Joshua Leland

The following is the seventh in a series of posts on teaching rhetoric. Having explored the ethical ad hominem appeal to the character of a person or thing, we will now turn to a closely related appeal: ad fontem. “ad fontem/to the source”: when the source of information is used as a reason for doing/not doing something. As finite […]

The following is the sixth in a series of posts on teaching rhetoric. After laying much groundwork to understand what the three modes of persuasion are, as well as what an appeal is, we are now ready to begin exploring particular appeals and their fallacious counterparts! We will do this by exploring a number of

This post is the next in a series on teaching the art of rhetoric. Now that we have an understanding of what rhetoric is and the specific means by which it functions (the three modes of persuasion), we can now turn to the various types of appeals that can be made using different combinations of the

 In this series of posts on appeals and fallacies, we are exploring the last of the three modes of persuasion: logos.   On the surface, logos might seem like the easiest of the three modes for us to understand, but there are depths to this word that often get overlooked (and I certainly won’t be plumbing

 In this article Joshua continues his study of rhetoric with the second of the three modes of persuasion: pathos. You can read his essay on ethos here.  We have been looking at how the three modes of persuasion are the basis for all human choice and how these three concepts function to influence us, or

 Much of the study of rhetoric originates from the Golden Age of Classical Greece, which the Romans picked up, imported and appropriated for themselves. One of the central concepts in classical rhetoric involves something called the Three Modes of Persuasion: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. Aristotle teaches in his work “Rhetoric” that all persuasion is affected

The following is the second article in a series on teaching the art of rhetoric in the classroom.  Before diving into particular appeals and fallacies, it will be helpful to establish a general understanding of what rhetoric is: its purpose and function. If we can get a clear picture of what rhetoric is supposed to

 The following is a first post in a new column by Joshua Leland on teaching rhetoric. Upcoming topics will be on the modes of persuasion, examples of fallacies, appropriate appeals and more, and we hope it is helpful for other teachers who like Josh are charged with teaching the subject of rhetoric. Unfortunately for my