Previous
to this class, I never knew the meaning of the word rhetoric. It was always one
of those words that I heard people say and use, but I never knew the meaning
of. I always had a small idea of the meaning and knew it had something to do
with an English class, but I never knew the denotation of rhetoric.
Since
this class, I am slowly processing the meaning of rhetoric. This class has
helped me define the word as using writing and speech to help persuade someone
on a specific topic. Dr. Gideon Burton has a similar definition of the word, “Rhetoric
is the study of effective speaking and writing. And the art of persuasion. And
many other things.” (Burton). Based on my little knowledge of the word, I would
have to agree with Dr. Burton. Other definitions of the word all contained
persuasion. When it comes to persuasion, you must have the right type of
information to support your argument, as well as the right tone and speech. All
persuasive speeches are based off the definition of rhetoric.
In
this class, knowing the definition can help us throughout this class, simply
because it is what our class is based on. The name of our class is Advanced
Strategies of Rhetoric and Research. Rhetoric being the key word. Knowing the
definition of the word can help us succeed this class, have better support for
our arguments, and down the road, it can help us to become better writers.
The
website was very helpful to me, helping me better understand the meaning of
rhetoric. It was helpful because it gave a very basic definition that almost
anyone could understand. I like the website also, because it has a lot of sub categories
and sections that all have to do with important components of the word and
definition. The website separates the components of rhetoric and uses an analogy
to compare the word and its definition to a tree and the tree’s components. I
found this very helpful because it separates and is easier to read and
understand. With that being said, it is easier to read because it has it uses
the analogy of the tree, and everyone knows what a tree looks like.
One
part of the website I found very helpful was the definition given by Aristotle,
“the difference between logos (the logical content of a speech) and lexis
(the style and delivery of a speech).” (Burton). I found this sentence really
helpful, because they all tie into each other. Another part of the website that
helped was the persuasive appeals; logos, pathos, and ethos. These all work
simultaneously to form a powerful argument, and use all of the meanings of
rhetoric together.
Parts of the
website were hard to understand. Talking about the rhetorical exercises was
starting to get confusing. Even though they gave the definition of the
complicated words, I still was left confused.
Having this website will be of great help in the future. Whether I am writing a paper, or forming an argument, I can always go back and reference this website.
Burton, Gideon O. "The Forest of Rhetoric." Silva
Rhetoricae: Brigham Young University, March 2001. Web. 23 Jan. 2016.
I agree, the website was very informative and will be of great value down the road. The connection between ethos, pathos, and logos was also very helpful as they are all great ways to appeal to your audience and make a stronger argument.
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ReplyDeleteThat's a very good evaluation. I agree with almost everything you said but I personally think the uses of literary figures is a big part in rhetoric and I didn't see you mention it. Also, I like how you analyzed the analogy and explained that rhetoric is a concept made up of various components that come together.
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