When doing a rhetorical analysis, there are man beneficial elements one can gain. Before doing a rhetorical analysis, one must first understand that rhetoric is the study of potential misunderstanding and the ability to persuade. When you are in the midst of a conflict, you can figure out what the conflict is really about, what the various arguments are, and how those arguments are put together. In addition, should you decide to jump into the conflict, rhetorical analysis can help you present your arguments more effectively, and even more ethically.
Rhetoric stresses the essence of disagreements. Disagreements result from lots of things, such as that we have different experiences, different perspectives, and different areas of expertise. None of us knows everything, so we can learn from one another. Thus, good disagreement leads to better public decisions. A rhetorical analysis can focus on the author of a text, its audience, textual strategies, immediate context, and larger context. The place and time that it occurs is called kairos. When focusing on the author or ethos (character), we can get a sense of who they are and what they are trying to convey. Many times when speakers give a speech, they employ certain tactics within their rhetoric that reflect their intentions and personality. After focusing on the author, it is important to look at the text itself (logos, logical appeal). This is the reason behind a rhetoricians arguement and appeals to its audience. Lastly, and probably more importantly, the audience needs to be focused on. When presenting an an appeal, you need to know who you are appealing to. By analyzing a speech or campaign in this manner, one can better understand the arguement posed and what and who the author is trying to persuade. Within my sorority, we have elections for positions and when running for a position, each candidate must give a speech. Two people ran for the position of social chair and each proposed different ideas for events that we do for this semester. When one proposed we have a bake sale in order to raise money for our philanthropy, she gave an argument for why this idea would be effective. By holding a bake sale, we can all do something together as sisters, we can raise money for a good cause, and we can enjoy the delicious treats. Her method of persuasion was quite precise in that she had the right target audience and focused on a cause that we all want to raise money for. Overall, dissecting the pieces of persuasion and rhetoric gives us a better insight on the main focus of a speech or campaign and we can utilize these tactics in the future when proposing our own arguments.
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I assume that the person from your sorority got the position. When an individual uses rhetoric and persuasion in order to see the outcome wanted, some would say that is manipulation. I disagree. When a person uses their knowledge and abilities to achieve a goal, I call that smart.
Why would a person not use the tools they have in order to achieve a goal? When using rhetoric and persuasion, it is a big undertaking and takes a lot of practice for most people. I am using what I am learning in this class to better understand the arguments I hear every day in life and in United Council and ASM. I am finding myself analyzing everything I hear when a person is posing an argument. My decisions are based on the person’s ability to approach the argument from all angles and give me logos, pathos, ethos, and I assess the kairos of the situation also.
Even in my own speeches and arguments, I assess myself to make sure I am conveying those four things also. I am also analyzing the audience to find out what they like hearing about and reading them for clues on how I can make them see things and vote the way I want. Manipulation? No, that’s called persuasion. I assess my audience and frame my arguments in ways that the audience will easily identify. I look at demographics a lot when forming my arguments. I won’t go to the Board of Regents and complain about housing food; no I go to the Board of Regents to talk about Chapter 17 and 18 and system policy.
The art of persuasion is all about rhetorical analysis. In order to appeal to a certain demographic, one must first understand that demographic. One must know what that demographic values and how your argument affects it. Only then can persuasion be accomplished based on the observations and assumptions made. Basically, one person can get anything they want in the world as long as they use rhetorical analysis and persuasion. Rhetorical analysis is a very powerful tool and with a good understanding of it, one person can be unstoppable.
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