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07118: Communication:
Rhetoric and Reasoning L
Weeks 5 and 6
Rhetoric: Ethos and Pathos
 Reading
Discussion/research
topics
Writing
Further resources
Core reading
CR&R Readings
- Cockcroft, R and Cockcroft, S (1992). Persuading
people: an introduction to rhetoric. London:
Macmillan.
- Chapter 1 ‘Personality and stance’,
pages 19-39.
- Cockcroft, R and Cockcroft, S (1992). Persuading
people: an introduction to rhetoric. London:
Macmillan.
- Chapter 2 ‘Emotional engagement, pages
40-57.
Extension reading
CR&R Readings
- Lewis, G and Slade, C (1994). Critical
communication. Sydney: Prentice Hall
Australia.
- Chapter 2, ‘Language in context’,
pages 25-49.
CR&R Resource material
- Waugh, Auberon (1993). ‘Australian
claims’.
- McLelland, Jim (1993). ‘A Waugh of
words’.
- 'Just Jeans' (1993). Advertisement.
Skills reading
Language notes
- Section 5.0, ‘Report writing’, pages
34-52.
This fortnight, do Task 1 and Task 3, and at least one
other task listed here.
Task 1
Read and analyse the two letters by Auberon Waugh and
Jim McLelland in CR&R Resource material.
- What stance is taken in each?
- What sorts of personalities are being projected
in each?
- What features of the text of each letter convey
personality and stance?
- How persuasive is each one, and why?
Task 2
- Discuss the specific ways the ‘Just
Jeans’ advertisement in CR&R Resource
material uses pathos to persuade the viewer.
- Can you think of issues discussed in the media
which are most likely to be addressed
‘emotively’—that is, using pathos
to engage the audience in particular ways? Do you
think certain types of media (radio, TV,
newspapers etc) and media genres (news reports,
documentaries, soaps, etc) are more likely to use
emotional rhetoric to engage audiences?
Task 3
Using Language notes, section 5.0, look at the
format of a report and the various sections that
conventionally make up a report. In particular, examine
the way the contents page shows the levels of headings,
and how the headings relate to each other and to the
topic as a whole. Discuss the following question:
- What rhetorical devices must a report use to
be convincing if it cannot 'tell a story' as an
essay often does to make a case?
Task 4
The ability to cite the sources you have used in your
research and to list them properly as references is a
crucial skill and habit of mind in the academic and
professional fields. Acknowledging the findings of others
on which you have built your work is not a weakness; on
the contrary, evidence of extensive research is the mark
of a mature and confident professional who has made the
effort to create a solid base for their own work. The
great mathematician and physicist Isaac Newton once said:
'If I have seen further it is by standing on the
shoulders of giants' (Oxford dictionary of quotations,
4th edition, 1992, page 493). One day someone may be
using your work in order to gaze further over the horizon
of current understanding—and you would most
certainly want to be recognised for your contribution!
So important is the process of acknowledging sources
that failure to do so is regarded as plagiarism—that
is, stealing the intellectual property of others—and
is the cardinal sin of academic and professional writing.
Consequently, you will need spend time becoming familiar
with the intricacies of referencing and citation, and in
practising examples.
A good start is to try out some of the exercises in
section 5.6.4 of Language notes. Check your
efforts against the requirements set out in the leaflet Referencing:
the author-date system (see Further resources,
below).
Report writing requires a style which describes
findings and makes recommendations in a direct, succinct
(that is, brief and to the point) way. We often
mistakenly associate this kind of technical writing with
scientific jargon, but technical terms are used only as a
kind of rhetorical shorthand among professionals to
describe complicated processes. The technical writer must
also communicate to the non-specialist reader,
particularly in reports, which can have several kinds of
readership.
We use the term ‘register’ to describe the
style and tone adopted at a particular level of
communicating, and it is important that you learn to
adopt the appropriate register for each piece of writing
or speaking you undertake as a professional. You will
read more about register in weeks 7/8.
An effective way to achieve competence in the register
required for reports is to practise writing abstracts,
introductions and conclusions, which all draw upon the
precis/summary skills you used in exercise 1. You will
need to distinguish between the two main types of
abstracts: the informative and the descriptive. You will
also need to understand the difference in content and
style between the abstract and the introduction to your
report.
Exercise 2 (due Friday 11 September)
Decide on a suitable topic for your report, involving
an issue or area in which there is or has been an ongoing
series of communications, such as a current issue of
debate in the newspapers or on television, or an
advertising campaign, or a situation in which you have
found yourself sending/receiving letters, e-mails or
other communication back and forth, or any other suitable
topic which you have discussed with your tutor.
For exercise 2 you will need to present
- a draft version of the contents page for your
proposed report (which will act as a plan to help
direct your research and writing), and
either
- a draft informative abstract of the report (if
you feel confident that you have a overview of
the whole report in mind)
or
- a draft version of one major section of the
proposed report.
Report writing style guide for engineering students
(1996). 3rd edition. Adelaide: University of South
Australia.
This is an invaluable guide for the process of report
writing, all the more so as it has been set up as a model
of report itself. It was put together by people concerned
with the techniques of academic and technical writing
within the University of South Australia and is now used
widely in a number of schools and faculties. It is
available from Unibooks.
Referencing: the author-date system (1996).
Flexible learning Centre leaflet.
This invaluable and comprehensive leaflet explains the
use of the author-date system (also known as the Harvard
system) of citation and referencing as used in the
University of SA. The leaflet is available from the
campus libraries and study advisories, and is also
available online. A link to it is provided in the
left-hand frame of the CR&R Web site.
For assistance contact: paul.skrebels@unisa.edu.au
Copyright ©1997 University of South Australia
Prepared by the Flexible Learning Centre, University of
South Australia
Prepared: 28 January 1997
Revised: December 1997
URL: http://www.roma.unisa.edu.au/07118/wk5-6.htm
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