My first excursion into JTC left me with new knowledge about the resources at Baruch and the meaning and uses of rhetoric. I had no idea that the school provided a plethora of opportunities, such as the CAPS office’s Academic Intensive English Program, for EAL students to succeed.
Rhetoric is essentially the science of the production and reception of communication. It’s a term often used interchangeably with deception and persuasion, despite being an essential part of daily communication. Rhetorical analysis can be used to examine everything that has the intention of appealing to someone.
Before reading these pages, I honestly had no idea how to define rhetoric. The first thing that came to my mind was persuasion (which, of course, was touched on in the text). Now, I can safely say I understand rhetoric and its heavy presence in the literary world. I certainly found the fact that everything created with an intention has an analyzable rhetoric interesting and am looking forward to trying my hand at rhetorical analysis in class.