Week 12_4/16/16 Rhetoric

Throughout this semester I can say that a lot has changed as I look back to the beginning of this course. Even in my week two-blog post, I was still confused at what rhetoric really meant. At the beginning of the course I defined rhetoric as the art of persuasion in effective speaking and writing. This class has really shaped my perspective in what rhetoric really means and the power it has on people when used in the appropriate way.

I can say that writing my essay really helped me in defining and using the true meaning of rhetoric when it came to the concepts of logos, pathos, and ethos. Following the PowerPoint presentation we had to do. Giving presentations was something that always made me nervous because I thought I wouldn’t be convincing at all. This class really pushed me to my limit and forced me to learn and become persuasive.  It also helped with strengthening my research skills and researching a topic that I am fond of.

The book ‘They Say I Say’ had a major impact. At the beginning of the course in my week two-post I spoke about not being able to persuade people. I can say that it has changed and I feel that I have gotten a lot better at doing so.

Another thing that helped in during this course was fight club. Being able to argue for or against was a great way in practicing to be convincing, even if it was a topic we didn’t like and we had to support it. It really puts you in uncomfortable positions that force you to adapt to your surroundings and be convincing to your listening audience. 

So at the end, Rhetoric is a lot more than just doing research and throwing it all together in a paper. I think in order for you to be persuasive you must research a topic you love. If you research a topic you’re not a fan of it’s just going to be dry and boring.  I still agree with Dr. Burton when I spoke on how he defined rhetoric research to be a forest. Using this metaphor to allow his audience to have visual aid of how rhetoric can be very pleasing and how there are various options. My definition of rhetoric has stayed the same. The course itself just helped me open my eyes to the true meaning of it.