Author/Speaker
According to Wayne C. Booth, an author who has adopted an appropriate rhetorical stance can not only change our minds, but also “engages us in the process of thinking—and feeling— through." To find the appropriate stance, authors/speakers must be acutely aware of their own persona, strengths, weaknesses, and communication style, as well as their audience’s character and needs. Authors accomplish this awareness both consciously and unconsciously.
Humans develop an unconscious understanding of rhetorical stance as they develop their communication skills and style throughout their lives by learning how and to whom to express themselves to get what they want or need. This process becomes a purposeful undertaking when authors and speakers analyze a rhetorical situation for a deeper understanding of their own ethos, their topic, and the subtleties of their audience’s needs. To control their style and tone, authors must be aware of their persona—the encapsulation of their relevant demographics, their knowledge of and experiences with the topic, and their own peculiarities of thought and style. To establish a credible ethos, authors must consciously build their rhetorical presentation on this self-awareness. Evidenced in a study done by psychology and linguistic scholars Hatch, Hill, and Hayes, the importance of the reader’s perception of the author is essential to “the way readers respond to a text".
Read more about this topic: Rhetorical Stance
Famous quotes containing the words author and/or speaker:
“An author who speaks about his own books is almost as bad as a mother who talks about her own children.”
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881)
“If the oarsmen of a fast-moving ship suddenly cease to row, the suspension of the driving force of the oars doesn’t prevent the vessel from continuing to move on its course. And with a speech it is much the same. After he has finished reciting the document, the speaker will still be able to maintain the same tone without a break, borrowing its momentum and impulse from the passage he has just read out.”
—Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 B.C)