If you look hard enough, rhetorical devices can be fun. Logos, Ethos, and Pathos, the three techniques of Rhetoric, are most often associated with boring essays and annoying television ads. Quite often, these assumptions are true. But if you open your mind, the art and science of speech can be used for entertainment. For instance, all three of the techniques of Rhetoric can be used to build up towards the punch line of a joke. Even storywriters use Rhetoric to get you invested in the characters and plot of their books. The possibilities are endless! In this essay, I will give you some more specific examples of Rhetoric in fun places. By the end, I hope you will have more fun when writing your next college essay.
The first example is a video provided by the Comedy Central Network entitled “Drunk History - Claudette Colvin and Rosa Parks”. The …show more content…
The video makes fun of news anchors by pointing out a variety of tropes and stereotypes. The most prominent Rhetorical method being used in this instance is Pathos. The video plays on our own personal frustrations with news outlets and gives us the chance to laugh at them. Michael Austin puts it this way; “When writers appeal to anger, they frame an issue in a way that angers an audience and then use that anger to reinforce their claim.” (607) The “claim” in this example is a subconscious one that tries to put forth the idea that, you should laugh at this video. Perhaps you’ve been disappointed by news coverage or even been angry with reporters. You might feel obligated to happily agree to the point of laughter with the way that reporters are portrayed in this video. However, it is a jump in logic. Just because you agree that reporters are frustrating people, it doesn’t support the idea that you should laugh. But whether or not it is being used well, the use of Pathos tends to work on most
The first example is a video provided by the Comedy Central Network entitled “Drunk History - Claudette Colvin and Rosa Parks”. The …show more content…
The video makes fun of news anchors by pointing out a variety of tropes and stereotypes. The most prominent Rhetorical method being used in this instance is Pathos. The video plays on our own personal frustrations with news outlets and gives us the chance to laugh at them. Michael Austin puts it this way; “When writers appeal to anger, they frame an issue in a way that angers an audience and then use that anger to reinforce their claim.” (607) The “claim” in this example is a subconscious one that tries to put forth the idea that, you should laugh at this video. Perhaps you’ve been disappointed by news coverage or even been angry with reporters. You might feel obligated to happily agree to the point of laughter with the way that reporters are portrayed in this video. However, it is a jump in logic. Just because you agree that reporters are frustrating people, it doesn’t support the idea that you should laugh. But whether or not it is being used well, the use of Pathos tends to work on most