Before reading Herrick's introduction, my original thought was that rhetoric was a form of persuasive writing. I had never dealt with or had to think about the topic before. So I was very much in the dark about how expansive rhetoric's meaning actually is.
After reading the introduction, I was surprised to find out how frequently rhetoric is used in daily life. Rhetoric is simply (or not so simply) a form of expression, not limited to writing. Even though its definition includes persuasion, it also is used to help define, to assert an opinion, appeal to a social group, discover new facts, and much more. Rhetoric is essential in every day life. We constantly have to use rhetoric when talking to others, be it telling about our day, convincing a friend to go somewhere with you, or what have you. It is also a very big part of blogging. Response is an integral part of both. Ideas, questions, mainly more rhetoric could not be developed without response.
I enjoy Herrick's definition: " the systematic study and intentional practice of effective symbolic expression" Being a com dis major, l know that language is a system of symbols to which we assign meaning. In other words, symbolic expression simply means expressing ourselves with language, which seems extremely broad and full of possibilities. So I think that really grasping rhetoric in this class may take awhile..
1 comment:
I agree that it will take awhile to grasp rhetoric. Everytime I think I understand it we have another reading that chnages my definition. I do think that rehotirc is very broad and that it is a way of expressing yourself using anything from symbols to words.
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