The Rhetoric of Changing Times: First Inaugural Address of Franklin D. Roosevelt

This post is part of the series The Rhetoric of Changing Times, a collection in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its global consequences. In this series, we'll look at poignant historical speeches and documents and examine questions and topics for discussion/writing. Feel free to share your thinking in the comments or assign these questions … Continue reading The Rhetoric of Changing Times: First Inaugural Address of Franklin D. Roosevelt

Five Sentence Structures Every Student Should Adapt From Martin Luther King, Jr.

Imitation exercises are one of my favorite ways to teach students sophisticated writing. In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s powerful rhetoric, I pulled five incredible quotes from his speeches and writings and created sentence frames that students could use with their own content. If you'd like this in handout form, I included this … Continue reading Five Sentence Structures Every Student Should Adapt From Martin Luther King, Jr.

Essential Tools for Teaching Rhetoric: Logos

What are the essential tools for teaching rhetoric and rhetorical analysis? This blog series will explore one tool each week. Logos Logos: it's "the principle of reason and judgment," according to the Oxford English Dictionary. Our current understanding of logos in rhetoric is actually linked with Jungian psychology (the same Jungian psychology that gives us … Continue reading Essential Tools for Teaching Rhetoric: Logos

Essential Tools for Teaching Rhetoric: Ethos

What are the essential tools for teaching rhetoric and rhetorical analysis? This blog series will explore one tool each week. Ethos As we established in last week's post about rhetorical appeals, ethos isĀ an appeal to personality or character. Aristotle conceptualized ethos as morality, expertise, and knowledge. A speaker's ethos might rely on virtue and goodness, … Continue reading Essential Tools for Teaching Rhetoric: Ethos

Essential Tools for Teaching Rhetoric: The Appeals

What are the essential tools for teaching rhetoric and rhetorical analysis? This blog series will explore one tool each week. Aristotle's Appeals Perhaps the best-known part of Aristotelian rhetoric is the appeal. Aristotle presents three appeals, also known as the Aristotelian triad: ethos, pathos, and logos. All three appeals can be found in most arguments. … Continue reading Essential Tools for Teaching Rhetoric: The Appeals

Essential Tools for Teaching Rhetoric: Definitions

What are the essential tools for teaching rhetoric and rhetorical analysis? This blog series will explore one tool each week. Definitions of Rhetoric What, exactly, is rhetoric? Let's survey the conversation around how to define this concept. Aristotle is the father of rhetoric and rhetorical analysis. His classic writing, The Art of Rhetoric, is foundational … Continue reading Essential Tools for Teaching Rhetoric: Definitions