Teaching Rhetoric: An Analysis of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos

1041 Words3 Pages

"most students are already rhetorically savvy but unaware of their critical processes..." Author Jane Fife puts the three rhetorical analysis pieces to work, ethos pathos and logos, in an attempt to teach rhetorical analysis in a classroom. Fife uses a collaboration of all three types of rhetorical analysis. While the author does make good use of the first two pieces of rhetorical analysis, Pathos, and Logos, Fife strays away from the use of Ethos in her article. Fife applies the rhetorical appeals of Pathos and Logos to teach rhetoric to her class and the reader. However, her use of examples in a classroom backed up with little evidence to prove her authority surrounding the subject causes her readers to doubt her claim that Facebook and …show more content…

With the combination of exciting pictures and captions quoted from the next big country song; Facebook users ignorantly apply all three forms of rhetorical analysis. Fife takes an unusual, but interesting, approach to teaching rhetorical analysis in the classroom. From teachers perspectives, she describes how "experiences with multimedia detract from students' engagement with their real work." she goes on to give her view, she writes "these nonacademic literacies can be used to complement their... traditional academic concepts like rhetorical analysis." students are "often unaware of the sophisticated rhetorical analysis they employ while browsing others' profiles". This example helps expose how students unknowingly apply rhetorical analysis to the majority of what they read and help's to build the connection between Facebook and rhetorical analysis. It is already becoming apparent, her strategies as the author are to hit hard with pathos and follow up with logos to set the point home, with no introduction of the author in the first paragraph Ethos is forgotten. Fife does a good job of setting the connection between Facebook and rhetoric early, mentioning facebooks impacts at the beginning of the first

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