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Sophist
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Ryan Meehan on 15 Sep 08The Sophists were a group of traveling teachers in Ancient Greece who were hired by citizens who were looking to become better, more persuasive teachers. Today, the term "sophistry" carries a negative connotation, as it refers to arguments that use rhetoric for malicious reasons, like to confuse or distort.
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What is it, anyway, and why do people say such terrible things about it?
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truth exists in an absolute way, and the only proper use of rhetoric is to lead people to it.
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This helps in my understanding of rhetoric and makes me want to use rhetoric to see the truth.
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I like this way of looking at rhetoric.. not just convincing people what you believe but leading them to the truth.
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Also i think if you believe in what the truth stands for it makes it easier for you to bring people to it.
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It always depends on where the person wants to take you. What truth they consider to be the right one. Always worth pondering over because people get sucked in without even knowing it.
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Cybil brings up a good point here. In a world where many truths, be they religious, scientific, philosophical etc. exist for many different people, it is often the execution of rhetoric that leads people to believe in one thing over another.
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People should use rhetoric to try to persuade each other, so that in the end, after hearing arguments on all sides of a question, they might arrive at the best course of action.
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This is a good way to look at rhetoric. It gives me a new perspective on it.
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I think this is one of the best explanations of rhetoric i have seen so far.
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Using rhetoric to persuade each other is an excellent idea because it helps make an answer to a question more objective and it reduces any biases.
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Anyone who has lived with a cat or a dog can think of numerous ways these animals practice rhetoric in Kennedy's sense -- exert rhetorical energy -- to express their feelings and to get humans to do what they want.
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I never thought of rhetoric being used by animals but now that is explained to me, I guess I could see where it is possible!
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I would have never thought about animals using rhetoric. I found it very interesting that they would use it in such a simple way. They convey what they need throught their sounds and actions.
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Wow, i never thought of an animal using rhetoric to make sense. My dog will get his leashe when he has to go out or when hes hungry he will put his head on my leg while i am sitting down. Also he eats around the same time everyday and he will start following me around and pacing back and forth till i get him his food.
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My dog does many of the same things. So really, rhetoric is communication. If we did not have a need to express different ideas we would not need language.
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When I read the line above that states "rhetoric is manifext in all animal life..." I thought that sounded ridiculous. But by reading this line, I now understand what they are talking about and, in fact, it seems very true.
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Even when rhetors do not intend to persuade outright, still they must be concerned with their credibility
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Thinking about this comment, I reflect back to when I speak to my friends and pretty much anyone and I realize that in some way or another I am always trying to persuade them of something. Even when I don't realize it!
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Yes. And I'd like you to carry this idea to the papers you write for this class. You'll want to pay careful attention to whom the intended audience is, and then make your own rhetorical writing decisions based on what you know about that audience's expectations.
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[R]hetoric is inoperative when the audience lacks the power to respond freely to the message
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This is so true! If you are trying to persuade someone to be on your team, but they are already on your team, then why are you trying to persaude them?
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This statement solidifies the importance of the audience when it comes to rhetoric. You could have the best argument in the world, but without the right audience it could be meaningless.
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Asian writing is more likely to spiral on itself, reiterating ideas in various ways. Many students who come to us from foreign countries have to learn not only to speak and write in English, but also to follow the rhetorical conventions of a foreign culture.
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Everyone practices rhetoric
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This entire section of the work makes it more clear how everyone uses rhetoric. When I think of rhetoric, I just think of advertisers and authors who use it to persuade their audiences, but I really didn't realize how much we use rhetoric until you see an example like the dog and cat example in the sixth paragraph.
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It's kind of exhausting when we think about all the rhetoric we see on a daily basis. Especially in advertisiing!!!
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This is an excellent title for a section because, while most of us do not realize it, we all do practice rhetoric on a daily basis. Because its such a broad topic, people dont realize how often it is used.
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The rhetoric is a kind of smoke screen, or a trick with mirrors meant to deceive.
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I like this metaphor. It makes the story a little bit more interesting. I don't feel like I'm just reading something out of a textbook when I read this. It makes me want to read further to understand exactly what they are trying to say.
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I agree with Angela about liking this metaphor. So many people think that rhetoric is a "trick..meant to decieve" but really they probably use it all the time without even noticing.
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Yeah i really like this metaphor also, and i agree with the second comment i dont think alot of people realize how often they use it.
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I think this comment is very accurate. Sure, people may not realize how often they use this technique, but when in use, rhetoric helps to steer the listeners opinions in the speakers direction.
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the emotional energy that impels the speaker to speak, the physical energy expended in the utterance, the energy level coded in the message, and the energy experienced by the recipient in decoding the message.
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Put another way, rhetoric is a way to affirm values and hopefully avoid armed conflict: it's better that people work out their differences with words rather than with swords or guns.
