Digital Media Rhetoric

Rhetoric is a course in which students are taught the values of persuasion. And yet, behind this course is the utmost power to corrupt the world, changing it into a world of our own policies. This power, even though seldom discussed, has lead to many intriguing discoveries. One such discovery is how people are able to shape the world they live in simply by choosing the right words. Therefore those who would want the world to be a better place must protect this power. If in the wrong hands this power could cause serious damage. Several authors have striven to protect rhetoric and its power. Few agree on the matter of defining rhetoric, but they know that they must protect rhetoric from dark souls. A single definition of rhetoric must maintain a simplistic nature while incorporating every aspect of rhetoric. However, I argue that rhetoric is a means of persuading audiences of a situation and a particular reality through language and personal appeal. In order to prove this definition I will discuss how rhetoric creates a situation, the shaping of a different reality, the audience, the use of language, and the personal appeal. Finally, I will demonstrate the absolute need for rhetoric.

Scholars of rhetoric consider the Greek philosopher, Aristotle, one of the great contributors to our present understanding of this art which, since its early origins and until present, has been a controversial field of study because of its association with persuasion and influence. However, an examination of ancient rhetoric and its development by the Sophists and then a study on Aristotle’s theory on rhetoric and how he concluded his findings direct our attention to whether this Greek philosopher only included in his theory what he described as inadequate and non-fundamental Sophistic teachings, or actually built up his theory on their techniques, long bashed and overlooked. In this essay, I consider Aristotle’s rhetoric is an evolution

Until now, people all over the world use of rhetoric in many situations. We use of rhetoric to write an essay, a letter to friend, or persuade a member in family. If people know how to use rhetoric correctly in every situation, it could bring a lot of power to the receivers. Based on Dr. William, the rhetoric refers to “the study of the art of persuasion”, and it has three elements “rhetorical appeals”: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. According to our assignment, there are some analysis about how to use rhetoric demonstrate in each video.

Many successful people politicians, salesmen, even lawyers have mastered this tool. Rhetoric has assisted in the development of laws, complex societies, and codes. “Everyone of America’s founders studied rhetoric, and they used its principles in writing the Constitution”(Heinrichs Pg 4). An example of rhetoric being used correctly is a presidential candidate trying to persuade voters to vote for him. The goal the candidate is to “seduce” the voters into thinking that voting for him is the best option for the country.

Jay Heinrich wrote this book to enlighten the reader on the forgotten art of rhetoric. In reading this book, one will better their arguing skills and their manipulation of their audience. By introducing readers to rhetoric they can better their ability to use logic, persuasion, and emotion while developing an argument. This will ultimately better their communication skills in their personal lives, workplaces, and in day to day events.

Rhetoric has not changed much since the years of Aristotle. However, the application of concept of rhetoric appears to have undergone dynamic transformations as new technologies come into the market. Rhetoric is employed in all spheres and levels of life in conveying information especially in the world of business and politics. For many years, rhetoric has been used to convince and persuade people to do or buy certain things. Being rhetorically sensitive requires people to make choices as to whether to engage in figurative or literal language. As technology advances, there are challenges that face rhetoricians in this era of electronics, some of these challenges involve coding digital texts, collecting and commenting in a way that allows the author-reader interaction to remain active.

Rhetoric is found virtually everywhere, from billboards to commercial ads on television, it is a part of the 21st century’s daily routine. Communication thrives on rhetoric because it is the foundation of opinion. Without discussion or opinions, life will become dull and uninteresting. Political debates towards the end of presidential elections are predominately a few of the greatest examples of this. By the end of elections, a majority of people have lost interest in the repetition of each candidate, with rhetoric, people become more inclined to tune into their television to listen to two candidates debate.

Imagine discovering the cure for cancer, and then tossing the revolutionary discovery into a blaze of fire. This obliteration has happened to rhetoric, a tool of language that donates life to argument and creates a thriving system of communication for the world. Rhetoric used to be an important aspect of education that could assist students with the teachings of argument and human interaction. Today, rhetoric has become a topic of minimal discussion among ideas that have long since been outdated, and considered archaic to the educational system. In reality, rhetoric exemplifies the human genius and must be taught in schools to further the evolution of human expression.

