Strategies of Persuasion and Genres of Rhetorical Communication

Posted on Sep 10, 2024 in Language

UNIT 3

4. Strategies of Persuasion

Classical rhetoric (Greeks) distinguished between two types of rhetorical communication:

  • Communication limited to mere eloquence in a predominantly aesthetic sense, which, according to their thinking, implies the renunciation of genuine persuasive intentions.
  • Communication that seeks to influence the receiver by making them change their attitude or opinion. This is the type that truly tries to persuade.

However, it is not always certain whether a speaker has a persuasive purpose. Therefore, we can say that all communication is persuasive. It may be just in an intellectual sense, but the sender always seeks complicity, approach, acceptance, or the enjoyment of the receiver with their speech.

In this sense, it can be said that there is a more rational persuasion and another that is more emotional.

Genres of Rhetorical Communication

1. Aristotle’s Four Kinds of Persuasive Communication

Aristotle established four different kinds of persuasive communication that can occur according to:

  • The situation in which the speeches are pronounced.
  • The time to which the speeches relate.
  • The aims pursued by the speech.
  • The attitude of the listener.

2. Aristotle’s Three Classic Genres of Speech

  • Judicial (or forensic)
  • Deliberative (or parliamentary)
  • Demonstrative (or Epideictic)

3. Judicial (or Forensic)

  • Characteristic of a trial, used by both the prosecution and the defense.
  • The receiver is a judge, judges, or juries, who issue a judgment on past events.
  • This genre emphasizes argumentative techniques that expose and demonstrate; therefore, the docere strategy prevails.

4. Deliberative (or Parliamentary)

  • Given before a popular assembly gathered to discuss and decide on future actions that the sender encourages or discourages.
  • The sender must persuade the assembly about:
    • The usefulness and applicability of the proposed determination.
    • Or the need to discourage it if it is useless, harmful, or impossible.
  • To gain the assembly’s favor, a clear persuasive strategy is necessary.
  • Docere, movere, and delectare play important roles in each part of the speech to achieve the ultimate goal.

5. Demonstrative (or Epideictic)

  • Does not require judgments or final decisions. Its purpose is to please and delight the audience by remembering people and events.
  • Two possibilities in this strategy approach: praise and criticism.
  • The communicator utilizes their oratorical capabilities to please and rejoice the receivers.
  • Delectare and movere are mixed, as the sender seeks to change the receiver’s attitude (or, in advertising, concerning the offered product) through liking.

Advertising: The Quintessential Modern Genre

Advertising is considered another genre, representing the most recent application of persuasive strategies.

The modern aspect of these genres is that they can be carried out in other settings and media:

  • Regarding the stage or location: The main participants (sender, receiver, and message) do not coincide in time or space.
  • On the support: A change from orality to writing, or even to audiovisual and digital channels.

The Aptum

The aptum requires that the communicator balances and properly weighs content, expression, and the communicative situation of the public.

The sender should consider:

  • The matter itself.
  • The structure of the speech.
  • The persuasive goals.
  • Related ethical standards.
  • Expressions and speech pronouncement.
  • The situation or context in relation to themselves and the receivers.

The aptum is the first consideration for a speaker planning their rhetorical communication.

Puritas or Grammatical Correctness

  • While aptum refers to the adequacy of the speech’s content, puritas focuses on verbal adequacy, ensuring correct grammar and usage.
  • It is essentially the mastery of language, a prerequisite for any rhetorical communication.

Perspicuitas or Ideological and Linguistic Clarity

  • Perspicuitas, according to Kurst Sang, is the “clarity of communication,” the understandability of the speech from the perspective of both the ideas and their formulation.
  • “Formulation” refers to “how to translate the ideas with maximum persuasive effectiveness in each specific case.”
  • The objective is to ensure that the receiver receives the speech as closely as possible to how the communicator conceived it.
  • Perspicuitas refers not only to the clarity of ideas and language but also to the cohesion and extension of the discursive arguments, emphasizing consistency in the entire rhetorical communication.

Ornatus or Aesthetics of Speech

  • Has stylistic implications and aims to persuade through linguistic beauty, reflecting the “beauty” of thought and highlighting virtues of a good speaker, such as clarity of ideas.
  • This is where rhetorical devices (figures and tropes) come into play.
  • The main function of ornatus is to delight and surprise the listener, seeking enjoyment through innovative resources and linguistic strategies that capture and hold the audience’s attention (both intellectual and emotional).