1 / 34

The History of Rhetoric

The History of Rhetoric. Kristen K. Tiscione June 2014. Rhetoric is the art of “discovering in the particular case what are the available means of persuasion.” — Aristotle, Rhetoric (c. 333 BCE). Logic. Rhetoric. the invention and arrangement of ideas that lead to t ruth

shalom
Download Presentation

The History of Rhetoric

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The History of Rhetoric Kristen K. Tiscione June 2014

  2. Rhetoric is the art of “discovering in the particular case what are the available means of persuasion.” —Aristotle, Rhetoric (c. 333 BCE)

  3. Logic Rhetoric the invention and arrangement of ideas that lead to truth (the philosopher) the invention, arrangement, and expression of ideas that lead to probable truth (the politician, lawyer)

  4. The Trivium Grammar Logic Rhetoric The art of inventing The art of The art of and combining symbols thinking communication to communicate

  5. Ramism beauty style Logic – invention arrangement Rhetoric – invention arrangement expression

  6. Rhetoric disappears as a school subject • Writing (English) • Literature – (how to read) • Composition (how to write) • Speaking (Speech) • Rhetorical criticism (how to evaluate speech) • Speech (how to speak)

  7. Impact on legal education Doctrinal – invention Courses arrangement true principles of law (theory) scientific case method Legal– expression Writing Courses + invention arrangement (practice)

  8. Invention in Legal Writing • the holding of a case • synthesized legal rules • analogies

  9. No “true” law Q: What is negligence? A: It depends . . . on the jurisdiction, the case law, the lawyer who interprets it, and the judge who applies it.

  10. What does this all mean for us? • Ramus was wrong: theory and practice are inseparable – • Ideas and knowledge cannot exist in society outside their expression • Aristotle was wrong: all knowledge is probable and a product of the rhetorical process • Rhetoric uses logic and grammar to produce knowledge

  11. Law is the product of rhetoric Administrators Legislators Regulators LAW Constituencies Judges Advocates Parties Scholars 1nvention arrangement + expression

  12. Teaching law as rhetoric If law is a function of rhetoric, rhetorical theory helps us understand the lawmaking process how to persuade and participate in the process how to teach the process, and how to teach it better

  13. Using Rhetorical Theory and Method to Study Legal Communication KIRSTEN k. Davis June 2014

  14. Rhetoric: Kirsten’s Definition • The ability to • use or • understand how others use • symbols to • reason from shared assumptions, • increase identification between “speaker” and “audience,” and • inspire an audience to take action or change attitudes. • More definitions: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/rhetoricdefinitions.htm

  15. Rhetorical Theory and Method • Rhetorical Theory: A body of thought about human symbol use. • Rhetorical Method: Using rhetorical theory to ask questions about “how communication constructs a specific understanding of the world.”

  16. Seeks to explain: • Agency of speakers • Roles of symbols in the human world • Power of audience to co-construct reality • Humanistic, not scientific: • Not looking for objective truth—reality is not a distinct object to be “discovered” • Looking to understanding the meaning humans assign—reality is a product of humans interactively creating knowledge in context. Applying rhetorical theory is humanistic inquiry. Or Is It?

  17. Symbol (of Law) [Legal] Context and Constraints Speaker Audience A speaker uses symbols of the law to persuade an audience to take action. The action of the audience is constrained. All of this takes place in a context. Inducing Action Responding to Need Need Rhetorical theory is a lens for looking at legal communication as a rhetorical situation.

  18. Two Main Areas for Using Rhetorical Theory and Method to Analyze Legal Communication Production (Instructive) Reception (Instructive, Critical) Construct messages more consciously. Write better. Speak better. Teach better. Receive messages more consciously. As a lawyer: read/listen better. As a scholar/ “special citizen”: critically assess legal messages.

  19. Why Rhetorical Theory for Legal Communication? • Improve • teaching and develop expertise. • production and reception of legal communication. • understanding of how legal language works by standing “outside” the law to make better sense of law as language. • Examine • ethics of legal communication as well as effectiveness. • Create • The legal community we want by theorizing the practice of law.

  20. Applying Rhetorical Theory: The Researcher’s Choices What will be the focus of study? The speaker, audience, patterns, strategies? What is the perspective (method) the scholar will take? What is the judgment the scholar wishes to make (descriptive, interpretive, evaluative)? What kind of insight will be gained from the study?

  21. Rhetorical Theory Is Applied Through Methodological Perspectives Neoaristotelian Metaphor Narrative Fantasy Theme Dramatistic Genre Ideographic Ideological Generative Feminist Sociological Social Movement

  22. Dramatism: Cluster Analysis Generally Method Action is motivated. Language is symbolic action. Symbol choices reveal motivation. Looking for how symbols “hang together” “What goes with what” • Key symbols • Frequency • Intensity • Associational Clusters • Proximity • Cause/effect • Connectedness • Opposing terms

  23. Dramatism: Pentadic Analysis The idea The Pentad Symbolic structures have five interacting elements. Meaning changes depending on the relationship between those elements. Pentad allows systematic exam of the “strategic moments” in symbol use.

  24. Pentadic Ratios Scene Determines Act Act Defines Agent At a little after the restaurant’s closing time, Ms. Jones found herself alone in an unlit alley. That was when Mr. Smith rushed toward Ms. Jones from an area obscured by empty liquor crates. While walking home after a late dinner at a local restaurant, Mr. Smith saw Ms. Jones, a tenant in his apartment building, and he attempted to escort her home.

  25. Metaphor Analysis Generally Metaphor Parts http://flowtv.org/2013/01/what%E2%80%99s-in-a-metaphor-abortion-rhetoric/ Tenor: Abortion Vehicle: Terrorism The way in which we know our reality through language. An argument for a particular view of the world. The “vehicle” frames the “tenor.”

  26. Law is Rhetoric Julie A. Oseid University of St. Thomas School of Law Minneapolis, MN jaoseid@stthomas.edu

  27. My knowledge about rhetoric

  28. Abraham Lincoln - brevity Kristen Tiscione

  29. Thomas Jefferson - metaphor Aristotle Michael Smith and Linda Berger

  30. James Madison - rigor

  31. Ulysses Grant - clarity Kirsten Davis

  32. Teddy Roosevelt - zeal

  33. Judges The Four James Boyd White

  34. Rhetoric and Teaching I (and maybe you, too?) was a rhetoric scholar and teacher and didn’t really realize it . . .

More Related