College Composition / Unit 28 CMP 0683 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Kairos
Captions available
The idea
Kairos is the sense of timing in persuasion: an appeal may succeed or fail depending on when it is made.
In practice
After a series of serious accidents on a freeway, an audience is more receptive to an argument for safety measures than it was before.
Where people slip
Analyzing kairos means asking why this argument appeared at this moment, for this audience.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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