Running head: RHETORICAL ANALYSIS 1

Rhetorical Analysis

Naila Chairez

RWS 1301

October 4, 2017
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Introduction

In pursuance of successfully identifying a valid argument, a rhetorical analysis should be

applied. A rhetorical analysis is a report that breaks down an article or book into sections and

explains how these sections work together to persuade or create an argument. A rhetorical analysis

should consist of understanding ethos, pathos, and logos. These are three artistic proofs that are

used to convince audiences. Ethos deals primarily with credibility, it means to convince someone

of what the author is arguing, also the author will show his audience that he is a credible source.

Pathos deals with emotions, the author uses pathos to make the audience feel what he wants them

to feel, it is a way of convincing an audience of an argument by creating an emotional response.

Logos is used by providing evidence and facts, it is concerned with the logic of the writers

argument, meaning that it is a way of persuading an audience by reason.

In this paper a rhetorical analysis of an article will be presented. The subject given by the

professor is access to technology and the article being analyzed is Teacher Pedagogical Beliefs:

The Final Frontier in our Quest for Technology Integration? by Peggy A. Ertmer (2005). The

rhetorical analysis will consist of an analysis of the argumentative style and understanding the

rhetorical appeals which are ethos, pathos, and logos.

Ertmer argues that even though the conditions for successful access to technology

integration appears to be at its best, training for teacher and high level technology is still very

low. Researches have concluded that the teachers beliefs have influenced a lot in teaching. This

means that some teachers are still not involving technology into their forms of teaching. In this

article the author argues that such research is very important and to begin with he presents an

overview of teacher pedagogical beliefs. After analyzing the inherent features of teacher beliefs
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the author of the article explains how it is that teachers should continue to develop new ideas and

integrate new concepts including access to technology, and future research.

Discussion

The appeal to ethos in this article is how the author establishes credibility and this article

presents a great amount of ethos. The author establishes credibility by being an expertise in

educational technology, also her article has more credibility because it was found in A scholar

cite and was published by Kluwer Academic Publishers. The authors appeal to ethos is very

strong and effective because she goes into depth explaining how it is that the teachers beliefs

have an impact in their technology practices by providing with evidence and knowledge about

the subject. Ertmer claims that if we truly hope to increase teachers uses of technology,

especially uses that increase student learning, we must consider how teachers current classroom

practices are rooted in, and mediated by, existing pedagogical beliefs (p. 36).

The appeal to pathos is to identify the emotions provoked by the article. This article did

not provoke any feelings. The author does not really make any emotional appeals. The authors

degree of appeal to pathos is very low, the author was not using pathos at all because even

though it is a persuasive article that involved beliefs it was more about technology and teachers

technology beliefs which in reality does not cause any emotions.

The appeal to logos consists in how the author supports her argument. The author

supports his argument by providing citations, facts, and statistics about the percent of teachers

that show preparation and interest in technology. The author states that a 2003 study of The

National Center for Education Statistics shows that only 37% of teachers expressed interest in

learning basic computer skills while over 80% expressed interest in learning how to integrate

computer technology into curricular areas, suggesting that the majority of current teachers have
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obtained minimum levels of technical competency (p. 25). The points that the author makes

include, purpose of the article; which is to examine the relationship between teachers

pedagogical beliefs and their technology practices. Second, definition of teacher beliefs, states

that there is confusion in determining the definition of teachers beliefs because some people say

that it refers to the knowledge they have but the author in this article specifies that teachers

beliefs refers to suppositions, commitments, and ideologies. Third, link between beliefs and

practice; Establishes evidence that teachers pedagogical beliefs influence their technology

practices. Ertmer states that Empirical studies have yielded quite consistent findings: A

teachers beliefs tend to be associated with a congruent style of teaching that is often evident

across different classes and grade levels (p. 29). Fourth nature of beliefs; describes that beliefs

come from previous personal experience or cultural sources of knowledge. Fifth how beliefs are

formed; beliefs can be created by social construction, intense experience, or a succession of

events. This is how such beliefs about technology are formed and because some teachers have

not had the experience of technology when they where younger they really do no agree with

using it. Sixth, how beliefs are changed, according to the strength of the belief can be changed by

making a conversion process and showing how technology may improve the teachers life.

Seventh implications for professional development; personal experiences, vicarious experiences,

and social-cultural influences can create a professional development. Finally, eight, implications

for research; suggestions for research have been implied in this article. Also in the article the

author has not incorporated any logical fallacies.

Overall appeals, consist in the tone of the author, counterarguments, audience, if the

article is persuasive, the aspects and unfamiliar words in the article. The tone of the article is

very consistent, the impact on the audience is that the author persuades and explains the reason
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behind it, also this article is a scholar article therefore it is considered that is has a consistent

tone. The author definitely includes counterarguments and she effectively refutes them. Most of

the counter arguments are found in definition of teachers beliefs. The author addresses the

definitions of two other people, then states what the real definition should be preferred. Ertmer

accepts the distinction suggested by Calderhead (1996) which states that while beliefs generally

refer to suppositions, commitments, and ideologies, knowledge refers to factual propositions and

understandings (p. 28).

This article is persuasive because the author clearly states that she is trying to persuade

teachers and others to agree with his argument in order to improve technology uses in teachers.

Not only that but she provides us with knowledge and valid arguments about the topic. In the

Norton field guide Bullock and Goggin (2016) state that when writing a rhetorical situation, the

audience should be considered. The audience in this article are university teachers and students.

The strongest aspect of this article is pedagogical beliefs and the weakest aspect of this article is

technology because the author spends more time explaining pedagogical beliefs, what they are,

how they appear, and how to manipulate them more than the technology practices. Unfamiliar

words that were looked up are; vicarious; experience which means behavior derived from seeing

the performance of others. Affect-based beliefs are beliefs formed from experience.

Epistemological is relating to the theory of knowledge. Daunting, which is difficult, idiosyncratic

means peculiar or individual, and student and teacher centered.

Conclusion

In conclusion a persuasive content implies many rules and requisites to qualify as

persuasive article. The article Teacher Pedagogical Beliefs: The Final Frontier in our Quest for

Technology Integration? by Peggy A. Ertmer (2005), does meet all the requisites to be a
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persuasive article. The rhetorical analysis provided shows that the author properly follows the

three artistic proofs that used to convince audiences with the exception of pathos; the emotions

provoked by the author. Even though the author did not include pathos, the article is a persuasive

article in fact and meets most of the requisites. By analyzing and determining this articles

credibility we can ensure that each article has a precise message.

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References

Ertmer, P. A. (2005). Teacher Pedagogical Beliefs: The Final Frontier in our Quest for

Technology Integration? Educational Technology Research and Development, 53(4), 25-

39.

Bullock, R. H. (2016). The Norton Field Guide to Writing (Fourth Edition ed.). New York:

W.W. Norton & Company.