Putting Aristotle to the Proof: Style,Substance and the EPL Group

Abstract

Aristotle’s contention that rhetorical proof is effected by character through the persuader (ethos), by emotion through the persuadee (pathos) and through reasoning applied to the subject of persuasion (logos) suggests one way of teaching rhetoric. EPL (Ethos/Pathos/Logos) groups put in practice the three modes of proof as three roles to be enacted by students. This core concept of ‘Old’ (i.e. classical) Rhetoric also invites the application of ‘New’ Rhetorical (i.e. modern linguistic) methods to test its validity and enhance its usefulness. For example, schema theory is a common resource for all three roles: footing in discourse is used as a means of projecting ethos; deixis and functional sentence perspective both reinforce pathos; and meta discourse theory has close links to logos. The integrated use of these new techniques as coded and commented on by the three EPL representatives making up each group is exemplified by six of the joint projects completed in the final year of my experiment. It became easier for students, using this methodology, to think themselves into the position of a persuadee, to make the appropriate choice of linguistic means and to communicate these clearly and concisely with a view to discussion and evaluation.