1. What is the rhetorical situation? Who is the writer’s audience? What is the writer’s purpose?

Also, think about where the item originally appeared. This may help you to determine the
purpose, audience, and scope of the text’s argument.
a. Speaker sets out to explain how the modern education system stifles creativity and leads
to workers instead of creative individuals.
b. Audience is likely educational/educated professionals attending a lecture for recreation.
This type of audience is already biased on several levels, including education and income
levels, and likely political viewpoints.
2. How would you describe the writer’s ethos? That is, what can you apprehend in the text about
the writer’s character, ethics, attitude, and overall credibility? “Ethos” speaks to the
trustworthiness of the writer. Those who employ ethos to persuade say this: “Believe me,
identify with me, because of the kind of person I am.”
a. Attempts to establish trust with humor and appear more personable, makes little
attempt to establish any form of credibility. It would be presumed that his audience is
already aware of his credentials and has no need to assert them during a speech.
b. States that he, and the audience have an interest in education.
c. Makes to attempt to boost his credibility and attempts to use his arguments make his
point.
3. How would you describe the logos of the text? “Logos “speaks to the logic of the text. More
specifically, think about how the supporting claims and the implied claims of the text reinforce
the overall thesis. How are they linked together? Also, how does the writer use evidence, data,
to support the thesis? Those who use logos to persuade say this: “Believe me because what I say
is reasonable.”
a. Uncertainty of the world and states adults have forgotten too how to be wrong
b. We educate ourselves out of creativity, as empirical studies and most current education
systems were created in response to the industrial revolution, where an emphasis was
placed on reading, writing, and math.
c. Asks logical question – Why do we not teach dance with the same vigor we teach math?
i. What is the point of education? To make university professors.
d. Goes on to provide a story about a choreographer who struggled to fit into traditional
education, and how one doctor’s perspective greatly shaped her future.
4. How would you describe the pathos of the text? How does the writer appeal to emotions?
“Pathos” means “feeling,” and it speaks to the desires, attitudes, and deeply engrained values of
a person. Pathos is frequently communicated through vivid descriptions, details, and examples.
Writers use such things in order to invoke emotional responses. Pathos, like ethos and logos, is
also communicated through the style and tone of an essay. Those who use pathos to persuade
say this: “Believe me because X feels good, bad, fearful, joyful, admirable, (etc.) at the very cores
of our beings.”
a. Use of humor and jokes to establish repour with the audience
b. Jokes are used throughout, which may be seen as detracting from the main point.
c. Uses leading questions to question the role of modern education, and how it associates
value with skills. Purposes that great artisans are not being created due to the
constraints of the system. Great artists, musicians, and performers and discouraged
from pursuing their passions to “find a job”.
5. How does the text’s structure work? Why are the elements of the text arranged as they are?
a. The speech took almost 7 minutes to lead to the main theme. Which, out of a 15-
minute speech is half the time just to get there. Keeping the jokes and relatable stories
helps fill the length of the format, as most TED talks are about 15 minutes, and any sort
of formal presentation lasting that long is bound to be dry if overloaded with facts.
6. What is the role of style and tone? Style is one of the most important aspects of any rhetorical
text. Style speaks to the overall shape, mood, and atmosphere of the text.
a. Style is TED talk format. Facts interspaced with humor and anecdotal stories, little cited
works. It takes a long time to get around to the main thesis, that good education is the
result of interdisciplinary studies.
b. Main story is of a dancer/choreographer, not some sort of cited paper.
c. If this were a written document, it is likely that the main thesis would have been stated
much sooner than half-way through, and would have likely relied less on jokes. Some of
the appeals to understanding could have been made still, such as how the education
system was created in response to the Industrial Revolution.
7. What seems to be the writer’s dominant strategy? Each of questions 2-6 addresses a particular
kind of rhetorical strategy. All of these aspects are more than likely present in the text at issue,
but in most cases, one strategy is dominant. If possible, identify the dominant strategy.
a. The main approach used in the talk is an appeal to Pathos. He appeals to our
sensibilities drawing on one single conclusion, that arts and placed on a lower value than
hard sciences. While this is in fact true for a majority of public education, specialty
schools do exist, where greats go to master their craft, such as Julliard, Carnegie Mellon,
and Yale.
b. While he does correctly assert that hard sciences are more valued in the education
system, he neglects to mention that there are a multitude of outlets available for
creatives.
c. He uses jokes and stories to relate to the audience and keep the pace and tone of the
talk moving along. Being able to get the audience on your side quicky is one of one of
the main components of public speaking.
 Eddy Zhong

