What’s one new thing you’ve learned about this course or resources at Baruch for writers that you found interesting?
I learned the five key foundational goals I should have for all English reading or writing classes that would be critical in the improvement of my writing and reading comprehension skills. Additionally, I learned about all the resources the Writing Center here at Baruch College offers to help all the students become better writers.
“What is Rhetoric?” (summary)
From the perspective of the writer, rhetoric is the use of language, strategy, and other symbols to persuade the reader of the author’s intentions and thoughts. Accounting for all the differences among their audience, the author finds the best way to communicate the objective of their text. Keeping in mind who the audience is, the author considers how to appeal to different readers in the most effect way, such as using a combination of logic and reason, emotion, and character. The writer’s ultimate goal is to leave signs for the reader throughout the text so that the reader may understand the author’s thoughts and ideas as well as the purpose and importance of these concepts.
As the audience, rhetoric is the readers’ understanding and interpret of the text they have read. The goal is not to have the readers’ understanding and the author’s intention to be parallel, but that both positions be independent of the other. After analyzing the writing, it is the readers’ task to interpret the use of language along with other symbols and make sense of what they believe to be the meaning behind the text and why. Essentially, the readers are creating a theory as to what they believe the author may have possibly been trying to express.