Rhetorical Approach: The Symbolic Convergence Theory

Each “hearer” also interprets what he hears as a beholder.  Consequently, if an English speaker, or writer desires to convey a message, truth, fiction or nonfiction, entertainment, persuasion, evidence of fact, he must use correct language, perhaps colloquialisms, be aware of the listeners, their education, culture, motivation and attention. The written and spoken language can be used to deceive as well as to inform.  Advertisement, celebrities, leading preachers, politicians are used to provide a single perspective, not thorough information leading to a reasoned conclusion.

When a group of individuals have similar thoughts about a certain topic in a group conversation, they can relate to similar issues, experiences, and situations. This phenomenon has a term called symbolic convergence theory, developed by Ernest Bormann, John Cragan, and Donald Shields This theory has different levels of communication, which enhance the relationships between people. The symbolic-convergence theory is also known as the fantasy-theme analysis, which can be created in small groups or interaction between two people, thus creating a similar perspective.

In “Bring Back Flogging”, Jeff Jacoby addresses the problems within America 's criminal justice system. He gives many reasons why imprisonment simply does not work, and suggests that corporal punishment should be used as an alternative. Published in the Boston Globe, a newspaper well known for being liberal, Jacoby provides a conservative view and directs his argument towards those who strongly support imprisonment and view corporal punishment to be highly barbaric and inhumane. However, in order to shed light on our current situation, Jacoby discusses the dangers that we face though our criminal justice system a nd shows concern that imprisonment is doing more harm than good. In effect, Jacoby looks to the past for solutions, and

Advertisements are everywhere. From billboards, to magazines, to newspapers, flyers and TV commercials, chances are that you won’t go a day without observing some sort of ad. In most cases, companies use these ads as persuasive tools, deploying rhetorical appeals—logos, pathos, and ethos—to move their audiences to think or act in a certain way. The two magazine ads featured here, both endorsing Pedigree products, serve as excellent examples of how these modes of persuasion are strategically used.

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.

When you see a solider in his or her uniform, you are proud that they are serving this country to protect our freedom, securing our country, and defending democracy worldwide. The solider can come from different branches of the Military. The one you might be familiar with is the U.S. Army. These soldiers are well respected and prepared to serve our country whenever and wherever needed, combat-ready at all times, and trained to counter any threat, anywhere. In 2007, the United States Army department published a recruitment ad for U.S.

Persuasion is a skill that can be acquired and utilized with a mastery of writing. Arguing against the popular belief is one of the most difficult things that one can do. The following essay rhetorically analyzes an article that is written about why the legal drinking age should stay at 21 years old in the United States. The author of the article attempts to argue against the popular opinion that the drinking age should be lowered and is successful by using appeals to one’s logos. The author is an experienced writer and knows how to convey their ideas to convince people of his argument. Understanding why someone is writing a piece, what their motivation is, and how they try to convince the reader of their argument helps gain a more comprehensive grasp of what the subject matter itself is. Personally, I look to argue against popular opinions because it enables me to critically think of a sound argument that can not easily be disputed. This essay helped me

Do traffic signals make a difference when drivers are conducting their vehicles? In U.K. the roads have less signs and are smaller roads than in the United States. The United States has great amounts of traffic signals and symbols all over the road to make the driver more aware. In the U.K. accidents do occur but not that often has in the United States. In the Unites States every second there is huge amounts of accidents going on over the nation. John Staddon in his magazine article “Distracting Miss Daisy” tries to persuade that traffic control is making traffic more dangerous because we do not pay attention to the road, but to the signals.

Living in a country that provides access to great health care, one would expect the United States to have a sufficient supply of medical professionals such as doctors. After all, the country has a booming population and is home to many respected institutions with driven and compassionate medical students. However, in the March 3, 2015 edition of The Washington Post, Lenny Bernstein addresses a relatively new problem in healthcare. In the article, “U.S. Faces 90,000 Doctor Shortage by 2025, Medical School Association Warns”, Bernstein successfully creates a real sense of this crisis through his use of logos and diction to address the expected shortage of medical doctors.

Kendrick Lamar’s song “Alright” talks about race and how African Americans are being targeted and profiled. The song tells about the gun violence and police brutality that is effecting our community, “And we hate Popo, wanna kill us dead in the street for sure, n…” (Line 35). This quote out of his song is significant because in the world we live in someone gets killed every day for the color of their skin color or a profile that someone made off assumptions. As the song goes he tell about how African Americans were discriminated. “When you know, we been hurt, been down before, n… / When our pride was low, lookin' at the world like, "where do we go, n…?”’ (Line 33-34). Throughout the years African Americans are looked down on to the point where they do not know what their purpose is. For some, living in a world where people do not want them there hurts the pride of people.

Storytelling: Stories allow people to persuade themselves. A story will lower a prospect’s resistance, make complicated things easier to understand, and perk up their emotions.

Gerard A. Hauser covers a plethora of details on how to create a well-made persuasive argument in his book, an Introduction to Rhetorical Theory; however, he covered three specific essentials that are necessary for persuasion: the components logos, pathos and ethos; purposive discourse and rhetorical competence; identification. I will argue for each constituent, respectively, to prove that persuasion cannot thrive without the aforementioned essentials.

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.

Although Bitzer continues in the third section of his essay, by outlining the general characteristics or features of a rhetorical situation, it is his discussion of sophistical rhetoric that is most interesting. (11) He notes that a sophistic situation is one where a contrived exigence is, “asserted to be real... alleged constituents are due to error or ignorance,... and [it derives] from fantasy in which exigence, audience, and constraints may all be imaginary objects of a mind at play”. (11) He concludes that, “rhetoric is distinguished from the mere craft of persuasion which, although it is a legitimate object of scientific investigation, lacks philosophical warrant as a practical discipline”. (14)

Symbolic convergence theory is a theory in which groups that share fantasies create symbols to converge their ideas together. This essentially means, members in groups are sharing certain ideas, which seem unrealistic and then they are using these ideas to come together to create one idea that symbolizes the whole. According to an article by Daniels, “SCT is based on two assumptions: communication creates reality and symbols create reality, and meanings for symbols can merge to form a shared reality.” (Daniels, 2016) On the theory scale, symbolic convergence theory is right in the middle. In the book A First Look at Communication Theory, it states that the symbolic convergence theory is neither objective or interpretive. This theory falls under group and public communication because it deals with members who are involved in group communication. According to an article by Zanin, “Symbolic convergence theory is one of the primary, general theories used to study group communication”