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It would be nice if that could always work and we could avoid wars and other conflicts!
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Yeah i agree, wouldn't it be nice to bring some troops home or had a couple of wars and such avoided?
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Wow. If we could work stuff out by just using words, wouldn't the world be quite a different place!! There's only one requirement though, everyone would have to be educated and intelligent. So until then, if we're gonna be dumb we gotta be tough.
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I wish the world would work like this. I feel that people today are so concerned with being "right" that they forget to try look at all of the angles my self included. Many of are just so stubburn that we will never be able to think this way.
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Even when rhetors do not intend to persuade outright, still they must be concerned with their credibility; with what their audiences already know and needs to know; with how their audiences are likely to feel about the subject; with how to begin, how to end, how to arrange the middle -- all these and more, to earn the greatest possible cooperation from their readers.
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In the academic community we would do well, all of us, faculty and students, to think of ourselves as rhetors -- even as rhetoricians, students of rhetoric. Because in some ways we are.
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I think this is very true because we use rhetoric in papers we right in school to convince the readers of what we are discussing. Faculty uses rhetoric to persuade their colleagues and students almost every day.
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I think at some point everyone uses rhetoric probably once a day if not once a week to try and get something across.
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Again, I have to agree with this statement. As college students, we use rhetoric everyday to try and prove ourselves. More specifically, logos is used almost everyday at the university level.
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Discourse that affects an audience, that informs, moves, delights, and teaches, has a rhetorical aim. . . . Rhetoric implies choices, for both the speaker or writer and the audience. When we practice rhetoric we make decisions about our subject, audience, point of view, purpose, and message. . . . Furthermore, the audience must have a choice in responding to the message, must be able to adopt, modify, or reject it.
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I liked this paragraph because I think it is very true, when we practice rhetoric we are making a decision about what we want to convince our audience of and how to do it. At the same time the audience makes the desision of how to take the information and accept it or not. This is really evident in a debate, because you as the speaker make the decision of how to convince your audience and they in return decide how they will respond to it.
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Hitler's Germany
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Hitler was indeed a truly evil person with a hidden agenda who exterminated over 6 million people. Unfortuantely, as many people realized he was a very skilled public speaker. He was popular for a reason. He was extremely good at persuasion and making people think what he was accomplishing was good for the nation as a whole. This is where the danger lies. One always has to think critically and see beyond the rhetoric.
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I agree with Cybil. Rhetoric is, as Hitler has proven, a powerful form of persuasion. We must always remember, however, that it is just that--a method of persuasion.
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winning
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Speech would not have evolved among human beings unless rhetoric already existed
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Ethos: how can I establish credibility, to show I've "done my homework" on the subject I'm writing about? What face should I present to the reader: that of a student? a professional in training (Word Works #55-56)? Pathos: who are the audiences for the writing? What can I assume the audiences already know and feel about the subject (#76, 77)? Logoi: how can I make sure my information is complete and my arguments logical (#78)?
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Because i often confuse ethos, pathos and logos, these questions are great examples to distinguish one from the others. It is especially useful because these are questions we (the students) constantly ask ourselves.
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I agree that these examples of the types of rhetoric helped me distinguish between the three! Every time I write a paper or just an informal writing assignment I ask myself many of these same questions.
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Yes i also often get the three confused but these examples helped out big time!
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"How `true' is a truth if you can't get anybody to accept it?"
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he took the domain of rhetoric to be uncertainty and probability, particularly in the law courts and the deliberations of democratic government
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I think that this is looking at rhetoric from one perspective, however I think that rhetoric can also be used as a good thing. Helping people make the right decisions, not necesarilly a "trick with mirrors"
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very true, rhetoric can be used to just inform. It's not always used to just trick or persuade. Its a good way to pass on information.
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In fact, rhetoric is manifest in all animal life and existed long before the evolution of human beings.
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This is a good observation applying the notion of rhetoric not only to humans but to all living things. Wolves for example have a very strict hierarchy that is strictly regulated. The leaders in these poeitions utilize body language and strength, along with experience. Which is all a part of rhetoric.
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Rhetoric has always been a tool that can serve either good or evil,
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People moving from one culture to another must cross not only a language barrier, but also a cultural barrier -- part of which is rhetorical.
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This is undoubtedly true. To give another example like the one listed below here. Being a sign language interpreting major, here is a cultural barrier problem I have seen. In Deaf culture, Deaf and hard of hearing individuals value directness and being blunt about subjects. If you have put on a little weight, it is nothing for a Deaf person to sign HEY YOU LOOK DIFFERENT, BEFORE THIN NOW FAT HAPPEN? (cultural note, that is ASL syntax, i couldn't really add the facial grammar glosses- but that would be the basic sign order. Prepositions and conjuctions are usually implied) This may be very difficult to accept for a person who is not associated or well-versed with the Deaf community because one may think they are being rude, when really that is how the cultural as a whole is. I have noticed sometimes Deaf and hard of hearing people get frustrated sometimes with people who beat around the bush because they feel that the person that they are communicating with is trying to hide something. This sometimes causes problems, especially if the interpreter forgets to interpret the cultural differences (which happens upon occassion).
