Week 6 - Rhetoric and Persuasion

Before coming to class, bring a print advertisement that you believe persuades the reader rhetorically. Explain your case using the concepts learnt this week.

What is rhetoric? Griffin (March 7, 2011, p.290), defined rhetoric as the "discovering all possible means of persuasions." In other words, rhetoric is a form of communication and argument essential to public audience whereas it is a tool of conviction and persuasion.

In addition, rhetoric can also be defined as a communication that uses language as a means to persuade or convince an audience. As stated by Blair, the term rhetoric does not restrict to only the use of language in speech to persuade the audience. This is because “non-argumentative speech or non-argumentative properties of speech can be persuasive” (2004, p.42). Therefore, it can either be written, spoken or visually presented.

The advertisement below is an example of an advertisement that could persuade the audience rhetorically.

The advertisement above shows convincing that it's clearly attempts to persuade the audience that it is important to stop smoking or tp avoid from falling to smoking because it causes bad to people's health such as lung cancer.

A persuasion has proposition and argument. Hwacroft (1999) stated that deductive and inductive are the two basic form of proposition and arguement. Inductive is when the premises provide reasons supporting the probable truth of the conclusion. Hwacroft (1999) also stated that, with induction, the conclusion can be made from one or more premises. As per the above advertisement shows a very blurred and uncleared part of the cigarrate pack, but there are two sentences which has been showed by the product are consequences and notice for smokers which this refers to the premises. The conclusion is that smoking causes cancers.

Rhetorics in advertising is more concerned with the style than the content. McQuarrie & Phillips (2008) stated “rhetoric has been more concerned with how to say things than what to say.” In other words, style in advertising is important in showing and portraying an argument and which includes the elements of visual on how it organized to create a meaning. The advertisement above is an example where the content is less but more with style and it manage to persuade the audience to stop and avoid smoking.

References:

Blair, J.A. (2004). The rhetoric of visual arguments. In hill, C.A., and Helmers, M.H. (eds.). Defining visual rhetorics (pp 41-43). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Griffin, Emory A (March 7, 2011) The Rhetoric of Aristotle: A First Look at COMMUNICATION THEORY (8^th ed.), New York, America: MCGRAW-HILL.

Hwacroft, M. (1999). Rhetorics: Readings in French Literature. New York: Oxford University Press Inc.

McQuarrie, E. F. & Phillips, B. J. (2008). Advertising Rhetoric: An Introduction. (Eds.)., Go Figure!: New Directions in Advertising Rhetorics. New York: M.E. Sharpe, Inc.