Rhetoric and Persuasion: The Ancient Playbook Still Running
From Aristotle's three appeals to modern framing, a tour of the tools that make words move people, and of the tricks that mislead them.
Rhetoric and Persuasion · 50 questions
Try 3 questions
1. A doctor opens her talk on sleep by mentioning twenty years of treating patients. Which of Aristotle's appeals is she using?
- Ethos, an appeal to character
- Pathos, an appeal to emotion
- Logos, an appeal to reason
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Answer: Ethos, an appeal to character
Citing her experience builds credibility, which Aristotle called ethos, before any evidence or emotion comes in.
2. According to Aristotle, where should a speaker's persuasive character, or ethos, mainly come from?
- From official titles the speaker holds
- From the speaker's wealth and family
- From the speech itself, not prior fame
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Answer: From the speech itself, not prior fame
Aristotle insisted that ethos be built by what is said and how, rather than relying on the audience's preexisting opinion of the speaker.
3. 'She's a doctor, so she'll know what to do' leaves a premise unstated. What did Aristotle call this kind of argument?
- An enthymeme
- A chiasmus
- An apostrophe
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Answer: An enthymeme
An enthymeme is a rhetorical syllogism whose missing premise, here that doctors know what to do, the audience fills in.
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