Rhetoric can push users farther than the normal argument, and past the habits of the natural human mind. When one comes to understand the theory of words, argument and how opposition thinks, then can the situation fully be revolved for their favor and their future. Rhetoric is a valuable skill that should be taught in schools in order to assist in high school environments, and help prepare for a future in the workplace.

While much of networked rhetorical production focuses on the digital recreation of traditional media (e.g. Netflix, online news, video chat), a variety of rhetorical forms have emerged that are unique to the web (e.g. blogs, message boards, and chatrooms). Of these forms, digital memes stand out as a communitive technology that defines networked rhetorical styles, and exemplifies the conundrum behind Warnick’s call to refigure ethos for networked environments. Moreover, as a text that is native to networked environments, memes provide an ideal framework to meet Pfister’s (2014) call to use the performances of networked rhetorics to best understand the nature of the contemporary rhetorical

Rhetoric is used to convince an audience to perform any action the speaker wishes to be done; because of this students need to be able to use rhetoric so that their thoughts or ideas may not just be washed away in the future. Students can use need this useful tool later in life to be able to change their environment and control their audience. For example, when a student is in an interview and the interview

Gorgias is a Socratic dialogue that aims to determine what rhetoric truly is. Socrates seeks the true definition of rhetoric, attempting to pinpoint the essence of rhetoric and unveil the flaws of the sophistic oratory popular in Athens at this time. The art of persuasion was widely considered necessary for political and legal advantage in classical Athens, and rhetoricians promoted themselves as teachers of this fundamental skill. Some, like Gorgias, were foreigners attracted to Athens because of its reputation for intellectual and cultural sophistication. In Gorgias, Socrates argues that philosophy is an art, whereas rhetoric is a skill based on mere experience. To Socrates, most rhetoric in practice is merely flattery. In examining the role advertising plays in our

Rhetoric is a universal practice that aims to achieve this discourse to change something for the better. If rhetoric loses the ability to enact change, it loses the power to be contested. Rhetoric cannot function alone because rhetoric needs democracy to transpire it’s being from a practice to an art. The struggle for democracy is what revolves rhetoric into it’s greatest form of fulfilling a greater purpose. Because democracy and rhetoric are intertwined, democracy grants rhetoric the ability to gain power and elevate means of thinking while rhetoric allows for democracy to improve and progress to a stronger representation of the people. I argue that rhetoric without democracy loses its eloquence of means because as Aristotle states in classical times, rhetoric’s “function is not too simple to succeed in persuading, but rather to discover the means of coming as near success of the circumstances of each particular case allow. (Mueller, 89). In other words, rhetoric embodies democracy because it instills the core discourse of means within a society. When we analyze the formation of the Sophists and their need to engage in their political defense for themselves against the stateman Solon, we can uncover that the practice techniques cannot stand alone without democracy because there needs to be an overall sense of

Rhetoric is the ground that democracy stands on. The use of rhetoric makes a democracy possible because of the speaking/listening of educated claims and ideas. Since a democracy is the idea that a population in its entirety with elected officials govern themselves, rhetoric allows this to take place. Rhetoric uses verbal and non-verbal symbols to address public issues; for the good of society. We in a democratic society use these verbal and non-verbal ideas to communicate our thoughts and opinions. A language based society, such as us, requires open communication. Especially in a free government such as democracy where the people are encouraged to voice concern. Rhetoric forms a community, focuses on shared collective issues, and allows people

The first chapter introduced the reader to the art of rhetoric. He describes how rhetoric works through real life examples. He demonstrates ways that rhetoric persuades us like, argument from strength, and seduction. He tells the reader that the sole purpose of arguing is to persuade the audience. He showed that the chief purpose of arguing is to also achieve consensus, a shared faith in a choice.