A speaker may aim to inspire or to motivate, to amuse, to inform or to persuade. Below, you’ll find basic definitions of each term, a brief discussion of the qualities of each term, and then finally, a series of examples illustrating various rhetorical situations.A speech is an address given to an audience for a variety of purposes. Also, all of these terms have specific qualities that affect the ways that they interact with the other terms. In this resource, kairos means “setting.”Ĭurrent Elements of Rhetorical SituationsĪll of these terms (text, author, audience, purpose, and setting) are fairly loose in their definitions and all of them affect each other. Although kairos may be well known among writing instructors, the term “setting” more succinctly and clearly identifies this concept for contemporary readers. Though not as commonly known as logos, ethos, and pathos, the term kairos has been receiving wider renewed attention among teachers of composition since the mid-1980s. Kairos is a term that refers to the elements of a speech that acknowledge and draw support from the particular setting, time, and place that a speech occurs. But audiences can also have purposes of their own that differ from a speaker’s purpose. Not many people use this term today in reference to rhetorical situations nonetheless, it is instructive to know that early rhetorical thinkers like Aristotle actually placed much emphasis on speakers having a clear telos. Telos is a term Aristotle used to explain the particular purpose or attitude of a speech. In this resource, pathos means “audience.” Pathos as “emotion” is often contrasted with logos as “reason.” But this is a limited understanding of both pathos and logos pathos more closely refers to an audience’s perspective more generally. Today, many people may discuss the pathos qualities of a text to refer to how well an author appeals to an audience’s emotions. Pathos is frequently translated as some variation of “emotional appeal,” but it originally referred to the elements of a speech that appealed to any of an audience’s sensibilities. But ethos more closely refers to an author’s perspective more generally. Today, many people may discuss ethos qualities of a text to refer to how well authors portray themselves. In this resource, logos means “text.”Įthos is frequently translated as some variation of “credibility or trustworthiness,” but it originally referred to the elements of a speech that reflected on the particular character of the speaker or the speech’s author. But logos more closely refers to the structure and content of the text itself. Today, many people may discuss the logos qualities of a text to refer to how strong the logic or reasoning of the text is. Logos is frequently translated as some variation of “logic or reasoning,” but it originally referred to the actual content of a speech and how it was organized. In ancient Greece, these terms corresponded with basic components that all rhetorical situations have. These three terms, along with kairos and telos, were used by Aristotle to help explain how rhetoric functions. Many people have heard of the rhetorical concepts of logos, ethos, and pathos even if they do not necessarily know what they fully mean. This presentation is suitable for the beginning of a composition course or the assignment of a writing project in any class. This presentation is designed to introduce your students to a variety of factors that contribute to strong, well-organized writing.
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