Reading and Writing Workshop

Introduction to Rhetoric: Classical Appeals, Strategies, and Analysis
​Workshop Overview:
​This workshop introduces participants to foundational concepts of rhetoric using Aristotle’s appeals (Ethos, Pathos, Logos), the rhetorical triangle, the SOAPSTone strategy, and identifying rhetorical situations. Participants will analyze public domain works and apply rhetorical strategies to their own writing.

Session 1: Aristotle’s Appeals – Ethos, Pathos, LogosObjective:

• Understand and identify Ethos (credibility), Pathos (emotion), and Logos (logic) in texts.
• Apply the appeals in writing and analysis.

Reading:

• Excerpt from Aristotle's Rhetoric (Book I, Chapters 2-3)
  • URL: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/6762/6762-h/6762-h.htm
• Patrick Henry's "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!" (1775)
  • URL: https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/giveme.asp

Activities:

• Analyze how Henry uses Ethos, Pathos, and Logos.
• Group discussion: How do these appeals influence persuasive writing?
• Writing exercise: Compose a short persuasive speech using all three appeals.

Session 2: The Rhetorical Triangle – Speaker, Audience, PurposeObjective:

• Understand the interaction between speaker, audience, and purpose.
• Explore how the rhetorical triangle shapes communication.

Reading:

• Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address (1863)
  • URL: https://www.loc.gov/resource/rbpe.24404500/
• Sojourner Truth’s Ain’t I a Woman? (1851)
  • URL: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/14941/14941-h/14941-h.htm#CHAPTER_II

Activities:

• Identify the speaker, audience, and purpose in both texts.
• Group analysis: How does each speaker adapt their message for their audience?
• Writing exercise: Write a brief address adapting the same message to two different audiences.

Session 3: SOAPSTone StrategyObjective:

• Learn how to use SOAPSTone (Subject, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, Speaker, Tone) to analyze texts.

Reading:

• Franklin D. Roosevelt’s First Inaugural Address (1933)
  • URL: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/inaugural-address-4
• Thomas Paine’s The Crisis, No. 1 (1776)
  • URL: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3741/3741-h/3741-h.htm

Activities:

• Apply SOAPSTone to both texts.
• Compare and contrast the rhetorical situations of Paine and Roosevelt.
• Writing exercise: Write a paragraph using SOAPSTone to outline your own speech or essay.

Session 4: Identifying Rhetorical SituationsObjective:

• Define rhetorical situation (context + exigence + audience + constraints).
• Learn to identify how context influences rhetorical choices.

Reading:

• Frederick Douglass’ What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? (1852)
  • URL: https://www.loc.gov/resource/mfd.22005/
• Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s Declaration of Sentiments (1848)
  • URL: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/27114/27114-h/27114-h.htm

Activities:

• Identify rhetorical situations in both works.
• Discuss how social, political, and cultural contexts shape rhetorical strategies.
• Writing exercise: Write an analysis of a modern rhetorical situation (e.g., a campaign speech, advertisement, or protest).

Session 5: Synthesis and ApplicationObjective:

• Synthesize knowledge of appeals, the rhetorical triangle, SOAPSTone, and rhetorical situations.
• Apply these tools to original writing and analysis.

Reading:

• Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963) – Public domain
  • URL: https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html

Activities:

• Full-class analysis: How does MLK integrate Ethos, Pathos, Logos, the rhetorical triangle, and respond to the rhetorical situation?
• Writing exercise: Compose an op-ed or open letter using all tools studied in this workshop.
• Peer review: Exchange writings for feedback based on rhetorical effectiveness.

Closing Activity:

• Reflection journal: How has understanding rhetoric changed the way you read and write persuasive texts?