In my COMM 340
class on persuasion and advocacy, I learned about applying the framework of
Invitational Rhetoric through reading a scholarly article, looking at an in
class article and doing an experiential classroom learning activity. By doing
these three learning activities I learned how Invitational Rhetoric is present
within several of the shows used within the media to persuade and to advise the
public. By applying Invitational Rhetoric to a video clip of MTV'S If You
Really Knew Me (2010) I learned I can become more aware of how Invitational
Rhetoric is intertwined into many of the television shows I view within the
media on a daily basis. The media example I chose to do my media analysis on is
a video clip taken from an MTV show called If You Really Knew Me (2010). The
video clip is from episode eleven called "Rancocas Valley Regional High School". I chose
to analyze the "Challenge Day" section of the episode that takes
place at Rancocas Valley Regional High School; which is located within the state of New Jersey.
The video clip depicts an Invitational Rhetoric conversation with “a large
student body, primarily dominated by "jocks," "emos," and
"preps" (MTV,2010).
According to Foss and Littlejohn, Invitational Rhetoric is described as
"an invitation to understanding as a means to create a relationship rooted
in equality, immanent value, and self-determination. It constitutes an
invitation to the audience to enter the rhetor's world and to see it as the
rhetor does. Thus it is a form of communication designed to generate
understanding among individuals with different perspectives " (Foss & Littlejohn,
Chapter 1). Within this video clip of
MTV's If You Really Knew Me (2010) there are several examples of Invitational
Rhetoric that are acted out by the rhetor (the leader of the Challenge Day
group) and the rhetor's audience (the Rancocas Valley Regional High School students).
In the in class article called The
Rhetorical Triangle, Invitational Rhetoric is described as being a triangle and
each point relates to three rhetoric categories. "The three points on the
Rhetorical Triangle relate directly to the three classic appeals [one] should
consider when communicating. [They are:] [e]thos – Building trust by
establishing your credibility and authority (Writer), [p]athos – Appealing to
emotion by connecting with your audience through their values and interests
(Audience), and [l]ogos – Appeal to intelligence with well-constructed and
clearly argued ideas (Context)" (Mind Tools, 2016). Within this ten-minute
video clip there are several group activities that use the triangle model of
Invitational Rhetoric indirectly within them. For example, this can be seen within
the video clip though the influence each part has within the discussion topics
that the Rancocas Valley Regional High School audience members participate in.
Therefore, the use of Invitational
Rhetoric in this video clip is further influenced by the use of techniques used
by the rhetor (the leader of the Challenge Day group). For example, the use of
the rhetor building trust within the group of high school students by telling
his own personal story helps the Rancocas Valley Regional High School students to build their
trust of speaking out about their own life challenges they are currently
facing. This technique the rhetor uses also appeals to the high school
student's emotions by connecting their various values and interests together in
order to stop the presence of bullying from cliques inside their high school
setting. Last the rhetor uses intelligence and well-constructed idea scenarios
on how to connect the majority of the high school student audience who are from the
various clique groups together. By following the The Rhetorical Triangle, it
helps the rhetor to have an open dialog conversation that contains the various view points and perspectives from
the Rancocas Valley Regional High School audience. This is helpful because the high school audience is able
to feel more confident by inviting themselves to speak up individually in front of a multi perspective audience about their own personal
experiences of dealing with cliques and bullying in front of others. By using an
invitational rhetoric way of communication it will hopefully help those who may
feel like they cannot speak up in the group, by letting their thoughts become known to the larger
group.
In conclusion, the media utilizes
Invitational Rhetoric by applying these several examples of the Invitational
Rhetoric persuasion and advocacy framework into television programs to persuade
and advise the public. By analyzing Invitational Rhetoric and how it connects
to the persuasion and advocacy within this media use of a video clip, I also
learned I can become more aware of how this persuasion and advocacy framework
is used within many of the television shows I and others view on a daily basis.
References:
Littlejohn, S. W., & Foss, K. A. (n.d.). Chapter One: Invitational Rhetoric. In Encyclopedia of Communication Theory. Retrieved October 16, 2016, from http://www.sonjafoss.com
The Mind Tools Editorial Team, B. (n.d.). The Rhetorical Triangle: Making Your Writing Credible, Appealing, and Logical. Retrieved October 16, 2016, from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/RhetoricalTriangle.htm
The Mind Tools Editorial Team, B. (n.d.). The Rhetorical Triangle: Making Your Writing Credible, Appealing, and Logical. Retrieved October 16, 2016, from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/RhetoricalTriangle.htm
MTV. (2010). Episode 11
Rancocas Valley Regional High School Mt Holly , NJ[PDF].
Http://www.challengeday.org/mtv/.
MTV, T. (2012). THIS IS
CHALLENGEDAY! Retrieved October 16, 2016, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wcp8x9vtyKM
