The use of language is specific and intentional. The language in the article is a proponent of understanding and of the exigence. Language is used throughout the article that enables readers to understand without the use of a medical dictionary. For example, the author uses the phrase “some other sort of dental disease” instead of listing the specific medical terminology.
Language is also used to stress the exigence through the use of pathos, logos, and ethos. Pathos is used in the article through different aspects of language. Language is used that appeals to the readers emotions by making the need stressed in the article personal to the reader. Language such as “you are brushing” and “your pet” instill a feeling of responsibility in the reader (Wynn, 2003). Pathos is also used by appealing to the fear of a pet’s death that many animal owners, and thus many readers, have through the term “life threatening.”
Logos is the sense of reason used in communication. The exigence of the article is reinforced through reason by describing in great detail the logical need for dental care in animals. The article also states that “A dental is a short procedure, however, and with today’s safe anesthetics, should not be a major cause for concern.” (Wynn, 2003) This is a statement of reason (logos), dissuading the reader from feeling any fear that will oppose the promoted concept. The sense of logos is also appealed to by listing references at the end of the article. This allows the reader to reason that the article is authentic and accurate. Ethos describes the aspects of communication that deal with character. The author of this piece gains a sense of ethos simply by her title. Her name is followed by “DVM”, showing that she is a licensed veterinarian. It is then assumed that her education and experience can validate her statements, making them trustworthy. Also, the article is worded in a way that sounds as though Wynn has the best interest of the readers cat or dog in mind, thus lending a feeling of goodwill.
| LaFrance | Elefson | Ennis | Jentz |
“Leading Agriculture Into the 21st Century” is printed. This slogan is also one of the constants in the letter’s format. It develops a sense of ethos right from the start by prompting the reader to feel that the following information has been written for their own benefit. It creates a sense of good-will over all, which appeals to the reader’s sense of trust, in important concept when dealing with the market.
Progressive Ag follows the same basic format for each newsletter that is sent out. It’s basic function is to give an overall synopsis of what the market has done in the
past two week period, and more importantly, it reiterates ProAg’s recommendations for actions in the market. They accomplish this by appealing to the reader’s visual and verbal needs. The letter is divided into sections; one for each crop, one for pertinent information of the time frame, and one for the overall recommendation summary. The overall summary, including a chart-visual, and a numbered list, is the first section. This sparks the reader’s interest in the subject matter, and it brings questions in their minds, which are then answered in the sections that follow. This stategy of question and answer creates a sense of logos by convincing and solidifying the usefulness and truthfulness of the ideas.
Each category is emphasized with bold headings, for example, CORN: ESTIMATES FOR HUGE CROP KEEPS PRESSURE ON MARKET. Within these categories is a summary of that commodity’s performance, fundamental news, and ProAg’s recommendations. The goal is to inform the reader of new information and give them a suggestion of how to implement that into their trading plans. A sense of pathos is created here. Although the recommendations are technically meant to be a guide for the customer to follow, Progressive Ag does hope that they actually do follow their advice because they believe it is the correct response to the market. Therefore, they create a “relaxed disposition” in order to appeal to the audience to actually do what is recommended.
Along with the verbal rhetorics, graphs are also inserted within the categories to give a visual aspect to the letter. Progressive Ag understands that some of their
readers would rather look at a graph explaining the market’s performance. Others like to use this as a supplement to the reading. This reiterates the sense of logs by adding to the competency of ProAg and solidifying their position.
With these rhetorical qualities, the newsletter is a written document that serves as a useful tool for customers. It uses the three sense of ethos, pathos, and logos in a structured, orderly method of written presentation. Progressive Ag’s goal is to use this piece of literature twice per month to appeal to their customers’ personal needs regarding their marketing services. The newsletter accomplishes this in a compact fashion, using the rhetorical communication methods discussed above.
| LaFrance | Elefson | Ennis | Jentz |
Upon further analysis of this document, it can be understood that the audience of this document is typically other physicians and nurses. In fact, when patient enters a hospital and is examined, his/her diagnosis is often made by another physician whom has not physically
examined the patient. According to Dr. Burns, this is the most difficult aspect of his job, “organizing scattered bits of information to make a sequential story of the patient's illness/injury.” Since a diagnosis can often be made using this form alone, its audience is clearly a physician or a group of medical personnel working to help the patient, which gives the form its structure.
The patient history form is broken down into anatomical categories, which health care professionals are familiar with and allows for the elicitation of information regarding one aspect of a person’s body at a time. Although it begins with a brief informative section such as the patients name and address, the real essence of the document is lodged within these anatomical sections. Some examples of these anatomical subsections include cardiovascular, throat, gastrointestinal, and hematologic sections. These sections are what facilitate the physician to compose the patient’s story and determine what exactly has brought him/her into the doctor’s office.
Patient history forms call for information, so they are ready-made genres with built in "invention" devices calling for information under certain topoi. These topoi could be considered as comprehensiveness and accuracy. The comprehensive topos refers to the fact that patient history forms tend to complete and in-depth, extracting information from each individual anatomical structure, leaving almost nothing out. In contrast, the accuracy theme is evident in the fact that all patient histories need to be accurate as not to lead to an erroneous diagnosis, therefore in general, patient history forms tend to be both in-depth or comprehensive and accurate.
