Scholars use rhetorical devices in speeches and writings to convey the facts and evoke a well-grounded response from their listeners or readers. After the development of the major rhetorical devices, including ethos, logos, kairos, and pathos, some other methods have been created from Ancient Greece times. According to these persuasive techniques, rhetoric is considered as a unique subject and an area that the scholars conduct research in order to create more convincing facts.
Additionally, public speakers, officials, and scholars opt for oratorical techniques in order to connect with their listeners or readers. Therefore, they employ persuasive tools to convey their discussions on certain problems or situations. This helps them stay persuasive with their listeners or readers.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Being originated from Ancient Greece, rhetoric allowed orators and philosophers to use their thoughts and words to connect with their audiences. When Ancient Greeks tried to persuade people to believe in their words, they had no sources of communication. They created a rhetoric field where they employed various techniques to convince their audiences.
There are four major rhetorical devices, including ethos, logos, kairos, and pathos. Today, people employ their legacy when expressing their conceptions on the problem or situation in various paper types as well as receiving a response from their listeners or readers. Consequently, persuasive devices are tools, which assist people in persuading others.
Definition
The persuasive tools include rhetorical devices, which people use to convince their listeners and readers. Therefore, people employ a rhetorical mode or device in their speeches or writing pieces in order to provide their assertions and prove their position through feelings, words, sentences, and valid or fictitious thoughts. While rhetoric comprises a plethora of tools and methods, the primary ones are ethos, logos, kairos, and pathos.
Other rhetorical device types include humor, onomatopoeia, alliteration, irony, meiosis, anaphora, metaphor, apophasis, hyperbole, anadiplosis, chiasmus, anacoluthon, eutrepismus, allegory, dialogismus, asterismos, expeditio, hypophora, antiphrasis, etc. These tools are helpful in structuring a piece of writing and organizing thoughts, which will capture the audience’s minds and hearts. Consequently, oratorical modes are the tools employed in organizing writing so that it receives a desirable reaction.
The Logos Definition
Logos is a common rhetorical device used to capture the attention of the readers and listeners. Since a human mind is extremely complex, there are individuals who consider reason and logic as the major discussion sources. Logos is employed when an author or speaker needs to persuade the audience that their claims are correct by employing information, statistics, thoughts of renowned philosophers, facts, etc. Thus, when the audiences see the proven facts or statements from credible sources, this makes them believe in the author’s words.
The Pathos Definition
Pathos is a rhetorical device which attracts to the emotions and feelings of the audience. This device is used to convey a sense of anger or sympathy toward a certain situation or problem. Speakers and authors employ pathos when writing or speaking about a problem or situation that the audience can relate to. Additionally, a claim or argumentation tends to comprise statements of famous individuals so that the speech or piece of writing can sound more trustworthy.
The Ethos Definition
This rhetorical device provides a sense of argumentation credibility. Even though the majority of people express different points of view on various problems and situations, ethical aspects of the problems are still critical. Not only is ethos employed to persuade the readers or listeners in the fact that the speaker or author is someone they can trust, but it is also used to fulfill the assertions of other famous people. Shortly, the audience can learn about the credentials of speakers or writers, including the assertions of famous individuals.
The Kairos Definition
Kairos is a tool that involves the usage of time frames as a way to convince the audience. It derives from the time as the origin of actions or argumentations. Since kairos considers the time to be the primary source for the action or argumentation, a lot of individuals turn to the time of changes.
Other Types of Rhetorical Devices
The authors and writers can use many other rhetorical devices that can be applied to convince their readers and listeners. The devices vary in their structures, though they are still parts of the major types of rhetorical tools. For instance, humor is a part of the pathos. People can employ humor in the form of a joke in order to receive the audience’s attention. A metaphor is another example. People use it to clarify their thoughts based on certain words to show that their facts are sound. This tool can comprise kairos, ethos, as well as logos.
Conclusion
People use rhetorical devices to convey their thoughts and emotions. The persuasive modes like ethos, logos, kairos, or pathos help the writers and speakers to make the readers or listeners believe that their words are trustworthy. There are also other rhetorical tools that help to discuss the situation or problem with more valid concepts, including metaphor and humor. Shortly, rhetorical devices help to make claims and argumentations more persuasive.
About Carson Derrow
