Recognizing+Rhetorical+Patterns

Recognizing Rhetorical Patterns

Rhetorical Patterns are ways of organizing information. One way to improve your listening comprehension is to pay attention to how what you are listening to is organized. Common rhetorical patterns that we will hear in this class are defined below.

__ analysis __ Analysis means literally to break a complex problem down into smaller, more manageable "independent" parts for the purposes of examination — with the hope that solving these smaller parts will lead to a solution of the more complex problem as well. The goal of this analysis presentation is to research a complex problem and then analyze the parts of the problem in order to come up with a feasible solution.

__ argument __ An argument is a connected series of statements or propositions, some of which are intended to provide support, justification or evidence for the truth of another statement or proposition. Arguments consist of one or more premises and a conclusion. The premises are those statements that are taken to provide the support or evidence; the conclusion is that which the premises allegedly support. For example, the following is an argument: The death penalty should be adopted only if it deters murder. However, it could only do this if murderers understood the consequences of their actions before acting, and since this is not so, we must reject adopting the death penalty. The conclusion of this argument is the final statement: "we must reject adopting the death penalty." The other statements are the premises; they are offered as reasons or justification for this claim. The premises of an argument are sometimes also called the "data", the "grounds" or the "backup" given for accepting the conclusion. Because arguments are attempts to provide evidence or support for a certain claim, they often contain words such as "therefore", "thus", "hence", "consequently", or "so" before their conclusions. Similarly, words or expressions such as "because", "inasmuch as", "since", "for the reason that", etc., are often found accompanying the premises of an argument. Such "indicators" can aid in the task of identifying the conclusion of the argument, which often comes last in the series of statements making up the argument problem/solution  For example, suppose a speaker’s stated purpose is to persuade his/her audience to ride bicycles as their primary form of transportation. First the speaker will attempt to establish that common forms of motorized transportation create compelling problems that require a solution. Then he/she will show how the proposed solution - riding bikes - provides a beneficial alternative to driving.

__ extended definition __ In giving a presentation, it is often necessary to go beyond a simple definition and devote the entire speech to explaining a term. New technical, social, and economic terms often require extended definitions. A computer scientist might need to define "data integrity" so that computer operators understand the importance of maintaining it. Terms with differing meanings also frequently require extended definitions. To let voters know just what he means by "left-winger," the governor might detail the kinds of legislation his opponent favors and opposes. Extended definitions can combine of other methods of development--narration, description, process analysis, illustration, classification, comparison and contrast, and cause and effect. Often, they also define by negation, by explaining what the term does not mean. Extended definitions can be purely personal or they can be largely objective. A personal definition explains how a speaker is using the term and allows the listener to see a word in a different light.

__ summary/response __ A summary/response pattern is one where the speaker chooses an article or speech to summarize in order to make a particular point in his or her response. Therefore, the article or speech chosen, and how it is interpreted is important to the speaker’s purpose. The speaker starts by giving an objective summary and concludes by giving his or her opinion on the ideas expressed in the original work.