Rhetoric

As a whole, this article went way over my head. That’s actually an understatement; it skyrocketed straight past me and never turned back. I got lost in his complex vernacular, and his arguments did not make sense, even after reading them over and over. The entire concept of the article can be taken from the fourth chapter or part of his article. Basically rhetoric is similar to persuasion, but it contains many qualities that define it as rhetoric. These qualities include the scenario, a clear message, organization, emotion, tone of speech, and proper thematic elements of the argument.

 When he used examples to further explain his ideas, I began to comprehend his statements more. Such as, “the pollution of our air is also a rhetorical exigency because its positive modification — reduction of pollution strongly invites the assistance of discourse producing public awareness, indignation, and action of the right kind.” In other words the rhetoric of pollution is a positive one because it implements that we should all be more aware of the impact were making on the earth. I had never thought as pollution as a positive argument, but since the idea of pollution includes a negative impact, it steers us away from polluting into thoughts of improving the problem.

 I found the main proposal of the article to be this: “rhetoricians distinguish among and characterize the types of speeches (forensic, deliberative, epideictic;) they treat issues, types of proof, lines of argument, strategies of ethical and emotional persuasion, the parts of a discourse and the functions of these parts, qualities of styles, figures of speech. They cover approximately the same materials, the formal aspects of rhetorical method and discourse, whether focusing upon method, product or process; while conceptions of situation are implicit in some theories of rhetoric, none explicitly treat the formal aspects of situation.” A rhetorician uses all different types of speech to make his or her point clear. Not only does he or she make the point clear, he or she uses the emotion of the argument and the situation surrounding it to connect further with the audience. This pertains directly to the discussion in class on ethos, logos, and pathos. It is just as important to connect with the audience using emotion, as it is using logic. Different situations bring about different arguments; therefore, it is crucial to incorporate all three types of rhetoric into your argument.