I have come to find that the exigence of this document can be thought of as the patient’s current symptoms, which have brought the patient in to determine the rhetorical situation, the
cause of the symptoms. It should be noted that it some cases the physician may be unable to determine the situation, or the actual illness of the patient. The patient history form is used as a rhetorical tool to help the physician conclude on the most probable and accurate diagnosis. Often a patient may present multiple exigencies, or symptoms. Many rhetorical situations, or illnesses, have many related symptoms and can slightly differ from person to person. A physician needs to be as careful as possible when presented a case in this manner, as not to misdiagnosis, or diagnosis the wrong ailment.
Analysis of this document leads to the apparent focus as the comprehensive medical history of the patient. A physician needs to know as much of the patient’s medical history as possible. For example, if a person comes to the ER complaining of shortness of breath, the physician needs to take an accurate history and determine many of the variables that could cause the illness. If the patient has been immunized to most of the common bacterial lung infections, but has a history of smoking two packs of cigarettes a day, the physician would most likely conclude the symptoms were related to smoking, such as lung cancer, rather than an infection such as tuberculosis. . After analysis of this document I have learned that although a patient’s medical history may seem slightly trivial, it is in fact very important. This sheet is an invaluable tool that physicians must analyze and determine what further tests are necessary for the patient to determine an accurate diagnosis. Also a physician must be able to look at this document and anticipate potential problems due to past medical experiences. Such a case would be if a patient is taking prescription medication for high blood pressure, this could have interactions with a number of other medications and the physician must distinguish this and stop the previous prescription before starting a new one.
The final conclusion I came to after analyzing this document is that nothing in a patient’s history can be taken for granted or assumed. All previous prescriptions, hospitalizations, and pertinent medical experiences need to be taken into account. Written and oral discourse skills of the physician must be highly tuned, as to elicit the most accurate story of the patient as possible. People’s lives are at stake and a physician needs to do the most accurate and precise work possible.
The final conclusion I came to after analyzing this document is that nothing in a patient’s history can be taken for granted or assumed. All previous prescriptions, hospitalizations, and pertinent medical experiences need to be taken into account. Written and oral discourse skills of the physician must be highly tuned, as to elicit the most accurate story of the patient as possible. People’s lives are at stake and a physician needs to do the most accurate and precise work possible.
| LaFrance | Elefson | Ennis | Jentz |
The document is geared toward the population as a whole, but has an emphasis toward those
with the most direct dealings with the bank, the employees and shareholders. In its
outset, the document begins by laying the groundwork and explanation for the decision
that were made. Information is presented about both of the institutions in the merger, in
order to create an open atmosphere about the dealings and the details of the transaction;
creating a foundation for the message based upon logos.
As the document progresses, we see a larger emphasis being put on the
implications of the decisions that have been made. During this progression, a shift to a
more emotional context is seen, relying on the audience’s sense of ethos. In order to
create a feeling of acceptance, portions of Community First’s motto, corporate
philosophies, and messages from the management of the corporations are included to
further justify that the expansion is in the best interests of the company and follows the
goals that had previously been set.
Throughout the document, a sense of ethos is created by the document’s use of
language that is common to those that are familiar with the subject. A restrained, sincere,
and fair-minded approach is taken when presenting this rather abrupt information which
helps to further that sense of competence and reliability.
References are repeatedly made to the shareholders and employees as the writer
helps to appeal to their audience. The concise nature of the presentation helps the
information flow well and not become a tedious effort. However, by restating bits of
pertinent information, the main points of the merger are emphasized and are explained in
such a way that appeals to all of those that have a sense of interest in the operations of
Community First and Bancwest. The document further explains the reason of the difficult
change by helping to emphasize the benefits that will be experienced as a result.
The aspects that have been mentioned previously seem to have a crucial bearing
on the success of the document as a whole. By appealing to the senses of ethos, pathos,
and logos, the writer has helped to facilitate an environment conducive to effective
communication. By using this method of presentation, the message is not only presented
in an informational manner, but it also allows for a covert explanation and possible
conflict resolution for the decision that was made.
Example of rhetorical analysis by Kelsey Elefson
Company documents can be written for many different causes, audiences, etc., but you can really get a handle on the way that organization communicates by taking a rhetorical approach to reading and examining their specific documents. For this report, I decided to review the newsletter that is sent out twice every month by Progressive Ag (APPENDIX). The newsletter is compiled by all of the employees at ProAg. Each one of them submits the portion of their expertise to give the letter a diversified, yet unified feel.
The newsletter has been given the title “Progressive Ag Marketline,” which is boldly printed at the top of every letter that is sent out. Directly above the title, the phrase Example of rhetorical analysis by Matthew Ennis
As already stated, the patient history form is of vital importance to the medical professional. This form is used by a physician when a patient first enters the medical establishment, whether it is the emergency room or family health care clinic. It gives the examiner the ability to circle or cross out things that patients have or don't have and allows records to be exchanged faster among other doctors. The main objective of this document is to identify and elaborate on any pertinent medical experiences that patient has previously experienced. This could include, but is not limited to, past surgeries and/or hospitalizations, past prescription medications taken, any known allergies, and known conditions that the patient might be afflicted with such as diabetes.
Example of rhetorical analysis by Michael Jentz
Through the analysis of a single document, much insight can be reached about
how a company communicates. In this paper, I will be looking at a press release that
describes the purchasing of Community First Bankshares by Bancwest (APPENDIX).