What is rhetoric?
Rhetoric is the art of speaking or writing so that people agree with you or act. The Greek thinker Aristotle called it the skill of finding, in each case, the ways to persuade.
Rhetoric is both a science (it has rules you can learn: structure, appeals, devices) and an art (each speaker uses the rules in their own way). It is close to argument: an argument gives a claim plus reasons; rhetoric adds how to present them to real people.
The speech situation
Every act of speech happens in a situation with four parts:
- Speaker – who is talking and why we should listen.
- Audience – who is listening, what they know, what they want.
- Message – the main point.
- Occasion – where, when and why (a funeral, a court, a class debate).
Ancient teachers named three kinds of speech: deliberative (about the future: should we do this?), judicial (about the past: was it right or wrong? – courts) and ceremonial (about the present: praise or blame, e.g. a farewell speech).
Ethos, logos and pathos: the three appeals
- Ethos (character): the audience trusts the speaker because of knowledge, experience, honesty or goodwill. This is the authority of speech.
- Logos (reason): facts, numbers, examples and logical steps.
- Pathos (feeling): stories, images and words that stir hope, pride, pity or anger.
Strong speeches balance all three. Too much pathos with no logos becomes a trick; only logos can feel cold and nobody listens.
The five canons: how a speech is built
- Invention – find arguments and examples.
- Arrangement – order them: opening (catch attention), statement of facts, proof, answer to objections, conclusion.
- Style – choose clear, fitting words and figures of speech.
- Memory – learn the speech or key points.
- Delivery – voice, pace, pauses, eye contact, gestures.
Figures of speech (rhetorical devices)
- Repetition / anaphora: starting lines with the same words.
- Rule of three (tricolon): three parallel parts – “clean, green and safe”.
- Rhetorical question: a question asked for effect, not for an answer.
- Metaphor: calling one thing another – “education is a ladder”.
- Antithesis: putting opposites side by side.
- Hyperbole: deliberate exaggeration.
Classical orators such as Cicero in Rome used these devices in long, carefully balanced sentences called periods.
History of oratory: from Athens to today
In ancient Athens, citizens spoke in the assembly and defended themselves in court, so public speaking was a key skill. Teachers called sophists sold lessons in it; Plato criticised them for caring more about winning than truth; Aristotle wrote the first full study. In Rome, Cicero and Quintilian taught that the ideal orator is “a good person skilled in speaking”. Later great speakers include Abraham Lincoln, Swami Vivekananda (Chicago, 1893), Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela.
The seductions of speech: persuasion vs manipulation
Words have power: they can calm, unite and teach, but also flatter and deceive. Manipulation tries to win without good reasons, for example:
- Ad hominem – attacking the person, not the idea.
- Bandwagon – “everyone is doing it”.
- False dilemma – only two choices when there are more.
- Fear appeal with no evidence.
A fair speaker respects the audience's right to think. A careful listener asks: What is the claim? What is the evidence? Who gains if I believe it?
Exam tips
Typical tasks: name and explain the three appeals in a given speech; identify devices and their effect; write or deliver a short persuasive speech; discuss whether rhetoric is dangerous. Always say which device and what effect it has on the audience.
Try it at home
Write a 1-minute speech asking your family to switch off lights when leaving a room. Put one sentence of ethos, one of logos (a number) and one of pathos. Add one rule of three. Say it aloud and ask your listeners which line convinced them most. Then use the sliders in the 3D (step 6) to test the same balance.
Key formulas and definitions
- Speech situation = speaker + audience + message + occasion
- Three appeals: ethos (trust) · logos (reason) · pathos (feeling)
- Five canons: invention → arrangement → style → memory → delivery
- Three kinds of speech: deliberative (future) · judicial (past) · ceremonial (present)
- Common devices: repetition, rule of three, rhetorical question, metaphor, antithesis, hyperbole
- Common fallacies: ad hominem, bandwagon, false dilemma, scare tactics
Worked examples
1. Identify the appeal: “As a doctor who has treated dengue patients for 15 years, I urge you to empty standing water.”
Ethos. The speaker builds trust by stating experience (15 years as a doctor). The request itself is supported by the speaker's authority.
2. Identify the devices and their effect: “We will build schools. We will build hospitals. We will build hope.”
Repetition (anaphora) of “We will build” and a rule of three. Effect: rhythm makes it easy to remember, and the third item (hope) moves from objects to a feeling, adding pathos.
3. An advert says: “All your friends already have this phone. Don't be the only one left out!” Is this fair persuasion?
No. It uses the bandwagon fallacy and the fear of being left out (pathos) without any reason about the phone's quality (no logos). A fair advert would give facts such as battery life or price.
4. Plan a 1-minute speech using the five canons: “Our school should plant 100 trees.”
Invention: shade, cleaner air, a tree absorbs about 20 kg of CO₂ a year. Arrangement: opening question (“Who enjoyed the shade at lunch?”), three reasons, answer objection (cost: saplings are cheap), call to action. Style: rule of three “shade, clean air, a cooler school”. Memory: note card with 5 keywords. Delivery: slow pace, eye contact, pause before the call to action.
Common mistakes
- Thinking rhetoric just means fancy or empty words. It is the whole skill of persuading, including clear reasons.
- Mixing up ethos and pathos. Ethos is about the speaker's credibility; pathos is about the audience's feelings.
- Naming a device without its effect. Examiners want: device + example + effect on the audience.
- Believing that a strong emotion proves a claim. Feelings can be true and still give no evidence.