Rhetoric“The Art of Persuasion”

Rhetoric language; The Art of Persuasion

What is rhetoric? What is its purpose? Why is rhetoric important to us and whydo we need it?

Greek philosopher Aristotle

What is rhetoric? The term rhetoric comes from the Greek

word for “spoken” or “speech” (Britannica, 2010).

It refers to the act of persuading or converting words into action.

It is defined as the study of rules for using language effectively (Britannica, 2010).

It’s also referred to as a discipline, an art, a skill, or a “type” of language (Kjeldson, 2003).

What is rhetoric? (contd.) In 350 B.C.E., philosopher Aristotle sets the

foundation for the basic system of rhetoric (Allen, 2007).

Aristotle promoted rhetoric language claiming that it was a human skill that could be beneficial if improved (Gross & Walzer, 2000).

He emphasized the three main audience components as well as the five canons of rhetoric, which was a part of the “standardization” (Gross & Walzer, 2000).

Rhetoric Long ago, rhetoric was mostly used in

political settings for political purposes, but has had many different purposes.

Rhetoric was a part of the first educated subjects from ancient times (Allen, 2007).

It has been modified many times throughout centuries and even today it is a central part of liberal arts education (Gross & Walzer, 2000).

What is the purpose of rhetoric?

Rhetoric is used everyday and all over the world.

It is a type of language that can be useful and helpful at any given time in any given situation.

Today, rhetoric is still very much used by lawyers, politicians, salesman, and everyday people like you and me.

“The Rhetorical Triangle”

This diagram is a modified example of the three main components of rhetoric that were discussed often by philosophers of ancient Greece, but it can be applied to a number of different subjects today.

www-as.phy.ohiou.edu/.../fall151/rhetriang.gif

www-as.phy.ohiou.edu/.../fall151/rhetriang.gif

What is the purpose of rhetoric? (contd.)

Using rhetoric language improves communication skills, and it heightens the ability to understand others as well as make others understand you.

When one person is “persuading” another, that other person is in turn “perceiving” who they believe you to be, and that perception is your reality (Gitomer, 2007).

The purpose of rhetoric (contd.)

Rhetoric turns disagreement into a rational debate.

It turns conflict into discussion and reasoning.

Why Do We Need Rhetoric? Rhetoric is an important part of

communication and without it, language would be incomplete.

There are times where rhetoric is needed, “Even those who just try to establish what is just and true need the help of rhetoric when they are faced with a public audience” (Allen, 2007, 4.3).

The use of rhetoric does not correlate with knowledge, but only has to do with persuasiveness (Allen, 2007).

Why do we need Rhetoric? I think that the use of rhetoric can

bring a lot of good things to the world, but if misused, it could cause trouble.

A good example for using rhetoric properly would be how the president uses it to persuade the country into believing in him to do his job.

Why do we need Rhetoric? (contd.)

An example of misused rhetoric would be when a good salesman sells you not so good products.

“Because persuasion-related tasks are so important in everyday life, the acquiring and sharing of persuasion expertise is an ongoing sociocultural process” (Friestad, 1999, p. 185).

Reference Citations Allen, James. (2007). “Aristotle on the

Disciplines of Argument: Rhetoric, Dialectic, Analytic” In Rhetorica 25: 87–108.

Friestad, Marian. (1999, February). Everyday Persuasion Knowledge. Psychology and Marketing, 185-194.

Gitomer, Jeffrey. (2007). Little Green Book of Getting Your Way. Upper Saddle River, NJ: FT Press.

Reference Citations (contd.)

Gross, A., & Walzer, A. (2000). Rereading Aristotle’s Rhetoric. US: Board of Trustees.

Kjeldsen, Jens E. (2003, July). Word & Image. 135.

rhetoric. (2010). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved March 27, 2010, from Encyclopedia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/501179/rhetoric

Rhetoric concluded… Researching the history of rhetoric

has made my interest in language grow because I see what vital part it has in the world of communication.

I hope that you enjoyed learning about The Art of Persuasion as much as I have, thank you.

The Art of Persuasion

The End