Chapter 6: Thinking and Analyzing Rhetorically
6.9 Caring Through Rhetoric
Mackenzie Rossero
People share through stories. “How was your day?” “What happened?” “How did it go?” These are the sort of questions we ask each other day-to-day. They lead to recounts of this or that – the retelling of a shared experience. But why do we ask? Why does it matter? Because we care. When we care, we invest. When we are invested, we allow ourselves to be drawn in.
Consider this: When appealing to an audience, what is the most important thing?
You could answer this question a few different ways. Maybe the answer is thorough research. Maybe the answer is delivery — a well-practiced speech or well-edited essay. While both things are important, I’d argue that the “most important thing” has nothing to do with your preparation or how you present your ideas. Just like the friend hearing about your bad day or the partner celebrating in your success, the most important thing is having an audience who cares.
If you aren’t talking to your friend or partner, this caring might not be inherent. You might need to convince someone that they should care, and there’s one strategy that you’ve probably learned about before: persuasion.
In academic writing, we are told that everything we write should have the ultimate goal of persuasion. This is true. You persuade someone to side with your argument, to agree with your thesis, or to support your research. When you go to draft an essay, many prompts even mention persuasion specifically.
As you might already know, persuasion often boils down to a series of strategies referred to as rhetoric.
Rhetoric is all about how the treatment of tone, logic, emotion, and timing can sway someone to your side. Using rhetoric, you persuade your audience with statistics and facts, heart-warming and heart-wrenching ideas — things that encourage them to care. It matters less what people care about (a cause, an idea, a person, etc.), so long as they care about something.
A Rhetorical Problem/Situation #1 – Persuasive Essay
You are tasked with convincing an audience/readership that they should raise money for a group of shelter animals that are not adoptable. These “forever fosters” are not adoptable for a variety of reasons, dealing with illness, temperament, etc. For the same reasons, these animals are less marketable — adopting is not an option. But the shelter still must support them for however long they live, and they are desperate for funding.
First, let’s consider how you might persuade an audience using rhetoric, as you’ve been taught to do in academic settings.
After doing proper research, you might find an emotional anecdote to support the idea that “forever fosters” are pets who have experienced consistent hardship. You might locate statistics explaining how much money it takes for a shelter to support just one “forever foster.” You might publish your essay on National Animal Shelter Day to raise awareness and increase visibility. In doing these three things, you are leaning on the rhetorical strategies of pathos, logos, and Kairos, respectively.
In combining these tactics, you are persuading your audience, as you’ve been taught to do. But, more plainly, you are making your audience care.
These lessons don’t just apply to an essay. They apply to everything we do. It’s the reminder that when people care, they listen. They invest. They can be persuaded. So, understanding the power of caring, how might you employ these persuasion tactics outside of the academic world?
A Rhetorical Problem/Situation #2 – Social Media Platforms
You have the same “forever fosters” topic and the same goal. But, instead of an academic essay, your platform is social media. How would you achieve the same results and make your audience care?
Our tried-and-true rhetorical strategies still apply, but they look a little different.
You might lean on Kairos the same way, posting on National Animal Shelter Day. But, as with an Instagram reel, you must get your audience’s attention – fast. You could do this with a photo of a “forever foster” and a phrase that leans on pathos – something like “Have you ever been homeless, with no way to take care of yourself?” Then, that statistic could flash on screen – “X% of foster animals aren’t adoptable. It takes $Y to care for each one.” This grips your viewer. It makes them care. Then, by the time you say “Shelters need your help,” they already have their credit card out to donate.
You are leaning on the same strategies you’ve learned in class: pathos, logos, ethos, Kairos. You’re just applying them beyond the classroom.
But, whether you get there by reel, essay, or blog, the goal stays the same: Make someone care.
A Rhetorical Problem/Situation #3 – TV and Book Fandoms
A fandom, or a group of people who are very enthusiastic about a team, story, or similar, can be a powerful thing. Fandoms wear merchandise, attend events, and generally support anything that involves their TV show or book series. But why?
They care.
In reading or watching, the fandom has grown to care. They identify with the characters. They sympathize with the stories. They cheer when there is success and despair when there is loss. Because of this caring, they talk about their fandoms, which in turn help the fandom grow. With such a large foundation, companies can market to these fandoms with theme parks (such as Universal’s The Wizarding World of Harry Potter) and events (like Comic-Con or other meet-and-greets). The fandom shows up, each and every time.
This is the power of caring. You might not write a NYT Bestselling series like The Hunger Games, or produce a show like Supernatural, but you might be able to make someone care about something else. And, the strategies that you’ve been taught in high school or English Composition aren’t useless. If you ask me, they are actually useful.
