02/23/16

What is Rhetoric?

Rhetoric, whether it be speech or writing, has always been a tool used methodically, at least I had thought. Aristotle could not disagree more, as an important aspect of his ideologies rested on the idea of topos, literally the place the argument takes place. This idea stresses utilizing the situation one is in to reach into the correct rhetorical appeal so as to persuade the audience. Contrary to a my previous belief, that rhetoric must be a planned statement that appeals to everyone. However, audiences change, and sometimes to make the same argument one has to devise a new way of delivering it. The rhetorical triangle is constantly spinning, and wherever the dart lands on that triangle, whatever the audiences appeal may be, a great persuader will change his appeal and find the best method of delivery.

02/16/16

What is Rhetoric?

I found it interesting how there are many categories and meanings and even subcategories of what a rhetoric is. I wouldn’t thing that a word I would consider to be fairly simple and easy to understand would have such a deep meaning behind it with many different approaches and opinions regarding many aspects. Aristotle introduced me to many new forms of rhetoric like that of value, in specific with audience. For example, in attempt to connecting to an audience, a singer would try to display emotion to connect to them, so they would be able to feel the power of their emotion and connect to their music. Rhetorical appeals of credibility was something I learned I already strongly value, because it occurs much more often than we think. It is very true that who speaks matters because a listener would value that opinion more or less depending on that speaker and the audience would value the author depending on their credibility and how valued their opinion is to them.

02/13/16

What is Rhetoric?

What is Rhetoric?
I enjoyed how in this piece the author seems to start out defending rhetoric, setting it apart from what some may describe as ‘unethical’ or a ‘political spin’. Rhetoric is not synonymous with propaganda. While one can say propaganda is a form of rhetoric, not all rhetoric is manipulative, but rather persuasive. This rather straight forward piece introduces us to a few parts of good rhetoric in the form of a triangle diagram. Ethos, Pathos, Logos sticks out to me as the golden trinity. Your credibility, your emotional impact, your style and visual appeal dominate your rhetoric. Many other ideals stem from each of these three, such as the assumption that you and your audience have the same ideals, appealing to your audiences values, and appealing to their intelligence.

02/12/16

“What is rhetoric?”

Have you ever had someone tell you “you write how you speak” and that being a bad thing? Well the reading “What is rhetoric?” has definitely made me understand what my English professors meant by that statement.  This particular sentences from  What is rhetoric, “a writer needs to reflect on the elements of the rhetorical situations, ask questions, and consider how they influence one another” gave me a clear view on what my mistake as a writer is. As logical as it sounds, now that its brought to my attention, that’s exactly what i’m missing in all of my writing. The four common rhetorical appeals mentioned on page 42, informed me of the different ways we use rhetoric. As a sales person, I could definitely use the rhetorical appeals of value, reason, credibility and rhetorical appeals of style to my advantage. Rhetoric is not only used in writing but also at work, “but also to invent your own responses to the world”.

 

02/12/16

What is rhetoric?

I liked this piece because it was short, sweet, and to the point. it managed to summarize rhetoric very well and explain it very clearly. I also found that the diagrams were a very good aid in understanding what the piece was getting across. The triangle helped bring to life the concept of ethos, logos, and pathos, and even the chart helped me understand the concept better. It also made it very applicable to my life- talking straight to the reader, for example “You know how to use language to get things done.”

02/12/16

What is Rhetoric?

I found the rhetorical appeals the most interesting part of the piece.  Understanding how to properly utilize these appeals in business is one of the main things I’m personally striving towards.  Just as it said in the piece, I never really took the time to “see how they work.”  When it came to persuading people, every just sort of came naturally.  This definitely opened up my eyes to the inner workings of what I do.  Every time I put myself out there for an investor, I am a rhetoric in a sense.  This seems to translate into how I carry myself as a person, with me essentially treating everyone as though their whole purpose in life is to judge me.

02/12/16

What is Rhetoric?

