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:
“...there was the annual Fourth of July picketing at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. ...I thought it was ridiculous to have to go there in a skirt. But I did it anyway because it was something that might possibly have an effect. I remember walking around in my little white blouse and skirt and tourists standing there eating their ice cream cones and watching us like the zoo had opened.”
—Martha Shelley, U.S. author and social activist. As quoted in Making History, part 3, by Eric Marcus (1992)
“There is also this benefit in brag, that the speaker is unconsciously expressing his own ideal. Humor him by all means, draw it all out, and hold him to it.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)