Download Link: Campbell_Rhetor1

Words are often a source of power. Over generations, language as we know it has changed. However, the influence that our words possess and how we portray them remains a source of authenticity to ourselves and to our history. Rhetoric is an interesting subject. The way people throughout history have articulated their words so carefully to give their audiences what they have been asking for is a recurring theme. This interactive relationship with the audience is often what gives us rhetoric in itself. In rhetoric, however, there this negative connotation nowadays that lies in politicians’ words and speech—this is what I originally thought rhetoric out to be. Only a week into this class and I no longer see rhetoric as a shallow tool used by the intellectual. I am still critical of the idea of calling things that people say rhetoric because of what I have come to know it as. I think John Locke explains it best in his two-types of rhetoric theory. He states that there are two types: “order and clearness” which is useful and then “artificial and figurative” which tends to be deceptive (Herrick 2).

In today’s world, what we say follows us wherever we go. How we can form a sentence without thinking about it beforehand is impressive in itself however it does have its pitfalls. We now live in a world where words travel faster than the time it took to say them. Rhetoric is powerful and words are taken very seriously. If we slip up and say the wrong thing, it can come back to haunt us. We see this a lot in politics: media focusing on one phrase of an hour-long speech for example. We see rhetoric being used by the current GOP contenders. One man in contention and currently leading the polls is Donald Trump, who refuses a teleprompter, doesn’t prepare for debates, and somehow comes out on top very frequently in the polls. Then we have the other GOP contenders who seem to have a rehearsed speech that is politically correct and what we have come to understand as the right way to use rhetoric. One thing I have added to ability of rhetorical explanation since beginning this course however is the fact that it can be adapted to the audience. Multiple audiences won’t perceive things the same way as other audiences. Words are put together with the idea of some target audience in mind. This goes back to John Locke’s articulation, order, and clearness, useful in the art of using rhetoric to adapt to any audience and any setting.

Rhetoric in any sense is taken seriously. Words are followed closely only to be picked apart. We are used to seeing this articulate, ornate word play adapted to a particular audience in order to get the message across the best, efficient way possible. Rhetoric has the ability of satisfying the needs of the people and influencing opinion. The most important part of word play is the way it interacts with the people or audience you are talking to. Choose your words wisely and continue to adapt.