TedTest

From the Ted Talk by Camille Langston: How to use rhetoric to get what you want

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How do you get what you want using just your words? Aristotle set out to answer exactly that qoeiutsn over 2,000 years ago with the Treatise on Rhetoric. Rhetoric, according to aitrslote, is the art of seeing the available means of persuasion. And today we apply it to any form of communication. Aristotle focused on oration, though, and he described three types of persuasive speech. Forensic, or jiiaudcl, rotrheic establishes facts and judgements about the past, siimalr to dcteeievts at a crime scene. eiitpdciec, or demonstrative, rhetoric makes a proclamation about the present situation, as in wedding speeches. But the way to accomplish change is through deliberative rhetoric, or symbouleutikon. Rather than the past or the present, dblireievate rhetoric focuses on the future. It's the rhetoric of politicians debating a new law by imnigaing what effect it might have, like when Ronald Regan wnared that the introduction of Medicare would lead to a socialist future spent telling our children and our children's children what it once was like in America when men were free. But it's also the rhetoric of activists uginrg canghe, such as Martin Luther King Jr's deram that his children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. In both caess, the speaker's present their audience with a possible future and try to enlist their help in avoiding or achieving it. But what makes for good deliberative rhetoric, besides the future tense? According to Aristotle, there are three persuasive appeals: ethos, logos, and pathos. Ethos is how you cviocnne an audience of your credibility. winotsn Churchill began his 1941 address to the U.S. Congress by declaring, "I have been in full hnomray all my life with the tides which have floewd on both sides of the Atlantic against privilege and monopoly," thus highlighting his vuitre as someone committed to democracy. Much earlier, in his dfneese of the poet Archias, Roman consul Cicero appealed to his own practical wisdom and expertise as a politician: "Drawn from my study of the liberal secicnes and from that careful training to which I admit that at no part of my life I have ever been disinclined." And finally, you can demonstrate driseneitst, or that you're not motivated by personal gain. Logos is the use of loigc and reason. This method can employ rhetorical devices such as analogies, explaems, and citations of research or statistics. But it's not just facts and figures. It's also the structure and content of the speech itself. The point is to use factual knowledge to convince the audience, as in Sojourner Truth's argument for women's rights: "I have as much muscle as any man and can do as much work as any man. I have plowed and reaped and husked and chopped and mowed and can any man do more than that?" Unfortunately, speakers can also manipulate ppeole with flsae information that the audience thinks is true, such as the dbuneekd but still wlidey believed claim that vaccines cause autism. And fnlilay, pathos aapples to emotion, and in our age of mass media, it's often the most effective mode. Pathos is neither inherently good nor bad, but it may be irrational and unpredictable. It can just as easily rllay people for peace as incite them to war. Most advertising, from beauty products that promise to relieve our physical insecurities to cars that make us feel powerful, relies on paoths. Aristotle's rhetorical appeals still remain powerful tloos today, but deciding which of them to use is a matetr of knowing your audience and purpose, as well as the right place and time. And perhaps just as imnpaortt is being able to ntocie when these same methods of persuasion are being used on you.

Open Cloze

How do you get what you want using just your words? Aristotle set out to answer exactly that ________ over 2,000 years ago with the Treatise on Rhetoric. Rhetoric, according to _________, is the art of seeing the available means of persuasion. And today we apply it to any form of communication. Aristotle focused on oration, though, and he described three types of persuasive speech. Forensic, or ________, ________ establishes facts and judgements about the past, _______ to __________ at a crime scene. __________, or demonstrative, rhetoric makes a proclamation about the present situation, as in wedding speeches. But the way to accomplish change is through deliberative rhetoric, or symbouleutikon. Rather than the past or the present, ____________ rhetoric focuses on the future. It's the rhetoric of politicians debating a new law by _________ what effect it might have, like when Ronald Regan ______ that the introduction of Medicare would lead to a socialist future spent telling our children and our children's children what it once was like in America when men were free. But it's also the rhetoric of activists ______ ______, such as Martin Luther King Jr's _____ that his children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. In both _____, the speaker's present their audience with a possible future and try to enlist their help in avoiding or achieving it. But what makes for good deliberative rhetoric, besides the future tense? According to Aristotle, there are three persuasive appeals: ethos, logos, and pathos. Ethos is how you ________ an audience of your credibility. _______ Churchill began his 1941 address to the U.S. Congress by declaring, "I have been in full _______ all my life with the tides which have ______ on both sides of the Atlantic against privilege and monopoly," thus highlighting his ______ as someone committed to democracy. Much earlier, in his _______ of the poet Archias, Roman consul Cicero appealed to his own practical wisdom and expertise as a politician: "Drawn from my study of the liberal ________ and from that careful training to which I admit that at no part of my life I have ever been disinclined." And finally, you can demonstrate ___________, or that you're not motivated by personal gain. Logos is the use of _____ and reason. This method can employ rhetorical devices such as analogies, ________, and citations of research or statistics. But it's not just facts and figures. It's also the structure and content of the speech itself. The point is to use factual knowledge to convince the audience, as in Sojourner Truth's argument for women's rights: "I have as much muscle as any man and can do as much work as any man. I have plowed and reaped and husked and chopped and mowed and can any man do more than that?" Unfortunately, speakers can also manipulate ______ with _____ information that the audience thinks is true, such as the ________ but still ______ believed claim that vaccines cause autism. And _______, pathos _______ to emotion, and in our age of mass media, it's often the most effective mode. Pathos is neither inherently good nor bad, but it may be irrational and unpredictable. It can just as easily _____ people for peace as incite them to war. Most advertising, from beauty products that promise to relieve our physical insecurities to cars that make us feel powerful, relies on ______. Aristotle's rhetorical appeals still remain powerful _____ today, but deciding which of them to use is a ______ of knowing your audience and purpose, as well as the right place and time. And perhaps just as _________ is being able to ______ when these same methods of persuasion are being used on you.

