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!! !Rhetoric is the study and practice of
communication to target audiences that
persuades, informs, inspires, or entertains in
order to change or reinforce beliefs, values,
habits and actions.!
!! Along with grammar and logic, rhetoric is one
of the three ancient arts of persuasion.
!! Grammar is the “mechanics” of a language;
logic is the "mechanics" of thought and
analysis; rhetoric is the use of language and
thought to persuade.!
!! Rhetoric is all around us. It is usually used for
the purposes of the common good, but can
often be used to manipulate and control the
beliefs of people.
!! This is why it is so important for us to be able
to critically analyze all forms of rhetoric in
order to understand the true intentions
behind it.
!! There are many strategies that can help us to
deconstruct the various forms of rhetoric we
encounter in our daily lives.
!! The S.M.E.L.L. acronym helps us remember the
five questions we should ask whenever we
encounter a rhetorical message:
1.! What is the sender/receiver relationship? Who are the
images and language meant to attract? Describe the
communicator of the text.
2.! What is the message? Summarize the statements made
in the text.
3.! What is the desired effect of the message?
4.! What logic is operating? How does it affect the
message? Consider the logic of the images, sounds,
and words.
5.! What does the language of the text describe? How
does it affect the meaning and the effectiveness of the
message?
!! When engaging in rhetoric, whether one is the
sender or the receiver, it is important to consider
the three modes of discourse:
1.! Appeals to reason or logic (logos)
2.! Appeals to emotions (pathos)
3.! The credibility of the argument (ethos)
!! The greatest obstacles that a communicator of
rhetoric must overcome are logical fallacies.
!! Logical fallacies are errors in reasoning that
render an argument invalid.
!! A logical fallacy will weaken an argument and
damage the credibility of the communicator.
!! The S.M.E.L.L. strategy of rhetorical analysis
allows us to pick apart rhetorical messages
by considering the 5 key features of any
message:
1.! S – sender/receiver relationship
2.! M – message
3.! E- emotional strategies used
4.! L- logical strategies
5.! L– language
!! Use the S.M.E.L.L. strategy to analyze the
passage “The Sojourner Truth.” This is a
famous argument from the 1800s in the
struggle for equal rights for women.
!! The general consensus at that time was that
women were too weak to contribute to the
manual labour workforce.
!! At a national conference for women’s rights,
in Ohio, in December 1851, a male attendee
made an argument that women were
physically, mentally, and morally inferior to
men.
!! The Sojourner Truth is one woman’s response
to this man.
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