Analysis of Aristotles Rhetoric - Essay Example

Persuasion, which is a key aspect of rhetoric, implores the use of specific types of words and sentence structures in order to appeal to the emotions of the audience thereby influencing them to the ideas of the artists. Writing is an art that just like any other demands professionalism and appropriate use of the art features. Aristotle’s explanation of rhetoric provides artists with an objective view of writing as an art thereby underscoring the need for an author to have both and an objective and a purpose for writing.

This way, the author identifies a target audience and develops a piece that achieves authenticity. This requires the effective use of appropriate words in order to persuade the audience. Aristotle explains that rhetoric helps an article persuade the audience thereby convincing them to accept the ideas presented in the article. In order to achieve this, the author must have knowledge of the concept he or she explains and present them confidently and in a sequential manner thereby providing a progressive approach to the topic.

An emotional appeal occurs only if the author uses specific words that will facilitate the persuasion. The author may for example use suspense in developing a problem. This heightens the audience’s interest in the topical issue. Through suspense, the author provides the audience with a platform to develop a mental picture of the situation thereby validating the need for an urgent solution, which the article presents subsequently (Furley and Nehamas 32). This way, the author does not only obtain the attention of the audience thereby sustaining the readership of the article to a conclusion but also gains emotional appeal thereby persuading the vulnerable audience.

Vivid description is yet another technique that helps achieve emotional appeal by aiding the audience's ability to develop mental images of the problem. The cognitive theory posits that the audience's ability to recognize and identify features in an article increases their interest in an article thereby heightening the emotional appeal. Aristotle encourages the use of vivid description a feature that increases the audience's ability to remember the issues raised in the article. This helps increase the relevance of the article as the audience easily builds mental images of the situation as described vividly by the author.

Aristotle’s theory of emotional appeal is effective in increasing the readership of an article. However, the theory’s major limitation is the fact that it easily eliminates objectivity in an article. The author manages to convince an audience to accept a less factual concept provided he or she can present his explanation in a manner that appeals emotionally to the audience.