Tuesday, 8/19

Agenda
1. Timed-Write: how are essays scored?
2. Rhetoric and the Aristotelian Appeals: Ethos, Logos, Pathos
HW: vocab exercise 3
read Thurber's essay, "University Days"; fill out dialectal journal on FIVE different selections

Today in class we reviewed the Essay Scoring Rubric used to grade the writing portion of the AP exam. On Tuesdays, we will usually focus on something to do with timed-writes and even occasionally practice doing one in class. We were given the Rubric and an outline of a proper Literary Essay, and both these handouts were printed on yellow cardstock paper so that we can easily locate them and so that they last the entire year.
Then we were introduced to Rhetoric and the Aristotelian Appeals through a PowerPoint presentation.
Rhetoric = the art of ruling the minds of men (Plato)
the art of speaking/writing well (Quintillian)
Ethos = "character" (Greek)
the speaker/writer focuses on presenting him/herself as someone who has good 1) character, 2) credibility, and 3) reliability
--> for example: "I'm a husband, father, and taxpayer. I've served faithfully for 20 years on the school board. I deserve your vote for city council."
Logos = "words" (Greek)
logical reasoning; the speaker proves his point by focusing on his argument and using evidence and logic to convince his audience
--> for example: "According to statistics, 85% of children under the age of 15 spend at least 40 hours per week watching television."
Pathos = "suffering/experience" (Greek)
appealing to the emotions and sentiments of the audience
using "loaded words" and "hot topics" to stir up the crowd
--> for example: "How can you allow poor innocent children die in the streets of Baghdad?"
Summary: ETHOS LOGOS PATHOS
speaker-centered argument-centered audience-centered
credibility/ethics logic or facts emotions or values

Closing Thought: A good argument will use an effective combination of all three appeals.

Example: "As your doctor, I must inform you that, unless you stop smoking, you're going to die."
KEY: Ethos, Logos, Ethos