Rhetoric & Technical Communication
Rhetoric & Technical Communication
Toscano, Aaron, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Dept. of English

Resources and Daily Activities

  • Dr. Toscano’s Homepage
  • ENGL 2116-083: Introduction to Technical Communication
    • ENGL 2116 sec. 083 Major Assignments (Summer 2020)
      • Final Portfolio Requirements
      • Oral Presentations
    • June 11th: Continue with I, Robot
    • June 15th: Ethics and Perspective Discussion
      • Ethical Dilemmas for Homework
      • Ethical Dilemmas to Ponder
      • Mapping Our Personal Ethics
    • June 16th: More on Ethics
    • June 1st: Effective Documents for Users
    • June 2nd: Final Project and Research Discussion
      • Epistemology and Other Fun Research Ideas
      • Making Résumés and Cover Letters Better
      • Research
    • June 3rd: Technology in a Social Context
    • June 8th: Information Design and Visuals
    • June 9th: Proposals, Marketing, and Rhetoric
    • May 18th: Introduction to the course
    • May 19th: Critical Technological Awareness
    • May 20th: Audience, Purpose, and General Introduction
    • May 21st: Résumé Stuff
      • Making Résumés and Cover Letters More Effective
      • Peter Profit’s Cover Letter
    • May 25th: More Resume Stuff
    • May 26th: Plain Language and Prose Revision
      • Euphemisms
      • Prose Practice for Next Class
      • Prose Revision Assignment
      • Revising Prose: Efficiency, Accuracy, and Good
      • Sentence Clarity
    • May 27th: More on Plain Language
    • May 28th: Review Prose Revision
  • ENGL 4182/5182: Information Design & Digital Publishing
    • August 21st: Introduction to the Course
      • Rhetorical Principles of Information Design
    • August 28th: Introduction to Information Design
      • Prejudice and Rhetoric
      • Robin Williams’s Principles of Design
    • Classmates Webpages (Fall 2017)
    • December 4th: Presentations
    • Major Assignments for ENGL 4182/5182 (Fall 2017)
    • November 13th: More on Color
      • Designing with Color
      • Important Images
    • November 20th: Extra-Textual Elements
    • November 27th: Presentation/Portfolio Workshop
    • November 6th: In Living Color
    • October 16th: Type Fever
      • Typography
    • October 23rd: More on Type
    • October 2nd: MIDTERM FUN!!!
    • October 30th: Working with Graphics
      • Beerknurd Calendar 2018
    • September 11th: Talking about Design without Using “Thingy”
      • Theory, theory, practice
    • September 18th: The Whole Document
    • September 25th: Page Design
  • ENGL 4183/5183: Editing with Digital Technologies
    • Efficiency in Writing Reviews
    • February 3rd: I’m in Love with the Shape of You(r Sentences)
    • January 20th: Introduction to the Course
    • January 27th: Rhetoric, Words, and Composing
    • Major Assignments for ENGL 4183/5183 (Spring 2021)
  • ENGL 4275: Rhetoric of Technology
    • April 13th: Authorities in Science and Technology
    • April 15th: Articles on Violence in Video Games
    • April 20th: Presentations
    • April 6th: Technology in the home
    • April 8th: Writing Discussion
    • Assignments for ENGL 4275
    • February 10th: Religion of Technology Part 3 of 3
    • February 12th: Is Love a Technology?
    • February 17th: Technology and Gender
    • February 19th: Technology and Expediency
    • February 24th: Semester Review
    • February 3rd: Religion of Technology Part 1 of 3
    • February 5th: Religion of Technology Part 2 of 3
    • January 13th: Technology and Meaning, a Humanist perspective
    • January 15th: Technology and Democracy
    • January 22nd: The Politics of Technology
    • January 27th: Discussion on Writing as Thinking
    • January 29th: Technology and Postmodernism