I particularly found the different categories of appeals described by Thomas Miller in his article, “What is Rhetoric?”. Although we don’t always realize it, deep down we subconsciously analyze every rhetoric we experience through out the day. Whether it be the credibility, reason, value, or style of the appeal. Its fascinating how all these categories work together to help us determine our opinion on something. What I tend to find to be the most vital category from my personal experience is the appeals of credibility. Who a person is, and what they’ve been able to achieve in life usually is the first thing that crosses my mind when I decide whether I should support/like that person. Although it holds a strong influence on my opinion of something, the other categories could always outweigh the credibility appeal. It’s intriguing to notice this process occur when you meet a person for the first time.

02/12/16

What Is Rhetoric?

The two articles that we read about rhetorical analysis so far, this article is the one that I enjoyed reading the most. What is Rhetorical was short and simple. It went straight to the point and I understood everything the author was explaining. Something of the text didn’t surprise me but there was some new information that I got. For example, the different rhetorical appeals was something new. Although, I did know that some of this appeals we do them everyday.
The appeal that I liked and that we practice everyday is the pathetic appeal or pathos. I understood that this appeal is connected to emotions. The example they gave us was very relatable. There are songs for every emotions and there are different artists that translate these emotions back through music. But as speakers we have to understand the audience who we are speaking to to understand their values. As the article mentions, who we speak to shapes what we say or write.

02/12/16

What is Rhetoric?

I found it very interesting how the author located rhetoric in society as something useful that contributes to causes we care about.  Rhetoric isn’t just empty words or baseless phrases.  It’s a real-life material that becomes a sort of currency that people use to communicate ideas.  Therefore, rhetoric is incredibly important in that it shapes our ideas about the world and has the ability to influence real-world events.

02/11/16

What is Rhetoric?

I enjoyed reading “What is Rhetoric?” because it relates to a lot of information previously provided by my English professors as well as my speech professors. They all emphasized the importance ethos, pathos and logos because without any of these key elements in any of your speeches or papers then whatever you are delivering loses its purpose and value which results in the audience or the reader to drift off and lose attention. The author for “What is Rhetoric?” clearly emphasized the importance of these key elements which I really liked because it can help strengthen key ideas and enforce main points in our writing which will extremely useful with writing our papers.

02/11/16

“What is Rhetoric?”

The first thing that came to my mind after reading “What is Rhetoric” by Thomas Miller was salesperson/businessperson. What Thomas called a “means of persuasion” is exactly the type of mastered skill necessary for an individual in said profession to be successful. Rhetoric is also the type of skill necessary for efficiency as a professor at a university, for anyone delivering a speech, for an activist trying to recruit others to join their movement, and so on. Rhetoric is a lot more involved and valuable asset to personal discussion and interaction than I first realized. For anyone trying to make an argument or to gain followers for a cause, it is important to be able to understand the way the mind works and what will gain people’s trust (ethos), what will make their words most reputable and truthful (logos), and how to best connect with the people they are speaking to (pathos). It’s a lot to think about: more than I’ve realized should be considered in such situations.

 

Emily Weiss

02.11.2016

02/11/16

What Is Rhetoric?

I often find myself thinking about what makes a good writer “good”. After reading “What is Rhetoric?”, I realized that pathos, logos, and ethos are the three components that I’ve been using in my writing for years without even realizing. Of course I have learned about these different appeals in English class before, but I have never actually applied them myself. I usually just transfer my ideas straight into words and figure out how to organize and connect my sentences. Truthfully, I feel a little more enlightened after reading about rhetoric. Although at first it was overwhelming to find that I have been completely oblivious to it, I feel that the more I read about writing, the better of a writer I become. Even if that isn’t true, I already feel like a better writer.

02/11/16

What is Rhetoric?

I find that persuasion is most effective when you understand your audience. The author placed emphasis on rhetorical analysis and explained how it is used to recognize the appeals of others. The strongest rhetorician is “adaptive and flexible”. Understanding the four appeals of rhetoric allows us to methodically understand situations. If we understand situations it becomes more easier to persuade. And when you persuade others, it is because you want to accomplish things. Some may feel rhetoric is manipulation and deceit. In a way, rhetoric is just like a lie. People lie because they want something. People give rhetoric because they also desire something. The bottom line is that “rhetoric” are a means to an end.

