What is rhetoric?

I had heard the word “rhetoric” before, but I never knew what it meant besides that it is related to literature. Therefore, reading the information on Silva Rhetoricae has become a resource for my personal definition of the word. According to Silva Rhetoricae, rhetoric can be simply defined as “the study of effective speaking and writing. And the art of persuasion.” However, the concept is much more complex than this short definition because it consists of numerous parts. In this class, our goal is to learn how rhetoric works and then how to apply it to our speaking and writing, but this is easier said than done. After reading the extensive information on the website, I found that their main argument lies in the comparison of content and form, or the “what” and “how.” I agree with the idea that “how one says something conveys meaning as much as what one says.” Although critics of rhetoric have said that it is too concerned with the “how of language,” I believe that effective rhetoric must include a balance of style and content. Content is not the same without form and vice-versa. In expressing oneself, if one has insightful ideas on a topic, but is not able to use correct grammar or lacks organization, then the meaning loses its effectiveness. The same is true in the reverse. Fantastic style without satisfactory content leads me to ask “so what?” or “who cares?” like Graff says. The templates in They Say, I Say are useful for fulfilling the style portion of this equation. Along with those, I can use my own ideas, the content, by inserting them into the templates. Achieving this balance of “what” and “how” can be challenging, but I think that the templates can make it easier. Another aspect of my definition of rhetoric is using persuasive language to share ideas. When having a discussion, the person who is able to state an opinion and clearly support it is more likely to have the audience agree with him or her versus someone who has a stance but no backing. In Fight Club we can use the persuasive appeals of logos, pathos, and ethos to build better arguments. We can analyze our audience and then decide the best approach to take, as in which appeals to focus on. In summary, I believe that our personal definitions of the word should adopt ideas from the website because they provide useful tips for forming effective arguments.

The information from the website that was helpful to me was, as I stated earlier, the discussion of content and form. Now I understand that in my writing and speaking I should not focus too heavily on one or the other. And, I can see that the way that I communicate and what I communicate can be a powerful tool. I also thought that the history behind rhetoric was interesting. The fact that these techniques were created so long ago and are still being referenced today attests to their value. On the other hand, the explanations were sometimes too technical which made them difficult to understand. I realize that the author of the website created the forest analogy to remind us to not “get lost” in the technical Latin and Greek terms, so keeping that in mind helped me to gather the main ideas.

Burton, Gideon. Silva Rhetoricae. Brigham Young University, n.d. Web. 02 Sept. 2015.