1. What is the rhetorical situation? Who is the writerʼs audience? What is the writerʼs purpose?
Also, think about where the item originally appeared. This may help you to determine the
purpose, audience, and scope of the textʼs argument.

1. The writer is presenting a TED talk, a lecture series that is targeted at professionals
across fields.

2.

2. How would you describe the writerʼs ethos? That is, what can you apprehend in the text about
the writerʼs character, ethics, attitude, and overall credibility? “Ethos” speaks to the
trustworthiness of the writer. Those who employ ethos to persuade say this: “Believe me,
identify with me, because of the kind of person I am.”

1. Speaker does not attempt to identify himself as credible.

2. Relates a personal story based on his experience working on rapid prototypes, and the
additional steps required to launch.

3. My business is more successful than some that are started by Ivy League educated
professionals.

4. I made a lot of money, so I am important.

3. How would you describe the logos of the text? “Logos “speaks to the logic of the text. More
specifically, think about how the supporting claims and the implied claims of the text reinforce
the overall thesis. How are they linked together? Also, how does the writer use evidence, data,
to support the thesis? Those who use logos to persuade say this: “Believe me because what I say
is reasonable.”

1. Opens with a logical statement, that is leading. Schools are making children less
intelligent and stifling creativity. But does little to support this claim, and only offers his
personal success as the basis for his claim.

2. Education is encouraging children to think inside the box, focusing on hard sciences,
reducing their creativity. Cites the difference between excited school children and
slightly jaded high schoolers. Of course, high schoolers were doubtful of his product,
they hate everything.

3. His success is built on getting scene and noticed at an extra-curricular activity. Had he
not been noticed by someone with the right connections to empower him, he would not
have been successful. Not to mention other outside factors that would likely be at play,
such as home support, and support from the other members of the team.

4. How would you describe the pathos of the text? How does the writer appeal to emotions?
“Pathos” means “feeling,” and it speaks to the desires, attitudes, and deeply engrained values of
a person. Pathos is frequently communicated through vivid descriptions, details, and examples.
Writers use such things in order to invoke emotional responses. Pathos, like ethos and logos, is
 also communicated through the style and tone of an essay. Those who use pathos to persuade
say this: “Believe me because X feels good, bad, fearful, joyful, admirable, (etc.) at the very cores
of our beings.”

1. Uses much less humor than other speaker. His allegory is tied directly to his own
personal experience, enabling him to appeal more directly to the audience.

2. He attempts to build rapport with the audience through an emotional appeal, stating
that his success was created in spite of the modern academic system “keeping him
down”.

3. His appeal to emotions is almost an attempt at a logical appeal. I was able to take
action, and you should be able to as well. Education didn’t work for me, but I am
successful now.

5. How does the textʼs structure work? Why are the elements of the text arranged as they are?

1.

6. What is the role of style and tone? Style is one of the most important aspects of any rhetorical
text. Style speaks to the overall shape, mood, and atmosphere of the text.

1. Compared to the first speaker, this speech is more direct and uses less humor to drive
the point home.

7. What seems to be the writerʼs dominant strategy? Each of questions 2-6 addresses a particular
kind of rhetorical strategy. All of these aspects are more than likely present in the text at issue,
but in most cases, one strategy is dominant. If possible, identify the dominant strategy.

1.