    • January 8th: Introduction to the Course
    • March 11th: Writing and Other Fun
    • March 16th: Neuromancer (1984) Day 1 of 2
    • March 18th: Neuromancer (1984) Day 2 of 2
    • March 23rd: Inception (2010)
    • March 25th: Writing and Reflecting Discussion
    • March 30th & April 1st: Count Zero
    • March 9th: William Gibson’s Neuromancer (1984)
  • ENGL 4750-090 & ENGL 5050-092 Video Games & Culture
    • Assignments for Video Games & Culture
    • August 25th: Introduction to the Course
    • November 10th: Aggression & Addiction
    • November 3rd: Moral Panics and Health Risks
    • October 13th: Narrative, ludology, f(r)iction
    • October 20th: Serious Games
    • October 27: Risky Business?
    • October 6th: Hyperreality
    • September 1st: History of Video Games
    • September 22nd: Video Game Aesthetics
    • September 29th: (sub)Cultures and Video Games
    • September 8th: Defining Video Games and Critical Theory Introduction
      • Marxism for Video Game Analysis
      • Postmodernism for Video Game Analysis
  • ENGL 6166: Rhetorical Theory
    • April 13th: Umberto Eco & Jean Baudrillard
    • April 20th: Moving Forward on Theory
    • April 27th: Last Day of Class
    • April 6th: Lyotard’s The Postmodern Condition
      • What is Postmodernism?
    • February 10th: St. Augustine, On Christian Doctrine [Rhetoric]
      • Oratory and Argument Analysis
    • February 17th: Knoblauch on Magical and Ontological Rhetoric
    • February 24th: Rene Descartes’ Discourse on Method
    • February 3rd: Aristotle’s On Rhetoric Books 2 and 3
      • Aristotle’s On Rhetoric, Book 2
      • Aristotle’s On Rhetoric, Book 3
    • January 13th: Introduction to Class
    • January 27th: Aristotle’s On Rhetoric Book 1
    • March 16th: Friedrich Nietzsche
    • March 23rd: Mythologies and Meaning of Meaning (part 2)
    • March 30th: Derrida’s (refusal to have) Positions
    • March 9th: Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Women
    • Rhetorical Theory Assignments
  • LBST 2212-124, 125, 126, & 127
    • August 21st: Introduction to Class
    • August 23rd: Humanistic Approach to Science Fiction
    • August 26th: Robots and Zombies
    • August 28th: Futurism, an Introduction
    • August 30th: R. A. Lafferty “Slow Tuesday Night” (1965)
    • December 2nd: Technological Augmentation
    • December 4th: Posthumanism
    • November 11th: Salt Fish Girl (Week 2)
    • November 13th: Salt Fish Girl (Week 2 con’t)
    • November 18th: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Part 1)
      • More Questions than Answers
    • November 1st: Games Reality Plays (part II)
    • November 20th: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Part 2)
    • November 6th: Salt Fish Girl (Week 1)
    • October 14th: More Autonomous Fun
    • October 16th: Autonomous Conclusion
    • October 21st: Sci Fi in the Domestic Sphere
    • October 23rd: Social Aphasia
    • October 25th: Dust in the Wind
    • October 28th: Gender Liminality and Roles
    • October 2nd: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
    • October 30th: Games Reality Plays (part I)
    • October 9th: Approaching Autonomous
      • Analyzing Prose in Autonomous
    • September 11th: The Time Machine
    • September 16th: The Alien Other
    • September 18th: Post-apocalyptic Worlds
    • September 20th: Dystopian Visions
    • September 23rd: World’s Beyond
    • September 25th: Gender Studies and Science Fiction
    • September 30th: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
    • September 4th: Science Fiction and Social Breakdown
      • More on Ellison
      • More on Forster
    • September 9th: The Time Machine
  • LBST 2213/HTAS 2100: Science, Technology, and Society
    • December 10th: Violence in Video Games
