The Exploration of Rhetoric in Movie Speeches

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In nearly every movie ever made, the use of rhetoric is present. From war films, to comedies, to the increasingly popular vampire romance flicks, persuasion by communication will always be seen. Rhetoric plays a huge role in movies. People are intrigued, moved, and informed due mainly to rhetorical arguments used throughout movies. From the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, rhetoric is defined as “the art of speaking or writing effectively.” This is, although, a very broad definition. In Aristotle’s Rhetoric, he gives great detail to the criteria of effective Rhetoric. In book 1, chapter 2, Aristotle elaborates on logos, pathos, and ethos. He calls them the “three means of effective persuasion.” Logos means to “reason logically.” Ethos: to “be able to understand human character and goodness in their various forms,” and pathos: “to understand the emotions that is, to name them and describe them, to know their causes and the way in which they are excited.” Using this criteria that Aristotle gives, movies and movie speeches can be evaluated by how persuasive and thought provoking they are. In this paper, three movie speeches will be thoroughly analyzed using Aristotle’s criteria of logos, pathos, and ethos. The first speech being analyzed comes from the movie The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Near the end of the movie, Aragorn (played by actor Viggo Mortensen) addresses the army prepared to fight against the evil enemy. Aragorn’s goal during this speech is to give his men confidence and courage to stand up and fight against the enemy, in hopes of distracting the dark lord from noticing that the two hobbits are getting close to destroying the one ring ring that keeps the enemy alive. Although Aragorn knows they are outnumbered, Aragorn is determined to motivate the men of the west to fight for the greater good; the existence of man. “Hold your

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