Class 6 - Practising the Art of Rhetoric
Welcome back
In this session, we’re going to explore Martin Luther King’s speech as a real-world example of rhetoric. Then, when we’ve seen an example of rhetoric in action, we’re going to prepare some micro-speeches on a number of topics, and we are going to see if we can put Aristotle into action.
Breakout rooms
We’ll share some thoughts before we move on to the homework. In your breakout rooms, I want you to talk through your reading of MLK’s speech, asking where he uses ethos, where he uses pathos, and where he uses logos.
Experiments in rhetoric
Now we’re going to try some experiments in rhetoric. So we are going to use Aristotle as a road-map for preparing mini-speeches. I’m going to give you five titles.
- Why cats are better than dogs (or vice versa)
- Social media leads to social decay.
- We need to stop thinking about happiness, and start thinking about justice.
- Why boredom is good.
- Rhetoric undermines political discourse.
Now I’m going to give you some time minutes each to work on preparing a 90 second speech. I want you to actively think about ethos (the character of the speaker / how you can make yourself worthy of trust), pathos (the effect on the audience / how you can make your audience feel particular things), and logos (how you can make your arguments strong and convincing).
Mini-speeches
We’re going to do timed mini speeches. So you have 90 seconds. I’ll set a timer and say “go”. As you listen, feel free to add comments in the chat. And also pay critical attention to the use of pathos, ethos and logos — so even if you are not speaking, this will take a lot of concentration.
When the timer rings (or quacks on this occasion), you have to stop talking!
Homework
One part of the arts of persuasion is the use of logos, from which we get our contemporary term “logic.” We’re going to be moving onto informal logic next time. So here is the reading for the session next week. It’s a piece called “What is Logic?” by Matthew Knachel.
https://press.rebus.community/intro-to-phil-logic/chapter/chapter-1/
Read through. Post on the Canvas discussion board with at least one question about something you find difficult, puzzling or hard to understand about the text.