Writing and Rhetoric and CLTs, Oh My!

Rhetoric is defined as "the art or skill of speaking or writing formally and effectively especially as a way to persuade or influence people"(merriam-webster dictionary) as well as being defined by Aristotle as “the faculty of observing in each case the available means of persuasion”(Sentell, 2013) Content Lexical Ties are defined as were explained in our video for this week as words that "tie" together content. In our review of the analysis written by Tim Collins for the British paper, The Guardian, of the speech given by Marie Fatayi-Williams, there were many examples of each. Collins in his introductory paragraph points out the pathos used by Marie in her appeal to the values of her audience. Later in his writing, Collins explains how ethos was used by Marie when describing her words as being as free from hatred as they were from self interest. Collins also used many content lexical ties (CLTs) in his writing as well. He often compares Marie’s speech to that of Shakespeare as well as to Churchill, Lincoln, and an address at the steps of the gallows. Later in his fourth paragraph he likens her language to verses of the bible. In his fifth paragraph he compares Marie herself to a knighted veteran of the Royal Shakespeare Company. In his sixth paragraph he speaks of Marie’s appeal to her audience as important and momentous. In his analysis of Marie’s speech, Tim Collins showed both the rhetoric of her speech as well as used CLTs to convey his own feeling about the speech as well as the speaker. It is obvious from the way he describes Marie and her message that her speech moved him as much as it did the nation that had just undergone such a horrible meaningless tragedy.