Persuasive Arts; Rhetoric

A series of seminars designed to equip talented students with the stylistic techniques needed to master the art of public address and presentation.

  • Age Groups

    This program is offered to students in grades 9-12.

  • Sessions

    This program features 12 sessions, each at a length of 2 hours.

  • Format

    This program is offered solely as private mentorship with in-person and online lessons.

Program Overview

Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It’s what politicians, advertisers, lawyers, and salespeople use to say the right thing at the right time. It’s also more critical to a complete education than you might expect. Once taught as an essential discipline to students in Ancient Greece, Rome, India, and China, rhetoric was as basic an educational assumption as math or language arts. Today it is largely a lost and esoteric art, reserved for communications students and those diligent enough to cull through heaps of online content on the matter. An education in rhetoric lends to a sophisticated, emotionally intelligent, and logically cogent approach to interpersonal and public communication.

Articula’s private mentorship in Rhetorical Arts is an intensive 6-week program designed to develop and refine students’ approach to communication with personal appeal, expressive language, logical rigidity, and temporal appropriacy. Beginning with our customary seminar on empathy, students will first discover the value of individually-tailored communication and learn to analyze others in crafting the right message. After a detailed introduction to contemporary rhetoric, students will first master the three rhetorical tenses. The second quarter of the program features the rhetorical trifecta of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos, each to be later revisited in more depth after a foray into the use of rhetorical devices. Following a seminar detailing the art of redefinition, students will conclude the program with a discussion of communicating ethical sophistication in rhetorical pursuits..

Rhetoric is intended to make ideas more attractive, appealing, and even logically irrefutable. Students can benefit from amplified charisma, critical thinking skills, and the lucrative ability to communicate abstract ideas into persuasive speech and writing. For centuries, rhetoric has remained the foremost art of linguistic precision and evaluative reasoning. In contemporary times, it’s an uncommon and largely misunderstood skill, the mastery of which can differentiate students and professionals in unimaginable ways.

Experiential Learning Policy

Despite that our programs are professionally designed, conceptually comprehensive, and expertly delivered by experienced instructors, interpersonal skill development isn’t complete without extensive practice opportunities and robust feedback procedures. Articula proudly prioritizes the participative demonstration of program materials through activities as well as stipulated standards for interactivity between instructors and participants. Feedback criteria are comprehensive and vary with lesson content and corresponding learning objectives. Students are provided with instructor-issued feedback forms for review and further independent development. Parents are welcome to request further consultation with instructors as to a student’s progress in any one of our programs.

  • Seminar one features a comprehensive and detailed introduction to the persuasive art of rhetoric. Students will first discover the use of rhetoric throughout history, learning that many of their favorite public figures and artists leverage it in their speech and works. They will then develop an introductory understanding of the rhetorical trifecta of ethos (persuasive character), pathos (persuasive emotion) and logos (persuasive logic). Finally, students will learn of the three rhetorical tenses to be elaborated on in the following seminar. Rhetoric is conveyed to students as a power; the alchemy of words and the source of persuasion.

  • Seminar three features a comprehensive discussion of rhetorical tenses, otherwise referred to as temporal orientation. Students will first discover the application of forensic rhetoric (past-tense), demonstrative rhetoric (present-tense), and deliberative rhetoric (future-tense) in domains including conflict management and politics. They will then fixate on deliberative rhetoric as a method to frame criticism as opportunity and promises as depictions of a better future. Despite that each rhetorical tense is viable in its own respect, future-oriented speech is underscored as the ideal and maximally productive and persuasive of the three.

  • Seminar three features a comprehensive discussion of Ethos, the persuasive use of character and credibility, with a focus on personal branding. Students will first recognize the value of cultivating a consistent and perceptible “brand” through which they interact with others. They will then discover the four Ps of Ethos, namely Principle, Propriety, Professionalism, and Philanthropy. Finally, students will reflect on how they would ideally like to be seen by others, and asked to think of descriptors and qualities they might want to be known for. These will be instrumental in the creation of their personal brand report.

  • Seminar four features a comprehensive discussion of Pathos, the persuasive use of emotion, with a focus on storytelling and emotive language. Students will first discover that the decisions and judgements of others are typically made on a primarily emotional basis, and that this propensity is often leveraged in speeches, advertisements, and other forms of communication. They will then be guided through the best practices of emotional appeal across communicational contexts, with demonstrations in public speaking, marketing, and political messaging applications to promote practical understanding.

  • Seminar five features a comprehensive discussion of Logos, the persuasive use of logic, with a focus on critical thinking through argumentation and reasoning. Students will first discover the critical and oft-misunderstood distinction between opinion, fact, and truth. They will then be introduced to formal argumentation via discussions of inductive and deductive reasoning, logical inference, necessity and sufficiency, and above all, argumentative structure. Finally, students will engage in a formal debate on a sufficiently controversial yet apolitical debate wherein they can practically apply their newly-acquired logical skillset.

  • The program’s culminating seminar features a comprehensive discussion of ethical sophistication. Students will first discover the true meaning of ethics in detail - that is, the moral principles and values that guide human behavior. They will then become familiar with the levels of ethical sophistication, particularly principally-derived ethical standards. In the rhetorical context, ethical sophistication can be used in persuasive applications to bolster one’s Ethos, a concept discussed at length throughout the seminar series. The program will conclude with a roadmap for further development as well as opportunities to practice persuasive arts.