"The Ethos of Mark Driscoll: A Summary of an Undergraduate Thesis"
Benjamin SherickBenjamin Sherick graduated from the University of Calgary in 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts - Honours First Class in Communication Studies and a minor in Religious Studies. His academic interests include rhetoric, pop culture, music, and religion. He currently resides in Alberta with his wife.
Contents |
Theory & Method: Rhetorical Analysis and InterviewsGenerating the Unit Rhetorical AnalysisRhetorical analysis is “the process of systematically investigating and explaining symbolic acts and artifacts for the purpose of understanding rhetorical processes” (Foss, 1996, pp. 6-7). Foss (1996) explains that this type of analysis focuses on symbolic acts such as speech. It also aims to understand the rhetorical processes at work within the symbolic act (p. 7). Preaching is an oral form, and therefore qualifies under Foss’s definition of a symbolic act. Since the aim of this project was to understand the function of ethos (an element of the rhetorical process) in preaching, rhetorical analysis was a natural fit. This project used a generative criticism as described by Foss (1996). Generative criticism involves the generation of a unit of analysis by the critic (Foss, 1996, p. 484). The unit of analysis is the theoretical and conceptual lens through which the critic examines the artifact (Foss, 1996, p. 483). To generate a unit of analysis, I selected the theories and concepts of persuasion, identification, ethos, intrinsic ethos, and extrinsic ethos, to help “explain significant features of the artifact” (Foss, 1996, p. 484). These theories were then applied to the artifact PersuasionRhetoric is primarily concerned with modes of persuasion. Simons (2011) succinctly defined persuasion as “human communication designed to influence the judgments and actions of others” (p. 24). Persuasion is the act of influencing another towards a change in decision or behavior. It is not merely trying to change a person’s mind; it often involves getting them to act in a specific manner. Simons’s definition of persuasion was relevant to this project, as “What Are the Scriptures?” is Driscoll’s attempt to influence the congregation’s judgment and actions. Driscoll attempts to persuade the congregation that the Bible is an authoritative and trustworthy book. Driscoll also attempts to persuade the congregation to engage in one simple act: read the Bible. In so doing, Driscoll attempts to persuade in a more subtle way. He hopes to influence their thinking about Christianity, to the end of seeing people converted. IdentificationUnder the umbrella of rhetoric and persuasion is Kenneth Burke’s concept of identification. In A Rhetoric of Motives, Burke (1969) acknowledged that persuasion has been the traditional goal of rhetoric, while suggesting that identification might be an additional rhetorical motive (p. xiv). Burke (1969) suggested identification was a necessary first step towards persuasion, famously writing, “You persuade a man only insofar as you can talk his language by speech, gesture, tonality, order, image, attitude, idea, identifying your ways with his” (p. 55). Burke showed that rhetorical communication depends on commonality. Two people communicate only when they share a common language. Persuasion is no different, except in addition to common language, the speaker and the listener must speak the same “language” of values, ideas, etc. Through this shared “language,” the rhetor finds alignment with the audience, allowing them to more easily follow the rhetor towards persuasion. This process is known as identification. Building on the work of Burke and others, Woodward (2003) concisely defined identification as “The conscious alignment of oneself with the experiences, ideas, and expressions of others: a heightened awareness that a message or gesture is revisiting a feeling or state of mind we already ‘know’” (p. 5). Central to this definition is the idea that the audience must be aligned with the speaker. Once common ground has been established, the audience is more easily persuaded. The concept of identification acknowledges that rhetoric is not a one-sided process. Rather, there is interplay between the rhetor and the audience. While the rhetor uses rhetoric to determine the available means of persuasion and then employs those means to construct a persuasive argument, the audience must interpret the argument. The audience is not merely a receiver of the message; they are the interpreters of the message. Woodward (2003) states, “Audiences are the ‘judges’ of messages” (p. 6). The audience always enters the rhetorical situation with certain expectations. They hold presuppositions about what constitutes a valid and compelling argument, based on their worldviews and beliefs. They also hold presuppositions about what constitutes credibility in a speaker. A key component in the process of fostering identification is fulfilling the expectations of the audience. Woodward (2003) writes, “Expectations affirmed are often identifications. Expectations denied are potential sources of alienation” (p. 14). Speakers must affirm their own credibility and gain identification by meeting the audience’s expectations in order to be persuasive. This project sought to understand how the audience’s interpretation of Mark Driscoll as a rhetor affects his ability to persuade. The concept of identification opened up the rhetorical process from a narrow view focused only on the rhetor’s strategies to a broad model that acknowledged the audience as interpreter. This allowed me to interrogate the audience’s interpretation of Driscoll as a rhetor. |