Rhetoric of Eating January 23, 2008

I have enjoyed seeing how everything around me is an argument. People present things in different ways. I have been wondering how rhetoric has affected me in purchasing certain food products, like my cereal. The color, the word font, the image of a strong woman on the front, etc. Pathos describes arguments from the heart. Relative to food, this can be seen in the way that sports drinks and power bars are promoted; it gives people a sense of accomplishing something that cannot otherwise be accomplished physically in such an easy way. It is the thought that buying a product will make one feel or be healthier. The way pizza is advertised is also a good example of the employment of pathos. Commercials for pizza include an environment of comfort with friends and family. Food and feelings are very much related. There are comfort foods that we all have. Ethos is argument based on character; the presentation of self that a writer or speaker brings to an argument. In the field of food and nutrition, credibility is important because there is a constant bombardment of messages, such as “loose weight now”. As consumers, we tend to see and buy products, sometimes without paying attention to the origin of the claims that the products are making and checking their credibility. Logos is employed in arguments of logic. Appeals to values, such as enviroment-friendly, can be used to promote food that logically will not harm the environment like organic food. In analyzing the rhetoric of writers, it is important to pay attention to what type of arguments are used to draw their audiences, the audience, and the effectiveness of their argument. Food advertising can be analyzed in such a way.

Great! January 15, 2008