ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the rhetorical strategies in soap operas and identifies the use of “rhetrickery” (Booth 2004) and “rhetruth” (my term) in genre conventions, hidden persuasions, and appeals to vulnerable audiences. It presents the Aristotelian perspective on the linkage between rhetoric and drama to justify the application of rhetorical inquiry-generally restricted to analysis of narrated genres such as orations-to dramas, here considered a vehicle for persuasive messages. The messages are performed in front of an audience (rather than spoken to an audience), and in soap operas consist of visual aspects of the setting, Aristotle’s “spectacle,” as well as plots (characters in action) that include consumption scenarios. Product placements and depictions of negative lifestyles are examined in terms of “rhetrickery,” whereby naive or vulnerable audiences are exposed to hidden advertising plugs and alluring but unwholesome role models. In contrast, the inclusion of beneficial health and wellness messages-the strategy of “entertainment-education” (EE)—represents the strategy of what we call “rhetruth,” here considered a theoretical base of EE and defined as a means of incorporating instruction for the public good in entertainment vehicles.
