Coming to Terms: Rhetoric
Author(s): Brenda Lamb
Source: The English Journal, Vol. 87, No. 1, Media Literacy (Jan., 1998), pp. 108-109
Published by: National Council of Teachers of English
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/822034
Accessed: 13/08/2009 01:46
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless
you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you
may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.
Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=ncte.
Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed
page of such transmission.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We work with the
scholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform that
promotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
National Council of Teachers of English is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to
The English Journal.
http://www.jstor.org
too
Kum nr
COMING TO
pline quicklyearnedan unsavory
reputation,and the term rhetoric
fell into disreputeas the publicasto the
signednegativeconnotations
oncehonorable
discipline.Ironically,
meant"wise
theGreektermsophistes
man."If sophistswere wise men,
they did not investwiselyin their
OF RHETORIC
HISTORY
own futures:many young people
Contemporaryinterpretations were left with a lastingimpression
dat- that
of rhetoricreflectcontroversies
integritywassecondaryto winto
its
back
very beginnings. ning through manipulationwith
ing
RhetoricbeganwithCoraxof Syra- emptyrhetoric.
cusein fifthcenturyB.C.as a means
to help individualsreclaimconfis- IMPLICATIONS
Asa de- FORTEACHING
afterwarfare.
catedproperty
Aristotlewas thoroughin his
mocraticstate,Athenswelcomedthe
of rhetoricand,as a renew artas a practicalmeansto dis- exploration
coverknowledgeand truthin their sult, today'srhetoricaltheoriesare
still basedon his principles.Three
publicforums.Notablerhetoricians
studied
were Plato,Socrates,and Aristotle, canonsof rhetoriccurrently
of
are:
arrangediscovery arguments,
but Westernculturehas been most
influencedby the enduringphiloso- ment of materials,and considerations of style. Even today,rhetoriphiesof Aristotle,delineatedin his
writtenin approxi- cians and English teachersteach
treatiseRhetoric
andprinrhetoricstrategies
effective
mately333 B.C.
and
in
Whileearlyoratorsandsophists ciples composition rhetoric
felt that one shoulduse logic and classes.
Afterstudentsselect a thesis,
ethicsas a meansto persuadeaudiences to accepttruth,a few later they must discoverargumentsas a
meansto developthatthesis.Thisis
sophistsbeganto corruptrhetoric.
common
These Athenianteacherswere ex- the purposeof Aristotle's
to
and
according Frank
tremelyinfluentialas theywerere- topics,
in Aristotle
sponsible for educatingbudding D'Angelo,"[Thetopics]
science, were used to constructproposiyoungcitizensin literature,
andoration. tions"(1984, 58). Thesetopicsmay
citizenship,
philosophy,
When orationbecamea highlyes- includedefinition,comparison,reorproofs.
teemed, much sought-after,and lationship,circumstances,
a topic,
selected
have
students
Once
profitableskill,a few unscrupulous
use logicalanalysesas a
sophistsbeganto buildtheirreputa- they may
tionson theirstudents'
skills, meansto developthe topic while
oratory
Rhetoric
Brenda
Lamb
Florence
Alabama,
University
ofNorth
Thosewho subscribeto the Socratic teachingmethod recognize
the need to help writingstudents
tap into inherentknowledgeand
abilitiesas a meansto bringforth
ideas in writing.To use Socrates'
analogy,we performthe functionof
midwifeaswe assistourstudentsin
givingbirthto new ideas (citedin
Lunsfordand Ede, 1984). In so
doing,writingteachersteachmethods of discovery,organizationof
of
ideas,and cohesivepresentation
to
teachers
literature
hope
thoughts;
of such
conveysomeunderstanding
as
stylistictechniques irony,analogy,
andclimax;andmosteducatorsattemptto fosterthe developmentof
enthusiasm, virtue, and logical
analysis.Theseare all elementsof
rhetoricas appliedin education.
MEANINGS
CONTEMPORARY
New
The firstentryin Webster's
American
WorldDictionary
English
of
(1984)definesrhetoricas "theartof
in speakingor
usingwordseffectively
writing."The followingentry deeloscribes rhetoric as "artificial
is
that
showyand
quence;language
elaboratebut largelyemptyof clear
ideasor sincereemotion."Thissecond entryreflectsthe currentnegawhichareoftenthe
tiveconnotations
firstmeaningsbroughtto mind.As
an exampleof both negativeand
positiveassociations,TheSynonym
and
Finder(1984) lists "bombast"
eitherspokenorwritten,to informor
persuadeor motivatean audience,
whetherthataudienceis madeup of
one personor a groupof persons"
(1990, 3). Put succinctly,then,
rhetoriccanbe definedas the artof
effectivecommunication.
"pomposity"aftersuch initial favorable listingsas "eloquence"and "expressiveness."Recognized rhetoric
authority,EdwardPJ. Corbett,states:
"Rhetoricis the art or the discipline
that deals with the use of discourse,
and virtue was swept aside in the
race for prosperityWinningbecame
the primary consideration; truth
became dispensable. When unprincipled practitionersresortedto
pompous,emptybombast,the disci-
108
Turmz
TERMS
they avoid such fallaciesin reasoning as over-generalizations.
