What is rhetoric?
It seems as though those who are experts on the subject, don’t have a concrete
definition, or one that can be agreed upon.
After having read numerous articles about rhetoric for a number of
different courses I still don’t have
a sound understanding of what exactly rhetoric is, or even how to put it in my
own terms. I once tried to explain rhetoric to a friend and failed
miserably, and finally gave up after stammering a couple of sentences that
contained mostly umms and ya knows…
What is Rhetoric? Was a nice article to begin with for me
because it covers the most basic concepts of rhetoric and what it can consist
of, depending on who you are talking to.
“The five canons of rhetoric: invention, arrangement, style, memory, and
delivery…” are all vital elements of what a success rhetor would use to persuade an audience one way or another. It would be impossible for an effective piece
of literature or speech to go without any of these, and when all of the
elements are brought together in a powerful and thoughtful way to an audience, the reception of the piece is
recognized for years beyond its original delivery. One example of this would be Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr.’s speech. He used a very
specific arrangement and style that made for a powerful delivery. He spoke to
his audience, rather than at the
audience, both whites and blacks. He
used questions that many knew the answers to, and quotations from governmental
and church leaders and brought all of the diversities together in his speech by
referring to every one as “brothers.”
What I gather most from What
is Rhetoric? and rhetoric in general, is how much an audience can influence
a piece of writing or a speech. Audience
is a huge influence on my writing. If I
am writing for myself I am more willing to write whatever may come to mind, but
if I will have a larger audience like my classmates, I am more careful about
what I say and deliver.
What is Rhetoric was a great article to read to understand the basic idea of rhetoric -- I agree with you! You shared a great example with MLK Jr.'s speech -- the arrangement and style he had for his delivery. From the other readings as well, I had also gathered that particular pieces of writing and speech are from something or some idea that influenced the author or presenter with a large enough impact that they needed to share with an audience. Even when students or graduates think they have to complete a particular writing to get it turned in before it is too late, there is always the subject that is written about that we are most familiar with or has a large enough impact that we need to share with others in our surroundings.
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