Title: Definition and Examples of Apologia in Rhetoric
Headings: Definition and Examples of Apologia in Rhetoric
Definition and Examples of Apologia in Rhetoric
The Art of Damage Control
Definition:
Apologia Strategies
Four Strategies
Examples and Observations
Purposes
Rhetoric
Damage Control
So Sorry
Taking Responsibility
Inappropriate Relationsship

Content: And good night. "—President Bill Clinton, televised speech to the American public, August 17, 1998. Clinton's apologia related to what was known as the "Monica Lewinsky Affair." In this case, Clinton initially denied having a relationship with Lewinsky, but he later recanted when confronted with physical evidence she presented of their relationship. In his apologia, Clinton initially denied the allegations; he then tried to bolster his image ("...at no time did I ask anyone to lie..."); he followed by using differentiation (comparing the accusations about the affair to the more egregious—in his view—investigation into his previous business dealings; and he finished with the strategy of transcendence (recrafting the context to say "it is past time to move on" from intrusive investigations and attempts to "pry" into his personal life). You could say that in his statement, Clinton met all four strategies that Ware and Linkugel set forth as the required parts of a true apologia. Cite this Article
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