    • December 15th: Video Games and Violence, a more nuanced view
    • December 1st: COVID-19 facial covering rhetoric
    • December 3rd: COVID-19 Transmission and Pandemics
    • December 8th: 500-word Essay
    • November 10th: Planet of the Apes. (1964) Ch. 27-end
    • November 12th: Frankenstein (1818) Preface-Ch. 8
    • November 17th: Frankenstein (1818) Ch. 9-Ch. 16
    • November 19th: Frankenstein (1818) Ch. 17-Ch. 24
    • November 3rd: Planet of the Apes. (1964) Ch. 1-17
    • November 5th: Planet of the Apes (1964) Ch. 18-26
    • October 13th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology), Ch. 5 and 6
    • October 15th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology), Ch. 7 and Conclusion
    • October 1st: The Golem at Large Introduction & Ch. 1
    • October 22nd: The Time Machine
    • October 29th: H.G. Wells and Adaptations
    • October 6th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology) Ch. 2
    • October 8th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology), Ch. 3 & 4
    • September 10th: Science and Technology, a Humanistic Approach
    • September 15th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem (Science), Ch. 2
    • September 17th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem (Science), Ch. 3 and 4
    • September 22nd: Collins & Pinch Ch. 5 & 6
    • September 24th: Collins & Pinch Ch. 7 & Conclusion
    • September 29th: Test 1
    • September 8th: Introduction to Class
  • New Media: Gender, Culture, Technology (Spring 2021)
    • February 16: Misunderstanding the Internet
    • February 23rd: Our Public Sphere and the Media
    • February 2nd: Introduction to Cultural Studies
    • January 26th: Introduction to New Media
  • Science Fiction in American Culture (Summer I–2020)
    • Assignments for Science Fiction in American Culture
    • Cultural Studies and Science Fiction Films
    • June 10th: Interstellar and Exploration themes
    • June 11th: Bicentennial Man
    • June 15th: I’m Only Human…Or am I?
    • June 16th: Wall-E and Environment
    • June 17th: Wall-E (2008) and Technology
    • June 18th: Interactivity in Video Games
    • June 1st: Firefly (2002) and Myth
    • June 2nd: “Johnny Mnemonic”
    • June 3rd: “New Rose Hotel”
    • June 4th: “Burning Chrome”
    • June 8th: Conformity and Monotony
    • June 9th: Cultural Constructions of Beauty
    • May 18th: Introduction to Class
    • May 19th: American Culture, an Introduction
    • May 20th: The Matrix
    • May 21st: Gender and Science Fiction
    • May 25th: Goals for I, Robot
    • May 26th: Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot
    • May 27th: Hackers and Slackers
    • May 30th: Inception
  • Teaching Portfolio
  • Topics for Analysis
    • American Culture, an Introduction
    • Feminism, An Introduction
    • Frankenstein Part I
    • Frankenstein Part II
    • Futurism Introduction
    • Langdon Winner Summary: The Politics of Technology
    • Marxist Theory (cultural analysis)
    • Oral Presentations
    • Our Public Sphere
    • Postmodernism Introduction
    • Protesting Confederate Place
    • Punctuation Refresher
    • QT, the Existential Robot
    • Religion of Technology Discussion
    • Rhetoric, an Introduction
      • Analyzing the Culture of Technical Writer Ads
      • Rhetoric of Technology
      • Visual Culture
      • Visual Perception
      • Visual Perception, Culture, and Rhetoric
      • Visual Rhetoric
      • Visuals for Technical Communication
      • World War I Propaganda
    • The Great I, Robot Discussion
      • I, Robot Short Essay Topics
    • The Rhetoric of Video Games: A Cultural Perspective
      • Civilization, an Analysis
    • The Sopranos
    • Why Science Fiction?
    • Zombies and Consumption Satire

