Digital Media Rhetoric

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.

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.

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

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 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

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.

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.

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.

Rhetoric is something that at least everyone uses in his or her everyday life. Rhetoric can be used in the form of social media, politics and even making the decision on how you are going to communicate. In the Youtube video titled In Defense of Rhetoric: No Longer Just for Liars, Professor, Dr. Ann George states rhetoric as how we persuade each other or how we make arguments. George believes we can do this by the words we use, the gestures we make and the facial appeals that can break down the language and encourage the argument one might be making.

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 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.

I have learned that rhetoric is something I use regularly in my daily life. Unknowingly, I have been using this art of persuasion for even the most everyday things. Now that I can identify rhetoric, I see it everywhere in the form of politics, media, advertising, parental rearing, public speaking, personal, and even at our work place.

"The study of rhetoric traditionally has aimed to equip students with an ability to identify problems and issues, to investigate, to interpret, and to communicate results -- whatever the subject matter. These abilities require higher-level thinking, not just skills; analysis and evaluation, not just observation . . . . The study emphasizes strategies and practice rather than a body of facts and contemplation; thus the study of rhetoric aims for social application. Students are studying rhetoric in a technical communication course even though they may never hear of Aristotle nor study history and theory of rhetoric. Identifying a problem, gathering, interpreting, and arranging information,

Digital communication through today’s technology is empowering our society and strengthening human relationships through connecting us in ways that are impossible through organic human to human interaction. This exceptionally innovative technology was once only imaginable in science fiction literature, and is now a reality for most of humanity. We use this form of communication on a daily basis throughout the planet. We rarely stop to think about how wondrous and seemingly magical this advanced technology is, and we seldom ponder on how this new form of communication impacts us as a culture. Advanced digital communication not only enables and emboldens us, but could be potentially harming and hindering us as a culture as well as socially