A Rhetorical Book of Spells

To be honest, I still find the concept of rhetoric a little frustrating, because there is no clear definition of rhetoric. The definition seems fluid and specific to any given culture. Rhetoric can be about power, persuasion, and manipulation. Rhetoric can be all these things at once; therefore, my overall picture of rhetoric remains hazy. I’m not saying that the class has not helped me understand literature and a given texts worthiness, quite the opposite. I have found the class quite valuable in understanding the ways of the world.

Rhetoric is important because each of us have an opinion; we have an opinion that is uniquely our own, and rhetoric enables us to enforce that opinion. Looking back at the semester, I can definitely recognize how my thoughts about rhetoric have changed. My initial thought was that rhetoric is about persuasion, but now I think it is much more than that. Rhetoric encompasses so much that it is hard to pin exactly what it is, and I guess that is why I find it a little tricky, and sometimes frustrating.

What I don’t like about rhetoric is that it is often a slippery slope. Sometimes it is very difficult to discuss with any real substance. It’s one of those things in which I am hesitant to speak about because I don’t mean to sound foolish. Rhetoric is highly intellectual and takes deep focus and concentration. Sometimes I feel like rhetoric makes me feel more intelligent, and sometimes I feel like a dipshit because I don’t fully understand it, even after a decent amount of studying.

However, what I do like about rhetoric is that it can be applied to pretty much anything. Anything can be studied rhetorically, in a sense. Since rhetoric is such a broad concept you can look for its applications anywhere you choose. I suppose the bible has just as many rhetorical properties as fairy tales do. They teach us ethics and morals; they prove a point.

Overall the course has proven to me that rhetoric is a significant subject to study. Rhetoric shouldn’t be ignored, because it can be powerful when applied strategically. I see rhetoric as a sort of bag of tricks, or a book of spells. Rhetoric applies to nearly everything. In everyday conversation we like to enforce our opinions, whether we are discussing religion and politics, or chatting about the weather, rhetoric can be applied to enhance our opinion. Rhetoric gives us ground to stand on and voice our opinions.