'I did not think Aristotle would come up in this course.'

The expectation in an advanced college writing class is that we all are somewhat familiar with the traditions of rhetorical arguments. Things like the Aristotelian triangle and the academic approach to analysis (we are more interested in HOW the author created the argument than in our "gut-level" reactions to the argument) are two important "tools" that we all can use to write more clearly and effectively.

But I have often been reminded by students that they somehow missed those basics of rhetoric (and I suspect the truth may be that many students just were not required to use such rhetorical appeals and tactics enough to "fix" them in their brains).

I also know that it never hurts to review material we can make use of to be more successful in a writing course like this one.

Yesterday was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, as you are aware, and that reminded me of a cool document I found years ago that color-codes the primary rhetorical appeals used in Dr. King's famous "Letter From Birmingham Jail," written (remarkably) without any resources beyond Dr. King's memory, in 1963. 

Here is the link to that document, with the three "rhetorical appeals" (ethos, pathos, logos) plus inclusion of opposing views (sometimes called "concessions"). 

In Strategic Writing, our default is to focus on logos, with clear and well-researched evidence absolutely essential in supporting our claims, our suggestions, and our inquiries. But the mere fact that we write correctly and pay attention to effective document design is ethos in action. We consider pathos many times when we try to anticipate our readers' needs. And, as you will see as this class goes along, demonstrating that we understand the arguments of people who disagree with us is important to decision-makers who want to make certain that they have thought things through.