Solution

virtue
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question
logic
detectives
imagining
urging
epideictic
pathos
notice
disinterest
rally
people
change
matter
harmony
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deliberative
aristotle
debunked
examples
similar
finally
tools
winston
false
cases
judicial
important
sciences
rhetoric
convince
widely

Original Text

How do you get what you want using just your words? Aristotle set out to answer exactly that question over 2,000 years ago with the Treatise on Rhetoric. Rhetoric, according to Aristotle, is the art of seeing the available means of persuasion. And today we apply it to any form of communication. Aristotle focused on oration, though, and he described three types of persuasive speech. Forensic, or judicial, rhetoric establishes facts and judgements about the past, similar to detectives at a crime scene. Epideictic, or demonstrative, rhetoric makes a proclamation about the present situation, as in wedding speeches. But the way to accomplish change is through deliberative rhetoric, or symbouleutikon. Rather than the past or the present, deliberative rhetoric focuses on the future. It's the rhetoric of politicians debating a new law by imagining what effect it might have, like when Ronald Regan warned that the introduction of Medicare would lead to a socialist future spent telling our children and our children's children what it once was like in America when men were free. But it's also the rhetoric of activists urging change, such as Martin Luther King Jr's dream that his children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. In both cases, the speaker's present their audience with a possible future and try to enlist their help in avoiding or achieving it. But what makes for good deliberative rhetoric, besides the future tense? According to Aristotle, there are three persuasive appeals: ethos, logos, and pathos. Ethos is how you convince an audience of your credibility. Winston Churchill began his 1941 address to the U.S. Congress by declaring, "I have been in full harmony all my life with the tides which have flowed on both sides of the Atlantic against privilege and monopoly," thus highlighting his virtue as someone committed to democracy. Much earlier, in his defense of the poet Archias, Roman consul Cicero appealed to his own practical wisdom and expertise as a politician: "Drawn from my study of the liberal sciences and from that careful training to which I admit that at no part of my life I have ever been disinclined." And finally, you can demonstrate disinterest, or that you're not motivated by personal gain. Logos is the use of logic and reason. This method can employ rhetorical devices such as analogies, examples, and citations of research or statistics. But it's not just facts and figures. It's also the structure and content of the speech itself. The point is to use factual knowledge to convince the audience, as in Sojourner Truth's argument for women's rights: "I have as much muscle as any man and can do as much work as any man. I have plowed and reaped and husked and chopped and mowed and can any man do more than that?" Unfortunately, speakers can also manipulate people with false information that the audience thinks is true, such as the debunked but still widely believed claim that vaccines cause autism. And finally, pathos appeals to emotion, and in our age of mass media, it's often the most effective mode. Pathos is neither inherently good nor bad, but it may be irrational and unpredictable. It can just as easily rally people for peace as incite them to war. Most advertising, from beauty products that promise to relieve our physical insecurities to cars that make us feel powerful, relies on pathos. Aristotle's rhetorical appeals still remain powerful tools today, but deciding which of them to use is a matter of knowing your audience and purpose, as well as the right place and time. And perhaps just as important is being able to notice when these same methods of persuasion are being used on you.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

Important Words

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