What is rhetoric? Explain how/why you’ve come to understand rhetoric in the way you do.
When I think or hear the word rhetoric, I think of the definition “the way language shapes the physical world”. Last semester my roommate had to think about rhetoric and write about it. This influenced me big time because I was able to learn more rhetoric. Before last semester I did not quite understand the true meaning but after a little help from outside sources I was able to come up with a general idea. Rhetoric can use exaggerations and displays that help the person visualize exactly what is being said. We may not realize it but rhetoric is always used in our everyday lives. Some common examples of rhetoric being used is political speeches to get the audience to react a certain way. Advertisements are also a very common examples because they want people to purchase their products, so they tell the audience what they want to hear. This is also used very commonly with friend to friend interactions. For example, when one friend wants to do something like go to the mall but the other friend does not, he/she may use ways to convince the other person to go. Using language like rhetoric on a daily basis has allowed me to see how much it is actually used in political situations or even in literature. I have come to notice that rhetoric is almost in almost all conversations that involves person on person. During class we looked at an example “are sharks dangerous”. We discussed that because of the movie Jaws people get the impression that all sharks no matter what kind are dangerous. This is an example of rhetoric because it shows how one simple message can influence many people’s opinions on a certain topic. I am looking forward to seeing how rhetoric is used in ENW and how it is used in writing pieces as well as everyday lives. I am more confident with the amount I know about the term rhetoric and I am confident it will help me in this class.
Cassie Lagner's ENW 100 Blog 