes show us many examples. One, for instance, takes place on page 26 when Burnham uses logos to convince his family that the house he wanted was the best choice. His logical reasoning made the family think that this was the best choice for him. Holmes uses pathos when comforting Mrs. Holton after the death of her husband. The widow was calmed by Holmes attention to emotion when  “he touched her arm. He could ease her burden, he said” (37). Although he is a murderer, Mrs. Holton is persuaded by his strategies. The Devil in the White City is full of rhetoric and can be easily identified with the knowledge of ethos, logos, and pathos. For more help, you can check out Martin and Cialdini’s video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFdCzN7RYbw .

Cialdini, Robert and Steve Martin. “Science of Persuasion.” Youtube. 26 November 2012. 10 January 2014. Web.

Larson, Erik. The Devil in the White City. New York: Random House, Inc., 2003. Print.

STYLE

               Everyone always says that everyone is unique in their own way, but how? How do we develop a sense of individuality? It’s our personal style. The past couple days, we have explored style and how it makes us who we are. It had me thinking about who I am and how I appear to others through my clothes, looks, and personality—some of which I get from my parents, and some from outside influences.

                We develop our own sense of style from an early age. I remember when I was in the fifth grade, I was made fun of for being bigger than all of my friends. At the age of ten I was worried about what I looked like, what I ate, and how others viewed me. I would pick out my outfits in the morning with one thing in mind; what does everyone else want me to wear? It wasn’t until my sophomore year in high school that I started dressing for me. Now it’s my senior year and I wear whatever I want. Of course I still care about what others think of me, but how could I not?

                I receive a lot of my style from my family—my mom and sister to be specific. I have the same personality as my mom; sarcastic with friends and family, but sweet and respectful to others. It drives me crazy when people don’t hold the door open for others, or say “thank you”. I find myself acting more and more like her every day.  These are my inherited traits; the ones that I do not have control over. It is a dramatic factor to my style. However, I also have developed traits to my style. I choose the way I look by my hair, clothing, make-up, etc. I try to stand out but not to an extreme because that makes me uncomfortable; I don’t dye my hair crazy colors, wear outrageous and gaudy clothing, and I don’t walk around backwards with a bird on my shoulder. I’m not seven-feet-tall, extremely overweight, or have size twelve shoes. However, I have blonde hair, blue eyes, five-foot-six, and am pretty “normal” in society’s eyes.

                The influences that impacted my style started when I was young—around 3 or 4—when I started playing with Barbie dolls. I would beg my mom for the newest and prettiest doll and I would create lives for them; lives that I wanted to have. I was brain-washed into thinking that I needed to be Barbie, skinny with long hair and perfect features. As a senior in high school, these images are still in my head.  As Dave Berry describes in his feature “The Ugly Truth About Beauty,” a real-life Barbie would be seven-feet-tall, 81 pounds—almost impossible and extremely unhealthy. A real-life Barbie doll would be a freak, yet adolescent girls strive to be like the plastic toy. TV, movies, and magazines filled with celebrities and models give us more encouragement to skip a meal or go for an extra-long run. Friends and family can also influence us greatly. A Christmas party at my grandma’s forces me to be more conservative in what I choose to wear; however, a concert in Lawrence would change my idea of an outfit. When my friends and I get ready to go out, do we dress for us? Do we dress to look better than the other girls? Or do we dress for the guys? In my opinion it’s for the boys, but according to Berry, men don’t notice a lot of the efforts put in by women, so what’s the point? We should dress however we want; but if what we want is the attention of the opposite sex, then I guess we are.

                My style is influenced more by others than myself. I have traits that I cannot control that directly change people’s perspective on me, but more than those I have the ability to change everything about my style, but I choose to stay on the safer side and go with the trends and flow of everything around me, because THAT is my style.

 

Works Cited

Barry, Dave. “The Ugly Truth About Beauty.” The Contemporary Reader. 8th ed. Ed. Gary Goshgarian. New York: Pearson Longman, 2005. 75-77.

Hurtes, Sandra. “Weighing In.” The Contemporary Reader. 8th ed. Ed. Gary Goshgarian. New York: Pearson Longman, 2005. 58-59.