kristen k. tiscione june 2014 the history of rhetoric
TRANSCRIPT
KRISTEN K. TISCIONEJUNE 2014
The History of Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of “discovering in the particular case what are the available means of persuasion.”
— Aristotle, RHETORIC (c. 333 BCE)
Logic Rhetoric
the invention and arrangement of ideas that lead to truth
(the philosopher)
the invention, arrangement, and expression of ideas that lead to probable truth
(the politician, lawyer)
The Trivium
Grammar LogicRhetoric
The art of inventing The art of The art of and combining symbols thinking communication to communicate
Ramism
Logic – invention arrangement
Rhetoric – invention arrangement expression beauty
style
Rhetoric disappears as a school subject
Writing (English)
Literature – (how to read)
Composition (how to write)
Speaking (Speech)
Rhetorical criticism
(how to evaluate speech)
Speech(how to speak)
Impact on legal education
Doctrinal – inventionCourses arrangement
true principles of law
Legal – expression Writing Courses
+inventionarrangement
(theory)
(practice)
scientific case method
Invention in Legal Writing
• the holding of a case
• synthesized legal rules
• analogies
No “true” law
Q: What is negligence?
A: It depends . . . on the jurisdiction, the case law, the lawyer who interprets it, and the judge who applies it.
What does this all mean for us?
Ramus was wrong: theory and practice are inseparable –
Ideas and knowledge cannot exist in society outside their expression
Aristotle was wrong: all knowledge is probable and a product of the rhetorical process
Rhetoric uses logic and grammar to produce knowledge
Law is the product of rhetoric
AdministratorsLegislatorsRegulators LAWConstituencies Judges AdvocatesPartiesScholars
1nventionarrangement +expression
Teaching law as rhetoric
If law is a function of rhetoric, rhetorical theory helps us understand
the lawmaking processhow to persuade and participate in the
processhow to teach the process, and how to teach it better
KIRSTEN K. DAVISJUNE 2014
Using Rhetorical Theory and Method to Study Legal
Communication
Rhetoric: Kirsten’s Definition
The ability to use or understand how others use symbols to
reason from shared assumptions, increase identification between “speaker” and
“audience,” and inspire an audience to take action or change
attitudes.
More definitions: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/rhetoricdefinitions.htm
Rhetorical Theory and Method
Rhetorical Theory: A body of thought about human symbol use.
Rhetorical Method: Using rhetorical theory to ask questions about “how communication constructs a specific understanding of the world.”
Applying rhetorical theory is humanistic inquiry.
Seeks to explain: Agency of speakers Roles of symbols in the human
world Power of audience to co-construct
realityHumanistic, not scientific:
Not looking for objective truth—reality is not a distinct object to be “discovered”
Looking to understanding the meaning humans assign—reality is a product of humans interactively creating knowledge in context.
Or Is It?
Rhetorical theory is a lens for looking at legal communication
as a rhetorical situation.
Click icon to add pictureA speaker uses symbols of the law to persuade an audience to take action. The action of the audience is constrained. All of this takes place in a context.
[Legal] Context
and Constraints
Speaker
Symbol (of Law)
Audience
Res
pond
ing
to N
eed Inducing A
ction
Need
Production (Instructive)
Reception (Instructive, Critical)
Construct messages more consciously.
Write better.Speak better.Teach better.
Receive messages more consciously.
As a lawyer: read/listen better.
As a scholar/ “special citizen”: critically assess legal messages.
Two Main Areas for Using Rhetorical Theory and Method to Analyze Legal Communication
Why Rhetorical Theory for Legal Communication?
Improve teaching and develop expertise. production and reception of legal communication. understanding of how legal language works by
standing “outside” the law to make better sense of law as language.
Examine ethics of legal communication as well as effectiveness.
Create
The legal community we want by theorizing the practice of law.
Applying Rhetorical Theory: The Researcher’s Choices
What will be the focus of study? The speaker, audience, patterns, strategies?
What is the perspective (method) the scholar will take?
What is the judgment the scholar wishes to make (descriptive, interpretive, evaluative)?
What kind of insight will be gained from the study?
Rhetorical Theory Is Applied Through Methodological Perspectives
NeoaristotelianMetaphorNarrativeFantasy ThemeDramatisticGenre
IdeographicIdeologicalGenerativeFeministSociologicalSocial Movement
Generally Method
Looking for how symbols “hang together”
“What goes with what”
Key symbols Frequency Intensity
Associational Clusters Proximity Cause/effect Connectedness Opposing terms
Dramatism: Cluster Analysis
Action is motivated. Language is symbolic action. Symbol choices reveal motivation.
The idea The Pentad
Symbolic structures have five interacting elements.
Meaning changes depending on the relationship between those elements.
Pentad allows systematic exam of the “strategic moments” in symbol use.
Act
Attitude
Agent
Agency
Scene
Purpose
Dramatism: Pentadic Analysis
Scene Determines Act Act Defines Agent
At a little after the restaurant’s closing time, Ms. Jones found herself alone in an unlit alley. That was when Mr. Smith rushed toward Ms. Jones from an area obscured by empty liquor crates.
While walking home after a late dinner at a local restaurant, Mr. Smith saw Ms. Jones, a tenant in his apartment building, and he attempted to escort her home.
Pentadic Ratios
Generally Metaphor Parts
The way in which we know our reality through language.
An argument for a particular view of the world.
The “vehicle” frames the “tenor.”
Metaphor Analysis
Tenor: AbortionVehicle: Terrorism
http://flowtv.org/2013/01/what%E2%80%99s-in-a-metaphor-abortion-rhetoric/
My knowledge about rhetoric
Abraham Lincoln - brevity
Kristen Tiscione
Thomas Jefferson - metaphor
Aristotle
Michael Smith and Linda Berger
James Madison - rigor
Ulysses Grant - clarity
Kirsten Davis
Teddy Roosevelt - zeal
Judges
The FourJames Boyd White
Rhetoric and Teaching
I (and maybe you, too?) was a rhetoric scholar and teacher and didn’t really realize it . . .