What is rhetoric? What is the history and theory of rhetoric?
What do you want to do with the content from this course?
Rhetoric is an amalgamation of a variety of tools or
techniques used strategically in a composition, whether it be written, visual,
or oral, that ultimately serves to enact a persuasive argument. Rhetoric, an idea initially introduced by
Aristotle, necessitates that writers consider to whom they are writing, how
they desire to influence, one way or another, their audience, and how they can
achieve these goals within their texts.
Rhetoric works to appeal to the readers’ emotions (pathos), to logic (logos),
and to ethics (ethos). By utilizing and
arranging these appeals throughout a text, a writer establishes a certain
rhetorical context through which he/she attempts to persuade readers to adopt a
certain perspective when considering a specific topic.
Rhetoric’s origin branches, as aforementioned,
back to the era of the ancient Greeks, during the time of Aristotle’s
life. Initially given form to by the
Sophists, who saw a need for written trading laws as the Greek oligarchy declined,
rhetoric and the components by which it is defined have grown, just as cultures
and civilizations have. By the time rhetoric
met Cicero and the Romans, there existed a determined set of components by
which writing was defined: Invention, Arrangement, Style, Memory, and Delivery. Cicero then re-developed the idea of “stasis
theory,” which required a series of questions to be asked of the writer (or
presenter) in order to understand both his aims and his definitive point of
argumentation. Following the Roman
period, rhetoric continued to evolve in cadence with literacy rates, the consideration
of composition as an applied practice, the development of different genres and
sub-genres of texts, and the emergence of technologies within the printing and
information fields.
The theory of rhetoric requires that
one consider the historical and immediate contexts for socio-political human
interaction. How one employs him/herself
within these contexts speaks to the topic being delivered, along with the
message that the author intends to impart to the audience. According to the theory of rhetoric, what
hold importance in a composition (whether written or oral) are the unspoken implications
and intentions behind the text itself; in short, rhetorical theory considers
how individuals use certain signals in certain ways (whether consciously or
not) to signify certain meanings or to evoke a desired response. Furthermore, the theory of rhetoric suggests
that any individual composer of texts can arrange his text and his ideas within
in such a way that will produce an anticipated reaction or sentiment within
readers; it is important to note that there are endless varieties of ways in
which these arrangements can occur.
By engaging with the content that we
are learning, and that we will continue to learn, in this course, I hope to
come to an understanding of composition as not a mere requirement, but as a
discipline. From my personal experience,
composition has been relegated to the back-burner and often considered
unimportant or a “necessary evil.”
Although my attitude toward composition is not of this nature, I hope to
understand why it is as it is today, and how I, as a future educator, can
contribute to it as a science. I desire
to familiarize myself with as many aspects as possible of composition, so that
I might teach it effectively one day.
