How to Fight Back with Rhetoric

Previously, I thought of rhetoric as an old-fashioned and esoteric academic field.  It was nothing more than a description alongside a listing for an English class.  After researching the topic using Silva Rhetoricae, I understand the depth of the subject.  I still view rhetoric as old-fashioned because it has been around since our ancestors’ humble beginnings, and it still seems esoteric due to the limited number of people who master it.  Nevertheless, I have reached the conclusion that the discussion of rhetoric does not end at a simple definition.  Rather, the complexity of rhetoric extends through several unique but dependent branches.  At its most basic level, the website defines the term as “the study of effective speaking and writing.”  This description is an adequate representation of rhetoric’s fundamental principles.  Rhetoric is a form of linguistic art.  As homo sapiens sapiens, we utilize it every day. 

This field encompasses both common forms of communication: writing and speaking.  It consists of the content being communicated and the form or style in which those ideas are delivered.  Each of these parts determine the effectiveness and strength of one’s communication.  Therefore, it is important to have a mastery of rhetoric and its various facets.  Moreover, content and form largely depend on innumerable other factors.  Silva Rhetoricae’s analogy of the subject of rhetoric as a complete forest works perfectly.  Because rhetoric involves the passing of knowledge and opinions from one person to another, it is important that the composition of that material is thorough and appropriate.  For example, the content and form of rhetoric depends on kairos, audience, and decorum.  Kairos describes the timing of the content’s delivery.  Audience obviously refers to the disposition of the listeners of a certain message.  Last, decorum describes how fitting one’s argument is.  When a communicator keeps these elements in mind, he or she “tailors words to contexts and audiences towards some discernible result or effect.”  Although his message was not positive to the well-being of society, Adolf Hitler exemplified a mastery of kairos, audience, and decorum.  He rose to power when his country was weak and needed someone to provide positivity.  Hitler used cunning oral maneuvers to captivate his crowd and convince them to join his movement.  In this sense, he abused the art of rhetoric and wielded its terrific power in a negative fashion.

This website was very helpful in revealing the intricacies behind rhetoric.  It explains the dependency of the subject’s various elements, and it outlines its overall importance in a clear and concise manner.  As we proceed through the semester of English 1900: Advanced Strategies of Research and Rhetoric, we should keep in mind Hitler’s tragic example.  As students of our language, we should strive to master the skills of communication in such a way that we can captivate an audience into backing our beliefs.  The English language holds power and beauty, but few people know how to utilize it so effectively.  Unfortunately, the wrong people occasionally master the capabilities of language.  Therefore, it is our duty to be able to fight them back.  Our blog is called Fight Club for a reason.  If we champion our beliefs using the skills taught to us through Graff and our class discussions, we may have a chance to one day save the world.

Burton, Gideon O. "The Forest of Rhetoric." Silva Rhetoricae. Brigham Young University, n.d. Web. 3 Sept. 2015. <http://rhetoric.byu.edu/>.