Another consideration in the
writingprocessis the properarrangement of material into a cohesive
structure. Typicallyin persuasion,
January1998
this will include the introduction,a
brief overview, proofs, refutations,
and a conclusion.
Lastly,students must consider
elements of style-sentence length
and variety, diction, euphony, coherence, paragraphing,and figures
of speech. Figuresof speech encompass such techniques as the use of
analogy, simile, metaphor, parallelism, antithesis, ellipsis, alliteration, assonance, climax, personification, hyperbole, litotes, irony,
paradox, oxymoron, and erotema
(the rhetoricalquestion).Such techniques help convey complex ideas
clearly.
This entireprocessdescribesthe
essentialelementsof rhetoric which
are applicableto both written composition and oratory discourse.
When writersstrivefor optimumeffectivenessin discourse,they should
also include considerationsof audience, human nature, and human
emotions. Although we may prefer
to have our argumentsconsidered
on the meritof logic or reasonalone,
emotionalfactorsoften do come into
play.Accordingly,in considerationof
both logic and emotion, Aristotle
noted that appeals should be advanced on three different levels:
appeal to reason (logos), appeal to
emotions(pathos),and appealto personalityor character(ethos)(cited in
Corbett 37). If one fails to use all
three appeals in an argument,one
will risk sacrificingoptimum effectiveness.
APPLICATIONS FOR LIFE
Since rhetoric is the art of effective communication, its principles
can be applied to many facets of
everyday life. For example, we use
rhetoric in letter writing, employment interviews, and conversation
as a means to persuade or favorably
dispose the audience. The traditional
principles of rhetoric, in other
words, can help individuals present
themselves logically and ethically
As a simplistic example which
may appeal to teenagers, consider
the plight of a young man proposing
Journal
English
that a young lady accompanyhim to
a dance becausehe is the most logical choice. Such a brash vocalization, naturally,would be ludicrous
and the proposal would be highly
unlikely to elicit the desired response. Upon analysisthroughAristotle'stenets for persuasion,one can
conclude that, although the suitor
may have made a logical appeal,he
failed to incorporateinto his argument the appeals of emotion combined with personalappeal.In order
to achieveeffectivecommunication,
the suitor would need to have personal appeal,makean emotionalappeal and, finally,be logical enough
to formulatean intelligentproposal.
As with any noble endeavor,
however, the principles of rhetoric
can be used for good or for evil, in
moderation or in complete abandonment of all moralor ethicalprecepts. In modern day classrooms,
for instance,students can use communicationskills, painstakinglyimparted by conscientious educators,
as a means to achieve their own
ends without regard for the rights
of others and without regard for
moralityor truth.
We need to help our students
learn to contend with modern-day
Machiavellians,such as politicians
well versedin the fineartof doublespeak. Afterall, knowledgeis power.
If childrenareeducatedin the methods and strategiesof effectiverhetoric, they will be empoweredwith
the abilityto fend off theirwould-be
manipulators and even effectively
proffer counter proposals or arguments. Of course,young people are
not often concerned with politics,
but they are confronteddaily with
peer pressurein relationto issues of
moralityWe can empower them to
communicate their opinions effectivelyin favorof responsiblechoices.
These potentialleaderscould, then,
influence their peers in a positive
way.As Joseph M. Williams,an authorityon style,states:
Onecommonreasonpeople
is theirinabilityto communicate,to get theirideason
paperquicklyin a waythat
lets othersunderstand
those
ideaseasilyWheneverprofessionalsareaskedwhatthey
wish theyhadstudiedmore
diligently,theirfirstor second
answeris alwayscommunication,especiallywriting.
(1994, preface)
The skills of an educatedrhetorician
are still much in demand.Theymay
be categorizedand disguisedunder
such terms as composition,speech,
advertising,interpersonalrelations,
propaganda,broadcasting,business
communications,negotiation,community relations, and international
diplomacy.Howeverstated,effective
communicationis often a prerequisite for applicantsin any profession.
Although the term rhetoric may
have fallen into disrepute outside
the field of education, the study of
rhetoric is an importantand honorable discipline encompassingmany
of the skills needed to cultivate an
able and effectivecommunicator.
WorksCited
Corbett,EdwardP J. 1990. Classical
Rhetoric
for theModernStudent.New
York:OxfordUniversityPress.
D'Angelo,FrankJ. 1984. "The Evolu-
tion of the AnalyticTopoi:
A Spec-
ulative Inquiry."Essayson Classical
Rhetoric and Modern Discourse.
RobertJ.Connors,LisaS. Ede, and
AndreaA. Lunsford,eds. Carbon-
dale,IL:SouthernIllinoisUniversityPress.
Lunsford,AndreaA. and LisaS. Ede.
1994. "On DistinctionsBetween
Classicaland ModernRhetoric."
Essays on Classical Rhetoricand
ModernDiscourse.RobertJ. Connors, Lisa S. Ede, and Andrea A.
Lunsford, eds. Carbondale, IL:
SouthernIllinois UniversityPress.
Rodale,J. I. 1978. TheSynonymFinder
New York:WarnerBooks.
Webster's
New WorldDictionaryofAmerican English. 1984. New York:
PrenticeHall.
Williams, Joseph M. 1994. Preface.
Style:TenLessonsin Clarity& Grace.
New York:HarperCollinsCollege
Publishers.
do not achieve their potential
109