“Thank You For Arguing” is a novel written by Jay Heinrichs . In chapter 1, he repeatedly refers the word “Rhetoric” and how it is the motivation of the affect, the bond, and the power it has on persuasion. In this chapter the author lays out the basics of his personal life at home. Jay explains how he quit his job to be a stay at home writer. He made a deal with his Wife, Dorothy, that he would do the cooking and take care of their 17 year old son George. This is because Dorothy returned to her full time job. As the chapter goes one we learn from Heinrichs that arguing is very similar to the matrix and its manipulative ways. We also are provided with the history of persuasion, many well known people and even the Bible used the art of persuasion.
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.
The novel Thank You For Arguing written by Jay Heinrichs teaches us the persuasive tactics behind an effective argument. Heinrichs emphasizes the importance of rhetoric by adapting persuasive tools to modern day situations. A former journalist and now an advocate for rhetoric, Jay Heinrichs has aimed to restore the art of persuasion by teaching it to his audience.
While Bitzer’s insights into how one may think about the way in which rhetorical discourse acts upon and therefore alters the reality of a situation, it is difficult to see his point in stating that the “mere craft of persuasion” lacks philosophical warrant as a practical discipline. The clearest reason it seems, is implied from the examples that Bitzer uses, none of which are theological or religious in nature, but rather the examples he provides are usually political. Although one is left to speculate as to what categories Bitzer would include in sophistical rhetoric (other than a play or novel), might theological and religious discourse be subsumed under
In Thank You for Arguing, written by Jay Heinrichs had introduces to the reader about the rhetoric concepts and strategies that give us to understand more about offense and defense in an argument. He is not just to explain the concepts to the readers for how to build up a stronger argument but to make the readers to know what purposes that argument puts in our lives. Although rhetoric tools is hard to fits in our everyday life, Heinrichs still would help us to gain more ability on utilizing the knowledges of the rhetoric concepts, and convinces us to influence on our behavior that act in the argument.
Aristotle also believed that rhetoric can be forensic, epideictic, and deliberative, which is the second division of his work. The art of persuasion and a way of advising about things to come is the best definition of deliberate rhetoric. This pattern has been used throughout the film and it is another obvious appeal to make it more effective and achieve its goals. Aristotle argues that “for using deliberative rhetoric, the speaker needs to consider deterrents, inducements and the motives people have for avoiding or doing the actions in the question”
Well-Known writer and author, Jay Heinrichs, in his book, thank-you-for-arguing, describes persuasive decisions, argument tools and how to use them when arguing or persuading your audience. Heinrichs purpose is to teach his audience how to use rhetoric and to teach us to argue without anger instead, be apathetic. He adopts an influential tone in order to reveal to his readers that the world of argument has a better way to persuade with logics.
Rhetoric is the idea of persuasion. Its basic idea is to influence someone to believe in our idea or help understand the message we are trying to deliver. In our daily life we use rhetoric in many places. This includes verbal communication as well as non-verbal communication such as body language and facial expression. In the workplace it can be used to communicate with people effectively.
Rhetoric seems like a big word but the meaning is simple- persuasion. In the book Julius Caesar, Antony and Brutus, two major characters, are fantastic at persuading the Roman citizens. When one is reading the story, they might think that both have equal amounts but when you look closer, Antony has the better rhetoric strategies. In just a few short sentences, Antony convinced the people to believe that Caesar needed revenge even though he never came out and told them that. Just a couple of minutes ago, the citizens were on Brutus’s side and thought that Caesar needed to go.
In Chapter 3-Control the Tense of Thank You for Arguing, we are shown how changing your argument to a different tense can give you the upperhand. This is the task presented by the rhetorical lab on page 29. The directions tell to examine the tenses if we “find ourselves a victim” in an argument, and to then switch from the past or present tense to the future. I tested this technique on my brother, whom I have years of fighting with under my belt, but very little experience arguing with.
The Art of Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is used to persuade with credibility, emotion, and logic. Which is essentially relating to the existence of ethos, pathos, and logos. Ethos is the credibility of the speaker. Whether it is work, life experience, education, trusted sources, reputation, etc. Pathos is the emotion and visualization of feelings of the subject. Whether it is a kid, a baby, happy, laughing, or upset mood, poverty, death, etc. Logos is the logical facts and information by a trusted brand or speaker. The Art of Rhetoric can be found in speeches, lectures documentaries, news stories, and blogs. One great example in which the the Art of Rhetoric is established in is the documentary “Waiting for Superman.” The broken education
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.
Thank You For Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion is a title written by the not-so-famous, (but extremely well-versed) Jay Heinrichs. Although the title is indeed a mouthful, it serves its purpose in drawing the reader in. Also; the extremely long title is a little hint of what Heinrichs entails in his book, an endless supply of information on how to correctly and influentially utilize rhetoric, the art of persuasion.
What is the definition of the word rhetoric? One may be led to believe that rhetoric is merely a persuasive tactic used by corrupt lawyers and crooked politicians. However, the proper definition of rhetoric is, “the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques.” A simpler definition of rhetoric would be any communication that can be used to change one’s views on a subject. Lynda Barry successfully uses persuasive tactics in her essay “The Sanctuary of School” to engage with her readers who can empathize with finding stability at school as well as those who may not, such as lawmakers, school officials, and the guardians of the children.
The next topic the author offered for an argument is, setting your goals of what you want to gain from your audience. The first and most simple step is to change the audiences mood. If you are able to change their mood, you make them more vulnerable to your argument and more willing to listen to you. The second step winning an argument is, changing the audiences mind and opinion. An example of this from the text is, convincing the light bulb that a replacement is the best way to get some light in the room. You want to promote yourself to them instead of coming off with the impression of a rival. The last and most difficult step to winning an argument is, getting to audience to take action. In order to get the audience to do this, you must be on a more emotional and personal level. As quoted from the text, you not only need to use desire to motivate but you need to convince them that taking this action is not a big deal; something they shouldn’t sweat about. Overall, chapter was very descriptive and informing in distinguishing the difference between an argument and a fight, and how to go about winning these
Rhetoric is a significant part of our everyday lives. Whether it's convincing our friends to go to a concert on the weekend, to go to a certain place for lunch, or even convincing yourself to do something that you should but don't want to do. Rhetoric is all around us today. Billboard ads, television commercials, newspaper ads, political speeches, even news stories all try, to some degree, to sway our opinion or convince us to take some sort of action. If you take a step back to look and think about it, rhetoric, in all actuality, shapes our lives. Every day we have an array of options of things to do or things to buy. So every day, our opinion or actions are being influenced, however minutely, by rhetoric.