{"id":5738,"date":"2016-01-12T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-01-12T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bsuenglish.wordpress.com\/?p=5738"},"modified":"2018-11-19T13:08:27","modified_gmt":"2018-11-19T18:08:27","slug":"department-dialogue-what-does-rhetoric-mean-to-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/english\/blog\/2016\/01\/12\/department-dialogue-what-does-rhetoric-mean-to-you\/","title":{"rendered":"What Does Rhetoric Mean to You?"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve launched a new series that we\u2019ve titled \u201cDepartment Dialogue.\u201d This series offers our professors a platform that they can use to discuss English-related topics that are of interest to both faculty and students alike. We continue the series with responses from the Rhetoric & Writing faculty, who have all answered the same question: what does rhetoric mean to you?\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

\n

Professor Paul Ranieri:<\/span><\/h2>\n

So, first, I acknowledge that all communication involves what communication theorists call the communication triangle.\u00a0 I would portray it as follows:\u00a0 Imagine a triangle with a circle around it.\u00a0 The points of the triangle stand for the key elements of all communication: I (the writer\/speaker), It (the message), and You (the audience)<\/b>.\u00a0 That triangle is surrounded by the Context<\/b> of the message.\u00a0 Those four elements are included in any human communication.\u00a0 The relationship among those four elements is Rhetoric.\u00a0 Any message in any medium or collection of media can be analyzed or planned by thinking through those four elements.<\/p>\n

From another perspective, the ancient Greeks were interested in the human element of communication whereby human thoughts find outward expression in words.\u00a0 That relationship was often called Logos.\u00a0 So, in brief, Thinking\u2192Words = Logos.<\/strong>\u00a0 For the ancient Greeks putting one\u2019s thoughts into words then necessitated that you act on those words, thus setting up the relationship, Thinking\u2192Words\u2192Actions.\u00a0 That relationship defined one\u2019s Ethos or Character, leading Aristotle to say that \u201ccharacter is almost, so to speak, the most authoritative form of persuasion.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

From both this modern communications and this ancient historical perspective comes my interest in Rhetoric: how it has been conceived, the way it is conceived, the way we use it, the way we abuse it, and the way we learn it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Professor Rory Lee:<\/span><\/h2>\n

Once, at a conference, I heard\u00a0a keynote speaker say\u00a0the following in describing the way one’s discipline shapes the way s\/he thinks: \u00a0“We tend to see and experience the world through the lenses offered via our respective fields. \u00a0A hammer, for example, goes through the world seeing only\u00a0things to be nailed.”<\/strong> \u00a0That quote resonated with me because I realized that I tend to\u00a0see the world rhetorically. \u00a0For me, everything\u00a0has rhetorical potential, and everything can be subject to rhetorical analysis. \u00a0And my field has equipped me with the\u00a0frameworks, concepts, and terms to discern and unpack those rhetorical potentials and to conduct those rhetorical analyses. \u00a0In short, my field has helped me to see more clearly the complex ways in which I am always being communicated to, whether I want to recognize it or not. \u00a0Just as important,\u00a0it has taught me\u00a0ways in which I can communicate back–and do so responsibly, strategically, and effectively.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Perhaps more than anything, however, my field has confirmed for me what I’ve always sensed: language is the ultimate mediator; it is our means for understanding and experiencing the world.<\/strong> \u00a0Take away our words, our various symbol systems for making meaning, and what do we actually know? \u00a0About anything?<\/p>\n

Rhetoric permeates every aspect of our lives and is our means to navigate our lives: \u00a0it’s how we know and do, it’s how we control and are controlled, and it’s how we go about envisioning, making, and shaping the world we want to live in. \u00a0That sounds like something important, something worth knowing better and helping others know better, too.<\/p>\n

Professor Eva Grouling Snider:<\/span><\/h2>\n

The reason I love rhetoric is because it is a deeply human subject. The strength of human beings is our ability to<\/span> communicate and coordinate, to<\/span> band to<\/span>gether to<\/span> solve problems far greater than any of us individually.<\/strong> That communication and coordination is driven by rhetoric.<\/p>\n

My own specialties\u2014professional writing, visual design, and web development\u2014are far removed from the roots of rhetoric in Ancient Greece, but they still have much to<\/span> gain from the study of rhetoric. I teach people to<\/span> look at professional writing, design, and development from the perspective of rhetoric: to<\/span> analyze the choices others have made in crafting their communications, to\u00a0<\/span>carefully make those choices themselves to<\/span> achieve particular effects. Professional writing, design, and development may be the subjects I teach, but at their foundation is rhetoric.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Professor Laura Romano:<\/span><\/h2>\n

I think that the value of the area of rhetoric and composition is that we are able to offer our students a set of tools that can not only help them in their future career but in all areas of life. We equip them with the tools they need to understand the rhetorical arguments happening around them, and to hone their critical thinking skills as they discover and analyze layers of meaning. The students are then able to craft more powerful, effective and useful appeals in their own writing and speaking. We are, essentially, offering our students what I like to call “a place at the table,” where their ideas are more well-received by a broader audience.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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