Introductions

• Informing the audience of the subject of discourse
  • Introduction Inquisitive—to show that our subject is important, curious, or interesting
  • Introduction Paradoxical—to show that, although the points we are trying to establish seem improbable, they must after all be admitted.
  • Introduction Corrective—to show that our subject has been neglected, misunderstood, or misrepresented.
  • Introduction Preparatory—to explain an unusual mode of developing our subject; or to forestall some misconception of our purpose; or to apologize for some deficiencies.
  • Introduction Narrative—to rouse interest in our subject by adopting the anecdotal lead-in.
• Ingratiating Oneself with the Audience
• Convince the audience that the author is qualified to present on the subject
• Counteract the prejudices or misconceptions about the author or the subject
  • Deny the charges that have constructed the prejudices against them
  • Admit the charges but deny their alleged magnitude
  • Cite a compensating virtue or action
  • Attribute the discrediting action to an honest mistake on their part or to an accident or to an inescapable compulsion
  • Cite others who were guilty of the same thing but were not so charged.
  • Substitute a different motive or cause for the one alleged.
  • Protest malicious insinuation in general.
  • Cite the testimony of those who take a different view of the matter.
  • Rouse hostility toward the opposite point of view (Corbett, 1990, p. 282-9)

Conclusions

• Inspire the audience with a favorable opinion of ourselves and an unfavorable opinion of the opposing perspective.
• Amplify the force of the points made in the previous section to extenuate the force of the points made by the opposition.
• Rouse the appropriate emotions in the audience.
• Restate in a summary the facts and arguments. (Corbett, 1990, p. 308)

Reference

Corbett, E. P. J. (1990). Classical rhetoric for the modern student
    (3rd ed.). New York: Oxford UP.