Contact Me

Office: Fretwell 280F
Phone: 704.687.0613
Email: atoscano@uncc.edu
ENGL 6166: Rhetorical Theory » February 3rd: Aristotle’s On Rhetoric Books 2 and 3 » Aristotle’s On Rhetoric, Book 2

Aristotle’s On Rhetoric, Book 2

Although we could spend an entire semester on each of the three books in On Rhetoric, we aren’t doing that. I encourage you to reread Aristotle (and all our readings) at different points in your lives in the future. Not only will that help you better understand and remember the readings, but you will most likely find the you experience the texts differently and can relate them to new circumstances.

Aristotle Highlights

Book 2 moves us into a discussion on the means of persuasion, and Aristotle continues as “the great organizer” and catalogs how to use and what to use when delivering oratory. Book 2 appears to me to focus on ways of demonstrating/delivering arguments, but it also provides insight into Aristotle’s views of government (democracy, tyranny, politics) and his elitism. Notice how often education comes up as important for citizens.

As our friend Kennedy points out, this section is one of “the earliest systematic discussion[s] on human psychology” (p. 113–2nd ed).

We don’t have to follow the list below (at all or in order), but I’m offering these categories as themes to consider.

  • Disposition of audiences
  • Emotions
  • Probabilities
  • Topics
  • Education
  • Youth Behavior

Themes to Consider

Disposition of audiences:

  • Friendly vs. Calm: “…for things do not seem the same to those who are friendly and those who are hostile, nor [the same] to the angry and the calm but either altogether different or different in importance” (2.1.4, 1378a, Kennedy p. 112; Part 1, para. 2 [middle] Online)
  • The entitled elite: “And people think they are entitled to be treated with respect by those inferior in birth, in power, in virtue, and generally in whatever they themselves have much of” (2.2.7, 1379a, Kennedy p. 117; Part 2, para. 4 Online)
    • Let’s read the rest of 2.2.7-8 (and the “8” is missing in Kennedy’s 2nd ed on p. 118).
      • Is Aristotle adding his belief on entitlement or just stating an accurate observation?
      • In other words, is Aristotle claiming that the “superior” have a right to expect the respect of the “inferior.”
  • “[People are also calm] toward those who humble themselves toward them and do not contradict them; for they seem to admit being inferiors, and inferiors are afraid, and no one who is afraid belittle. That anger ceases toward those who humble themselves is evident even in the case of dogs, who do not bite those sitting down” (2.3.6, 1380b, Kennedy p. 122; Part 3, para. 2 [middle] Online)
  • People are generally bad: “Since most people are rather bad, slaves of profitmaking and cowardly in danger, being at the mercy of another is in most cases a cause of fear” (2.5.7, 1382b, Kennedy p. 129; Part 5, para. 1 [middle] Online)
    • “for human beings usually do wrong when they can” (2.5.8, 1382b, Kennedy p. 129)
    • Compare to “And since most men tend to be bad-slaves to greed, and cowards in danger-it is, as a rule, a terrible thing to be at another man’s mercy; and therefore, if we have done anything horrible, those in the secret terrify us with the thought that they may betray or desert us. And those who can do us wrong are terrible to us when we are liable to be wronged; for as a rule men do wrong to others whenever they have the power to do it” (Part 5, para. 1 [middle] Online, italics mine)
    • Logical demonstration: “And [people fear] those [that seem a cause of fear] to others who are stronger than they are; for they could harm them more if they could even harm those who are stronger” (2.5.10, 1382b, Kennedy p. 129; Part 5, para. 1 [middle] Online)
    • Compare to “We also fear those who are to be feared by stronger people than ourselves…” (Part 5, para. 1 [last third])
      • Major Premise: People fear those who can harm them.
        Minor Premise: Strong people can harm weaker people.
        Conclusion: Therefore, people fear those stronger than themselves.
      • Slightly related to the Transitive Axiom of equality in Algebra: If a = b and b = c then a = c. {Found memories, huh?}
  • Shame: “Since shame is imagination [phantasia] about a loss of reputation and for its own sake, not for its results…a person feels shame toward those whose opinion he takes account of” (2.6.14, 1384a, Kennedy p. 134; Part 6, para. 2 Online)

Justice and Revenge:

  • Indignation and envy: “…for example, no good person would be distressed when parricides and bloodthirsty murderers meet punishment; for it is right to rejoice in such cases, as in the case of those who deservedly fare well; for both are just things and cause a fair-minded person to rejoice” (2.9.4, 1387a, Kennedy p. 142; Part 9, para. 1 [middle] Online)
    • But what about envy?
    • How about when good things happen to awful people?
  • Nouveau riche: “Since what is long established seems close to nature, necessarily people are indignant at those having the same advantage if they have recently gotten it and do well because of it; for the newly rich cause more annoyance than those wealthy a long time and by inheritance” (2.9.9, 1387a, Kennedy p. 142; Part 9, para. 1 [middle] Online)
    • What assumptions must one have to believe the above two passages? Is Aristotle saying old money is better? Would that go over well with his audience? Would they, perhaps, be predisposed to believe it?
  • “…for justice is better than music” (2.9.11, 1387a, Kennedy p. 142; Part 9, para. 2 [very end] Online)