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An absolutely fascinating comment, Dena. Those of us who are not hearing impaired know that without body language it is often difficult to communicate clearly. For people who depend wholly on body language, it is even more important. Thanks for sharing.
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I think you made a really good point with your example. When I think of different cultures, I think of someone who maybe lives in Europe compared to the United States, but your example opened my eyes to a differnt way in looking at cultures. :)
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Cultures vary over space and over time. What was true of rhetoric for the ancient Greeks and Romans is not necessarily true for us.
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This is a very true statement. Culture affects many different aspects of our lives, so I can definitely see that it would affect how rhetoric is viewed. Even someone from a different culture today may not see the same rhetoric as we see.
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I find it interesting how this statement suggests our form of rhetoric is different from the Greek and Roman forms, when we still classify rhetoric based on Aristotle's three appeals.
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the shock of entering the "Burkean parlor."
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I really like this phrase and it's explaination, a lot. I've learned about culture shock in many of my classes, but seeing it in this way makes it so much more clear to me how difficult it must be for a person coming from one culture to enter into a competely different culture and have to adjust to the customs of the new culture without knowing basically anything about the culture ahead of time. One of the things they have to adjust to is the rhetoric of the culture.
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This really is an interesting way of puting that cultural barrier into perspective for those of us who have never been forced to experiance is.
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However, the discussion is interminable. The hour grows late, you must depart. And you do depart, with the discussion still vigorously in progress.
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This part, to me, goes with the fact that culture changes all the time. When the person enters the conversation, it is impossible for them to catch up in every single bit of the discussion, and when they leave, the discussion is still going on, making it impossible to know the entire rest of the conversation. It is, in a way, saying that it's impossible to know every single bit of a culture because it is ever-changing.
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The "Burkean parlor" might be taken as a parable for a lot of things: for entering the culture of a different country (as many of our students have done), for entering college or a new job, perhaps for life itself.
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Before reading this sentence, I only thought of a person being entered into a new culture from a differnt country, but now I know that it can mean many different tihngs.
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I also interpreted it as say going to a new country for the first time but it is now easy to understand how it can mean different things.
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When we study the organization and style of journal articles and conference presentations in order to write and speak in a similar or different manner, we are being rhetoricians. When we teach our students how to write in the discipline, how to handle the conventions of subject matter, arrangement, language, format, and documentation, we are being rhetoricians.
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I think we are rhetoricians all the time; when we speak to someone else that is. I don't think we can be rhetorical to ourselves.
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I said it earlier and this makes sense to me also, i think people especially teenagers use rhetoric everday.
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rhetoric is definatley everywhere. It's used from trying to decide where to eat dinner to matters of national security. Rhetoric is a skill set that can help anyone in life.
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A year later the student happens across the original article, reads it again easily, and wonders, What was so hard about that?
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A year later the student happens across the original article, reads it again easily, and wonders, What was so hard about that?
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A student (and that could be any of us) tries to read a journal article in an unfamiliar field. It could be in physiology, education psychology, rhetorical theory. The student struggles with the article, rereads paragraphs, writes notes all over the margins trying to understand the gist of what's being said.
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I could be completely misinterpreting this, but I think that it would be the content of what is being discussed that causes the confusion, not rhetoric. I understand that there are many forms of rhetoric, but don't they all have the same purpose? In some way or another, rhetoric persuades and informs. Again, I could be looking at this the wrong way. I'm interested in seeing other thoughts on this topic.
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When someone thinks to hard about anything they make it more complicated that it is. Creativity and clarity usually comes when you least expect it, or when you are not thinking, and this should be applied to everything. Quietness of mind.
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For instance, two of the main "arts" or rhetoric, memory and delivery, have taken entirely new forms in this age of word processing and desktop publishing.
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This is interesting to think about. Instead of us being able to write and re-write something to make it more rhetorically sound, ancient Greeks only had one opportunity, while speaking, to get it right.
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This is interesting, as I discussed last week anything that stays around for a while has to evolve, and adapt to the times.
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Aristotle taught that there are many areas of human experience where the truth is hard or impossible to determine
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Some of the most dramatic scenes are those in which the characters attempt to persuade other characters: Agamemnon's disastrous attempt to rally the troops; Nestor, Ajax, and Odysseus trying to persuade Achilles to rejoin the battle; Hera seducing Zeus to distract him from the war; Priam persuading Achilles to give up the body of Hector.
