Evaluating the Use of the Classical Canons of Rhetoric in Two Selected Persuasive TED Talks: The Case of Ian Bremmer and Peter McIndoe’s Talks (2023)
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Date
2024-06
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Mouloud Mammeri University
Abstract
The current study is a rhetorical analysis of two selected persuasive TED talks delivered by Ian
Bremmer and Peter McIndoe during the annual event of 2023. The study aims to determine
whether the two speakers effectively conform to the canons of the classical rhetorical tradition.
In this attempt, two main objectives are established. First, it intends to identify the rhetorical
proofs deployed by each speaker relying on Aristotle’s rhetorical theory (320 B.C/ 1991).
Second, it attempts to evaluate their employment of the tenets of classical rhetoric through the
lens of Cicero’s framework of the five Canons of classical oratory (87 B.C./ 1949), namely
invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery. To this end, a mixed-methods approach is
adopted. Qualitative discourse analysis is used in pursuit of identifying the rhetorical proofs
construing each speech, qualitative content analysis of the transcripts and the recorded videos
is applied in order to evaluate the use of arrangement and style, memory and delivery, while
quantitative content analysis of the texts is used to consider invention. The results reveal that
both speakers have used the three rhetorical proofs of ethos, pathos, and logos in their
persuasive address, with a slight frailty in McIndoe’s logical appeal. While Bremmer has
effectively utilized all of the five Ciceronian tenets of rhetoric, McIndoe has efficiently
employed the canons of invention, arrangement and style, and has overlooked the canon of
memory, which has moderately affected his adherence to the principles of delivery.
Description
84p. : Ill. en coul. ; 30cm(+CD-Rom)
Keywords
canons of classical rhetoric, persuasive TED talks, rhetorical analysis, rhetorical proofs.
Citation
Language and Communication