Emotions:

  • “The emotions [pathē] are those things through which, by undergoing change, people come to differ in their judgments and which are accompanied by pain or pleasure, for example, anger, pity, fear and other such things and their opposites.” (2.1.8, 1378a, Kennedy p. 113; Part 1, para. 2 Online)

Probabilities:

  • “And if what usually precedes has preceded [what usually follows will probably happen]; for example, if it is cloudy, there is a probability it will rain” (2.19.24, 1393a, Kennedy p. 160; unfortunately, the Online version cuts off at Part 16…)
    • Most scientists will explain that they demonstrate probabilities as opposed to proving universals.
    • This is important to point out because Aristotle’s idea here will be the basis for science. {For the record, this might be too much to attribute to Aristotle, but it’s important for thinking about the rhetoric of science, specifically the way scientists establish knowledge.}

Topics:

There are 28 topics, so we could spend an entire class on them. Perhaps we should discuss which ones most interest you (2.23.1-30, 1397a-1401a, Kennedy pp. 172-184; … )

  • “Topic 13: From the Consequence….since in most instances it happens that something good and bad follows from the same [cause]. For example, being envied is an evil result of being educated, but the wisdom [acquired] is a good thing” (2.23.14, 1399a, Kennedy pp. 178-179; … )
    • Story of my life…
  • “Topic 21: From the implausible….for people accept facts or probabilities as true; if, then, something were implausible and not probable, it would be true; for it is not because of probability and plausibility that it seems true [but because it is a fact]” (2.23.22, 1400a, Kennedy pp. 181; … )
    • This is quite a bizarre one. What can we compare it to?
    • I sort of think a statement like, “it’s so preposterous that it couldn’t be made up” gets at this point.
    • Truth is stranger than fiction. However, there’s a lot of strange fiction out there!
  • “Topic 24: From cause and effect….if the cause exists, so does the effect; if it does not, there is no effect. The cause and that of which it is the cause go together, and without cause there is nothing.” (2.23.25, 1400b, Kennedy pp. 182; … )
  • “Refutative enthymemes are better liked [by audiences] than demonstrative ones because the refutative enthymeme is a bringing together of opposites in brief form” (2.23.30, 1400b, Kennedy pp. 184; … )

Education:

  • “Now people want to be admired by those and admire those who have something good in the way of honors….and they take account of prudent people as telling the truth, and their elders and educated people are of such a sort. (2.6.16-17, 1384b, Kennedy p. 134; Part 6, para. 2 [close to top] Online)
  • “The kind of people who think they might suffer…those who have been educated; for they are discerning (2.8.4, Kennedy p. 139; Part 6, para. 1 [middle] Online)
  • The uneducated and the educated: “This is the reason why the uneducated are more persuasive than the educated [when speaking] before crowds…for [the educated] reason with axioms [koina] and universals, [the uneducated] on the basis of what [particulars] they know and instances near their experience” (2.22.3, 1396a, Kennedy p. 169; … )

Youth Behavior:

  • “The young are prone to….the desires of the body[, and] they are most inclined to pursue that relating to sex and they are powerless against this. (2.12.3, Kennedy p. 149; Part 12, para. 2 Online)
  • Contrast with the old…
    • “People who are older and more or less past their prime have characters that are for the most part opposite of these” youths (2.13.1, Kennedy pp. 151-152; Part 13, para. 1)
  • Contrast with those in their prime…
    • “It is evident that those in the prime of life will be between the young and old in character” (2.14.1, Kennedy pp. 152-153; Part 14, para. 1)

What else can we discuss?

Forge Ahead on Book 3 of On Rhetoric

Let’s head to Book 3 now. Maybe trying to discuss both books was too ambitious…Remember, these readings are supposed to be advantageous for critical thinking–just like topoi, critical thinking isn’t specific to any single discipline.

Skip to toolbar
  • Log In