02/11/16

What is Rhetoric? Response

I happen to be a huge visual learner (seeing is believing!), so any type of diagram or image that may help to explain a certain concept is extremely constructive for me. Though Carroll hinted to the “rhetorical triangle” in her “Backpacks vs. Briefcases” article, I found the diagram in the “What is Rhetoric?” reading to be quite helpful.

I also benefited greatly from the way this reading broke down the “argument” portion of rhetorical analysis. Argument consists of claims (main idea), support (evidence for the main point), and warrants (underlying assumptions).

The short reading ended softly by saying that “rhetoric is a creative art”, and indeed it is. There are so many ways to construct an argument (visual appeals, verbal appeals, and SO much more), allowing everyone to use their own creative processes to make that argument!

02/11/16

What is Rhetoric?

As I read this piece on rhetoric, I was surprised and intrigued to read about the background of rhetoric and how it traces its roots back to Aristotle. I had always been taught about rhetoric and told to use it in writing but not once had a teacher delved into the background and explained where it came from and the importance of including it when writing. I found the beginning of the piece where it speaks about this both interesting and captivating.

I also found the rhetorical triangle to be quite interesting, the piece explains how a combination of the three together- ethos, pathos, and logos- will improve the writing and I find that to be true. At first thought when I saw the triangle I was unsure why they were paired off like that but then after reading through the rest I understood why they were paired off like that and have a better understanding of ethos, pathos, and logos now. I’ve come to the realization that rhetoric is useful and important in writing and can change the way a piece sounds depending on if its included or not, and many times the inclusion of rhetoric improves the piece and makes it more interesting to read.

02/11/16

What Is Rhetoric

From this article I found out that Rhetoric has a whole history behind itself. In the beginning this word had only a strict meaning – art of the orator, public speaking. Later on via couple of centuries this word got a totally different definition and explanation, it became wider. Today rhetoric work starts event before the speech. For the orator very important to understand before the public speech what kind of group with what material status, ethnicity or culture you’re trying to persuade. Nowadays “Rhetoric” includes three main section such as: Claim, Support and Warrant. If the orator know how to use those three section he will be able to persuade any kind of people.

02/11/16

What is Rhetoric?

I found the rhetorical triangle to be quite interesting. Why is the speaker mainly associated with ethos, audience with pathos, and subject with logos? I feel like the speaker should be mostly associated with pathos because the speaker can use his/her emotion to persuade the audience. However, I do admit that if you use the three as a combination, then the writing will be better. I did not know what warrants were in terms of rhetorical analyses, but the example given clearly describes it. Warrants are underlying assumptions. One thing that bombards me is that “rhetorical context always shifts… we must also be prepared to seize the right moment to say the right thing” (44). This sounds difficult because it needs me to be flexible since every situation is different.

02/10/16

“What is Rhetoric?”

One of the topics I found intriguing was the Rhetorical appeals of value. While I knew from long ago that pathos is the appeal for emotion I hadn’t really thought about the aspect of pathos that deals with audiences’ values. It was interesting to learn that as a speaker attempting to persuade, he or she must relate to the audience and tie his or her message to the beliefs the audience possesses. Sometimes, I see myself or others attempting to persuade others in a form of attack by establishing superiority and condemning others to follow suit. A more effective way of persuasion would be to ask questions to confirm audience’s values, and proceed further to relate the subject at hand in terms that appeal to the audience. For example, as a vegan, I notice my vegan friends attempting to persuade meat-eaters by calling them murderers and animal haters. I see this as an ineffective method to persuade as a better process would involve leading with questions such as “You don’t believe innocent live beings should be hurt, right?” or “Do you believe we should minimize our negative impacts on the environment?”

02/10/16

What is Rhetoric?

The piece “What is Rhetoric?” is a shorter version of Bolin Carroll’s “Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps Toward Rhetorical Analysis”. “What is Rhetoric?” summarizes the main points of the other pieces and reiterates Bolin Carroll’s point that when rhetoric is used purposefully, it can get something done in the world (1).

Nothing really surprises me in this piece. However, there is one item that was included in this piece that was not in Bolin Carroll’s piece: it’s the importance of the arrangement of the text. I have been exposed to the fact that order in a certain piece is necessary and can influence how the piece is absorbed by whoever the audience is. In here, it is given a more fancier term: “rhetorical appeals of style”.