Humanities Homework Help

RHETORICAL STRATEGIES

This is what we use when we write an essay or make a speech.

One is called LOGOS, or LOGIC…no, not the singer! 

What is logic? 

Logical reasoning is when you take a premise, or a statement, like….

French Fries have lots of potassium!

And another premise or statement….

Potassium is good for you! 

Conclusion/claim: French fries are good for you!

So, is that a good claim? Wellllll, the fact is, that French Fries DO have potassium, BUT they have other stuff too….

So, if one of the premises is weak….that is, it leaves out important information, or it is just plain wrong, then your logic is flawed…..this leads to what we call logical fallacies….flawed or incorrect or bad logic. 

So, your logic should be strong, your premises correct, without any important information left out or altered, without assumptions or generalizations.

Then, you build on it with….

STATS, FACTS, ANALOGIES, HYPOTHETICALS AND ANECDOTES. 

NEXT…..

Rhetorical strategy two, is PATHOS, or EMOTIONAL APPEAL…..

So, the way I think of it LOGOS, or LOGIC is the WHAT of your essay, and PATHOS, or EMOTION is the HOW. 

How DO you include emotion in an academic essay? 

Well, that’s where your specific language, imagery, descriptions, your powerful use of statistics, your tone, are all ways to include emotion in your piece. 

So, you will do two assignments related to this lesson….

1. Make a logical claim based on two strong premises. 

2. Answer this-is the “Google, Stupid” essay a logical one? Explain in about five sentences.