A Summary Of Rhetoric

What is the definition of the word rhetoric? One may be led to believe that rhetoric is merely a persuasive tactic used by corrupt lawyers and crooked politicians. However, the proper definition of rhetoric is, “the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques.” A simpler definition of rhetoric would be any communication that can be used to change one’s views on a subject. Lynda Barry successfully uses persuasive tactics in her essay “The Sanctuary of School” to engage with her readers who can empathize with finding stability at school as well as those who may not, such as lawmakers, school officials, and the guardians of the children.

Rhetoric seems like a big word but the meaning is simple- persuasion. In the book Julius Caesar, Antony and Brutus, two major characters, are fantastic at persuading the Roman citizens. When one is reading the story, they might think that both have equal amounts but when you look closer, Antony has the better rhetoric strategies. In just a few short sentences, Antony convinced the people to believe that Caesar needed revenge even though he never came out and told them that. Just a couple of minutes ago, the citizens were on Brutus’s side and thought that Caesar needed to go.

Often times in daily life, a person will use rhetoric. Whether it’s arguing with a sibling or the sound of an alarm, rhetoric is in use. Rhetoric is effective persuasion and persuasion is swaying someone to do or believe in something. The reason rhetoric is important to be taught in school is because not only does it often show up in daily life but it can show up in the media as well.

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, rhetoric is defined as “the art of speaking as a means of communication or persuasion”. In other words, rhetoric is the way a speaker convinces an audience to approach a given issue from a preferred perspective. Speakers may utilize the following appeals to win the audience's favor: ethos, logos, and pathos. Ethos refers to the speakers incorporation of the audience’s ethical responsibilities. A speaker also uses ethos to establish credibility. Logos is the speaker’s use of logic and reasoning by a way of factual evidence. Lastly, a speaker may use pathos to engage the audience's emotions. Dr. Martin Luther

Rhetoric is the idea of persuasion. Its basic idea is to influence someone to believe in our idea or help understand the message we are trying to deliver. In our daily life we use rhetoric in many places. This includes verbal communication as well as non-verbal communication such as body language and facial expression. In the workplace it can be used to communicate with people effectively.

Rhetoric is a significant part of our everyday lives. Whether it's convincing our friends to go to a concert on the weekend, to go to a certain place for lunch, or even convincing yourself to do something that you should but don't want to do. Rhetoric is all around us today. Billboard ads, television commercials, newspaper ads, political speeches, even news stories all try, to some degree, to sway our opinion or convince us to take some sort of action. If you take a step back to look and think about it, rhetoric, in all actuality, shapes our lives. Every day we have an array of options of things to do or things to buy. So every day, our opinion or actions are being influenced, however minutely, by rhetoric.

Rhetoric gives you an avenue to tell a story from your perspective in a way that connects with the intended audience without having to be one hundred percent substantiated. This writing style is evident in almost everything we read from billboards to Internet ads and even political speeches.

Many successful people politicians, salesmen, even lawyers have mastered this tool. Rhetoric has assisted in the development of laws, complex societies, and codes. “Everyone of America’s founders studied rhetoric, and they used its principles in writing the Constitution”(Heinrichs Pg 4). An example of rhetoric being used correctly is a presidential candidate trying to persuade voters to vote for him. The goal the candidate is to “seduce” the voters into thinking that voting for him is the best option for the country.

Rhetoric is something that at least everyone uses in his or her everyday life. Rhetoric can be used in the form of social media, politics and even making the decision on how you are going to communicate. In the Youtube video titled In Defense of Rhetoric: No Longer Just for Liars, Professor, Dr. Ann George states rhetoric as how we persuade each other or how we make arguments. George believes we can do this by the words we use, the gestures we make and the facial appeals that can break down the language and encourage the argument one might be making.

How does rhetoric work? Rhetoric takes Ethos, Pathos, Logos, also know as credibility, emotion, and logic. Ethos, or credibility, is when a company can be trusted to produce quality products. Pathos, or emotion, if when a company can pull on your heart strings, or make you madder than the devil. Logos, or logic, is when the producers bring up ideas that really get the left side of the brain working. Rhetoric appears everywhere. Places such as Walmart, are specifically set up so that you have to go through clothing, food, baby clothes, and many more areas just to get to the hunting section, which is at the very back of the store. Then you get to the checkout line and BAM!!! There is candy, chips, gum, and useless toys that most every little kid wants. This Got Milk poster, plus Old

Rhetoric can push users farther than the normal argument, and past the habits of the natural human mind. When one comes to understand the theory of words, argument and how opposition thinks, then can the situation fully be revolved for their favor and their future. Rhetoric is a valuable skill that should be taught in schools in order to assist in high school environments, and help prepare for a future in the workplace.

Rhetoric os a form of communication used to persuad people. The The forms of rhetoric are logic, emotion, and crediability. Using ‘Jeff Flake’s Speech on the Senate Floor’ as my example of rhetoric. I will demonstrate how Flake uses rhetoric to get his political party is worng and should change their way of thinking and behavior.

In this week’s reading of the “Rhetorical Approaches to College Writing”, the foundations for rhetoric were introduced. The book describes rhetoric as a word with many definitions that all have a commonality. From the reading rhetoric seems to have a way of calling people to action in some distort manner similar to enticement. From the reading three definitions of rhetoric were given by different sources. The first source being from a ancient Greek philosopher who defined rhetoric as, “the faculty of discovering in any particular case all of the available means of persuasion”(RACW pg.3). I learned that for Aristotle the Greek philosopher rhetoric was a means of political engagement in civic life (RACW pg.4). The second source was from another

Effective rhetoric is essential in order to properly communicate whatever message one may be trying to share. Rhetoric is considered effective if it attracts an audience and aligns their opinion with the message you are giving. In our groups case the message we are trying to share is attempting to unite the student body and the administration of the University of North Dakota and strengthen the communication between them. By doing research on the topic and releasing a communications plan on what we think can help alleviate the issue we hope to accomplish this goal of unification. Being a part of this group I created two genres that were outlined in the communications plan and by using different forms of rhetoric I hope to be successful in bridging

Rhetoric is a course in which students are taught the values of persuasion. And yet, behind this course is the utmost power to corrupt the world, changing it into a world of our own policies. This power, even though seldom discussed, has lead to many intriguing discoveries. One such discovery is how people are able to shape the world they live in simply by choosing the right words. Therefore those who would want the world to be a better place must protect this power. If in the wrong hands this power could cause serious damage. Several authors have striven to protect rhetoric and its power. Few agree on the matter of defining rhetoric, but they know that they must protect rhetoric from dark souls. A single definition of rhetoric must maintain a simplistic nature while incorporating every aspect of rhetoric. However, I argue that rhetoric is a means of persuading audiences of a situation and a particular reality through language and personal appeal. In order to prove this definition I will discuss how rhetoric creates a situation, the shaping of a different reality, the audience, the use of language, and the personal appeal. Finally, I will demonstrate the absolute need for rhetoric.