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Another assumption behind the slogan "cut through all the rhetoric" is that rhetoric is only what certain people use, such as politicians and orators, and they only use it on certain occasions.
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Even the writer of a parts list has to decide on nomenclature, arrangement, and the appearance of the list on the page or computer screen for the greatest clarity -- all rhetorical decisions.
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Also, Westerners want their writing (not in all genres, but in exposition and argument) to drive forward, from beginning to end, in a linear fashion.
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American's are very to the point when looking at accomplishing goals. Sometimes a little bit to much and it hurts us. However this also why we are number 1. Rhetoric is definitely a clutural aspect as it fluctuates. Rhetoric really is devided into many different ways, depending on who is trying to be convinced. Rhetoric is constantly changing and must be in order to be used effectively.
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But all of us function as rhetoricians
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In fact, we would do well to think of most of our communication as rhetoric, as a series of decisions and strategies for earning the cooperation of our audience.
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Today, many rhetoricians argue that most speech and virtually all writing must be regarded as not only rhetorical, but as persuasive in some important ways.
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I think it is interesting to see how how writing and speech have been viewed throughout history. From the Ancients to current day Rhetoric has been looked at in many ways. I dont agree with most rhetoricians today who argue that most speech today is Rhetorical. The main purpose of a speech in my opinion is not to persuade but to motivate.
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The student has been initiated into the discourse community and is getting ready to join the conversation.
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If a person wants to be good at anything the key word is practice. The student referred to in this paragraph was completely lost in the beginning but soon the tasks ahead of him became simple. This is because of his dedication and practice. The same can be applied to rhetoric. In order to give a good persuasive speech one must practice practice and practice some more. Rhetoric is more than just language its a art.
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practice is definatley important. The more you practice rhetoric no matter how foreign it may seem at first, the better you become. And the better you become the more persuasive or informative your argument can be.
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It might be interesting, too, to think of our students' writing as rhetoric, and help them understand it as rhetoric.
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In the Middle Ages, rhetoric was concerned with sermons and letter- writing. In the Renaissance, its domain was extended to poetry and all else that we call "creative" writing. During the Enlightenment, rhetoricians and natural philosophers studied the role of language and rhetoric in the making of scientific knowledge.
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Anyone who has lived with a cat or a dog can think of numerous ways these animals practice rhetoric in Kennedy's sense -- exert rhetorical energy -- to express their feelings and to get humans to do what they want.
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Rhetoric implies choices, for both the speaker or writer and the audience. When we practice rhetoric we make decisions about our subject, audience, point of view, purpose, and message. . . . Furthermore, the audience must have a choice in responding to the message, must be able to adopt, modify, or reject it. . . . [R]hetoric is inoperative when the audience lacks the power to respond freely to the message
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This is very true (I accidentally read too far last week so now I'm switching since I wrote on the latter half last assignment). Rhetoric is about choices for both parties. The speaker/writer chooses the direction they wish to persuade their audience to feel, and hope that they choose to accept that direction. This is seen everywhere, but as the Presidential Debates are going on as I write this in the background, we will use this an example. McCain and Obama are both posing their choices tonight. They are posing their strategies which choices should be made about our country. Each of them discuss their point of view, and why it is important to them why do carry things out in such a way. We, as the audience, whether watching on TV or at the debates- will make a choice after the are finished (or maybe even before they are finished). Those choices could be to support Obama, McCain, or we can choose to support neither and simply not vote as neither, one may feel, is truly qualified. Even if you don't want to make a choice, eventually you will. And the beauty of this great country is that you're free to choose any of these options. In countries where freedom of speech or choice of how you will place your vote is obsolete- there really is no use for rhetoric, because you lack the power to respond to the messages they give. We might as well put the two names in a hat and draw for President without the power to respond. This is why I'm glad I live in America. We have the choice to respond to rhetoric. We still have most of our liberties that allow us a voice, a number of countries in the world don't have as they under communist rule.
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Rhetoric has been around for thousands of years, and the reason why is because it evovles to better suit the times. It is almost a fundamental ellemant of what rhetoric is. What possibly would have persuaded someone thousands of years ago possibly would interest us today. The way we speak and persuade has changed, and that is a part of the evolution of rhetoric.
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Even when rhetors do not intend to persuade outright, still they must be concerned with their credibility; with what their audiences already know and needs to know; with how their audiences are likely to feel about the subject; with how to begin, how to end, how to arrange the middle -- all these and more, to earn the greatest possible cooperation from their readers.
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Rhetoric, like most things has a formula, an equation that if performed correctly achieves the goal of persuasion and credibility.
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Even when rhetors do not intend to persuade outright, still they must be concerned with their credibility; with what their audiences already know and needs to know; with how their audiences are likely to feel about the subject; with how to begin, how to end, how to arrange the middle -- all these and more, to earn the greatest possible cooperation from their readers.