Week 2_1/23/16_Learning Rhetoric

Rhetoric has always seemed to me a convoluted and incomprehensible subject, meant only for those who were going into philosophy, or the study of English. However, after having begun this class and breaking down the fundamentals of writing, rhetoric has begun to seem like a much less daunting task. Gideon O. Burton’s work on the Silva Rhetoricae website definitely helped, and I am sure will continue to help, with lessening the idea of rhetoric as an abstract concept. Instead, the site reinforced the idea that it is more of a way to effectively write and speak in accordance with your content and your audience. It does not say that any one aspect of writing is any more or less important than another; rather, that “how one says something conveys meaning as much as what one says” (Burton). The principles of rhetoric are concerned not only with what a person is writing or saying, but also how they are attempting to convey meaning. How one reveals their ideas is just as important as the ideas being revealed. This was something that I may not have ever actively acknowledged, despite its now apparent truth.

I found it particularly helpful that the site broke down the meanings of commonly used terms when referring to rhetoric. Words such as pathos, logs and ethos, along with words such as lexis and kairos, all had the effect of scaring me off from really trying to understand what rhetoric really was. However, since the site gave easy to understand definitions, it became easier to understand how they might be used in a persuasive piece. For example, ethos and kairos can be used together; knowing what emotions you are appealing to (pathos) is important, but knowing the best moment, the most appropriate timing (kairos) is also important. You would not deliver a speech about the right to own a gun in a town where there had recently been a mass shooting. Keeping in mind how it will affect your audience in accordance not only to their beliefs, but the timing of your writing or speaking is imperative. Understanding terms like this was an excellent way to begin better understanding rhetoric as a whole.

The only complaint I can think of without extensively using the website is the massive amount of content. While the site provides you with what seems to be all the tools necessary to begin a deeper understanding of rhetoric, it also has everything on display in an overwhelming manner. For someone who is starting to research rhetoric and how it may improve their writing, this may be a little bit of an overpowering way to begin. Though the site is seemingly well knowledgeable in its subject, it also does not have a simpler way to access everything. Links bring you to every word that they have defined, and the sheer number of words on the list is a little daunting. Despite this, I found the site to be as a whole helpful, and enjoyed reading about it in a way that recognized that I may not already understand the basics of the subject.

Burton, Gideon O. Silva Rhetoricae. Brigham Young University, March 2001. Web. 22 Jan. 2016.