ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book attempts to mix the two sets of scholarship toward a unifying theory of persuasive multimodal rhetoric and practice. Rhetoric may be considered an art, but it is influenced by science. While pointing to rhetoric as an art, Aristotle made the connection between rhetoric and biology. A growing body of scholarship in cognitive neuroscience is helping politicians, marketers, and attorneys understand why certain messages and how they are presented affect an audience a certain way. The book also seeks to make the connections between the rhetorical choices and a growing understanding of neuroscience explicit by linking the different disciplinary fields using concepts familiar to both but that are not explicitly stated in the literature of neuroscience. It describes the theoretical model; and provides analyses of cases related to it.
