Final answer:
The speaker's relationship to the audience in rhetoric involves understanding and strategically engaging the audience through selected rhetorical devices like ethos, logos, and pathos, with an aim to persuade or inform based on audience awareness and connections.
Step-by-step explanation:
The speaker's relationship to the audience in rhetoric is fundamental, as it determines the strategy and style of communication used. When considering rhetorical arguments, the speaker must understand the audience’s viewpoint to effectively persuade, inform, entertain, describe, or explain. This understanding allows the speaker to select appropriate rhetorical devices, such as ethos, logos, and pathos. The speaker may aim to create a connection with the audience, using shared cultural understandings or presenting new perspectives to either a skeptical audience or one that largely aligns with the speaker's viewpoint.
Rhetorical awareness includes the concepts of author, message, and audience. An effective rhetoric considers these elements to establish audience awareness and engage listeners. A speech like Martin Luther King Jr.’s "I Have a Dream", for instance, is noted for its strong connection with the audience and its lasting impact on civil rights movements. When crafting a speech or writing, the purpose, context, and intended audience dictate the composition’s organization and the presentation modes.
Overall, in rhetoric, the speaker or writer aims to persuade the audience to adopt a certain viewpoint. This can be achieved by considering the ideas, experiences, and arrangement of the presentation tailored to the audience’s predispositions and the intended purpose of the communication.