What is rhetoric?
The closer I get to narrowing down my understanding of rhetoric the scope of the term broadens. However, the paradoxical cycle of filtering concepts with a larger gauge with each iteration indicates my growing understanding. It's certain that rhetoric is measured by the symbolic ability to inform, persuade and/or motivate. There are also myriad tools a speaker can employ to appeal to their audience. The classic Greek categories are ethos, pathos and logos which are used to evaluate the speaker's ability to express authority, evoke empathy or illustrate logic respectively. Refining the classes even further reveals cunning choices such as; hyperbole, irony and metaphor. Rhetoricians are not only those presenting techniques to manipulate thought in others, but also the person who is skilled in identifying those techniques. To provide a metaphor; rhetoric is like a martial art and the weapons of choice are symbols.
What is the history and theory of rhetoric?
My favorite quote from our professor this week was, "Plato was a close friend of Pythagoras." Visualizing history's most renown mathematician and philosopher sipping tea as they contemplated civilizing the western world resonated with me. Rhetoric, along with ethics, politics, biology, aesthetics and mathematics influenced global culture. Greek, Hellenistic, Islamic and Roman philosophers, evoked this model through the Age of Enlightenment.
The Aristolean model was heuristic in nature. The three categories of thought were deliberative, forensic and epideictic. I understood that all rhetorical theory was related to law, politics and education. The theoretical conversation was dominated more by religion during the medieval times. But, rhetoric remained a key pillar in philosophic discourse. In this era the trivium were the main areas of specialty; grammar, rhetoric and dialectic or debate. Rhetoric was considered a method for social 'refinement'. The Plain Ramus style was developed which emphasized three skills; style memory and delivery.
The Scotts led a revival of rhetorical theory in the 18th century. Hugh Blair, a professor from the University of Edinburgh, had a major impact on the narrative. His collection of lectures was dispersed on many American university campuses.
From that point, American academics emerge as the prevailing publishers. George Campbell extended the definition of rhetoric to the art of adaptation. Alexander Bain maintained the Scottish tradition by emphasizing narration, description, exposition and argumentation. English departments were started in universities across the United States which followed the Harvard model for compulsory writing courses. Texas Tech continues to carry on that tradition today.
I find the classical history of rhetoric more interesting than the modern academic progress. However, it's important to understand Edinburgh's and Cambridge's influence 18th and 19th centuries.
What do you want to do with the content from this course?
I'm excited about 5060 because the syllabus automatically strengthens the student's portfolio. I'll attach the philosophy of writing to my CV immediately. The piece will be a mission statement for the curriculum I'm developing for business writing. The first assignment is my chance is also a good segue into the syllabus.
