Aristotle's Rhetoric outlines the three main purposes of rhetoric: political, legal, and ceremonial. Persuasion is the main point of all three major places of rhetoric. Rhetoric “may be defined as the faculty of observing in any given case the means of persuasion available” (Aristotle 22). Rhetoric can also be seen as a manual for explaining the methods of persuasion used in modern commercials and advertisements. While classical methods of carrying out persuasion are relevant to our understanding of how different forms of advertising work, there are also a number of modern techniques that have changed the landscape of rhetoric. That is to say, what has changed is threefold. First of all, modern advertising is much more visual. Second, traditional oratory is rarely used in modern commercials. Finally, there is a move away from what Aristotle would say is ethical within modern-day rhetoric. The advertisement is trying to sell you something. Unlike Aristotle's time, we live in a capitalist society where most rhetorical methodology is designed to produce a specific action on the part of the audience to purchase an object, not simply to win an argument. The duty of oratory has changed compared to the Aristotelian definition. We can therefore ask: what can we learn from Aristotle's rhetorical devices in responding to today's advertisements and commercials? As vast as these changes may seem to modern audiences, it is important to show how the classical methodology for carrying out persuasion is relevant today. Aristotle states that the three means of effecting persuasion are: (1) reasoning logically, (2) understanding human character and goodness in various forms, and (3) understanding... middle of the paper... If logos are used by advertising writers in an attempt to persuade them, the audience can clearly see the underlying purpose of the advertisement. As Corbett and Connors point out, “a knowledge of rhetoric can help us respond critically and appreciatively to advertisements, commercials, political messages, satire, irony, and ambiguous speech of all varieties” (25). A careful reading of Rhetoric and other forms of ancient rhetoric can be helpful to a student who wants to truly understand how advertising and commercials work. The ability to wade through advertising that offers only a slight truth, or worse yet a lie, has become a great attribute associated with postmodern American thought. After careful study of rhetoric's past, we Americans may be able to discern truth from propaganda, need instead of desire, and fact from fiction..