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To Affect, Or Be Affected? “ The broad masses of a population are more amenable to the appeal of rhetoric than to any other force. ” --Adolf Hitler

A meagre commentary on personally implemented tactics, the quote above provides a curious glimpse into the psyche of the world’s most notorious manipulator. With pervasive propaganda, Hitler rendered millions dead by excruciating means of extermination, ripping families asunder and subjecting innocent civilians to brutal humiliation. He extracted love and loyalty from German youths with his eloquence, pushing them to the very margins of terrorism. All of this, a result of expertise in one of the oldest arts known to man: that of rhetoric.

The study of rhetoric—beside its two corresponding ancient arts, grammar and dialectic (logic)—dates as far back as 443 B.C1. Its analysis originated in Greece; hence the word’s Greek roots. Derived from the word //ῥητορικός (rhētorikós ////) //, meaning “oratorical,” and also the word //ῥημα (rhêma) //, or “spoken word,” the term literally denotes general communication and discourse4. However, its capacity has been debated for centuries as well.

Sophists such as Protagoras, Gorgias, and Isocrates were the initial investigators of the scope of rhetoric, teaching that the expression more precisely signified “the means of persuasive language1.” The renowned philosopher, Plato, deemed only rhetoric of dialectics to be true-spirited, as its object is to shed light on the issues that convoke the participants3. Subsequently, his student, Aristotle, established three separate appeals of rhetoric: //logos// (use of reasoning in composition of an argument), //Ethos// (influence of the character and credibility on the audience), and //Pathos// (use of emotional appeals to alter the audience’s appraisal)2. Controversial and subjective, the interpretations of rhetoric are studied ardently to this day as instruments of social existence.

Appropriately then, as social beings we might inquire as to which lens to look through. For truly, what superiority do we have to those creatures whose actions were so easily swayed by the “rhetoric” of a coward?

Alas, we //are// those creatures.

A little girl of about seven ambles the muddy sidewalks with her mother, their fingers interlaced even as she hops awkwardly over the puddles. They journey beyond neon-yellow construction signs, warning danger to the by passer, and see cars with bumper stickers that advocate the driver’s favorite football team. Seated on a broken crate at the side of the road is an old man with torn shoes, exhibiting a piece of cardboard on which the words EVERYONE DESERVES A WARM BED are written. Her frail body shivers from the chill of a cold breeze, and she imagines where she would sleep if her cozy, pink bedframe wasn’t at home, awaiting her. Entering the sliding glass doors of a grocery market, the girl stares with captivation at the beautiful women covering magazine fronts on display, telling mommy that she wants to look like Scarlett Johansson when she gets older, and skips carelessly past the signs that foretell “Red Hot Deals.” Hi, my name is ENRIQUE greets them benignly, offering her mother a flyer and complementing the girl’s flowery blue dress. She blushes with pride and blithely asks her mom if she can have “that candy bar in the pretty purple wrapper.”

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Evidently, humans are //immersed// in persuasive communication; through verbal discourse, through art, through mere disposition. Rhetoric is the driving force of consumerism, the influential factor in politics, and the propeller of individual judgment.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Carmen López Säenz, doctor in philosophy and anthropology, states that, “ Rhetoric deals with persuasive arguments that are used not only in oratory but whenever understanding and agreement are sought. Conclusively, it applies to all cases in which information is presented to make a point.” She goes on to say that even in objective sciences, those who present the results of their experiments must persuade audiences to accept its veracity3. Considering her assertions, if rhetoric could be defined as a method of manipulation (as it is by some), rather than one of persuasion, the presentation of //all// information is in fact, manipulative. To this end, author Wayne C. Booth suggests that the redemption of society lies in the practice of “listening-rhetoric;” the scrutiny of applied linguistic arts in everyday life. “Practicing LR might save—well, certainly not //all// of us, but many of us in many corners of the world1.” Justly, rhetoric is a crucial paradigm of the importance of education.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">Ultimately, this notion ties itself to the formation of a definition of rhetoric; the genesis of that lens through which one sees the world. For note how, naively perplexed by perceived beauty and reasoning, a little girl is affected by her surroundings.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">Or, rather, naively perplexed by perceived beauty and reasoning is the sentient human being. What difference does it make, when one is ignorant to the means by which their way of thinking is formed?

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">(1) Booth, Wayne C. //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Rhetoric of Rhetoric: The Quest for Effective Communication //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 2004. <span style="color: #494949; font-family: Times New Roman; margin: auto 0in auto 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">(2) Elden, Stuart. "Reading //Logos// as Speech: Heidegger, Aristotle and Rhetorical Politics." //Philosophy and Rhetoric// 38 (2005): 281-301. <span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: Times New Roman; line-height: 18pt; margin: auto 0in auto 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">(3) López Säenz, Carmen. "The Ubiquity of Rhetoric and Hermeneutic Philosophy." //European Legacy// 14.4 (2009): 427. //MasterFILE Premier//. EBSCO. Web. 9 Feb. 2011. <span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: Times New Roman; line-height: 18pt; margin: auto 0in auto 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">(4) Webster, Merriam. “Rhetoric.” //New Expanded Webster’s Dictionary.// Miami: P.S.I. & Associates, Inc., 1988.


 * Pleas criticise!!! I would really appreciate feedback on conclusion and maybe the title...Thank you! <3