Scholarly Definitions Of Rhetoric
Everybody’s writing styles are different in their own unique way, and we have our own thoughts on words. Aristotle’s quote saying rhetoric is “the faculty of discovering in any particular case all of the available means of persuasion.” Persuasion is a big part of writing, because once you attract the reader and change their mind they are right away hooked. He is saying that it may not interest you or the other, but you can find away to pull the audience into understanding or believing you.
Also Kenneth Burke’s quote saying “The most characteristic concern of rhetoric [is] the manipulation of men’s beliefs for political ends….the basic function of rhetoric [is] the use of words by human agents to form attitudes or to induce actions in other human agents.” This goes back to some persuasion also. Once you find someone’s beliefs, especially men, you can interest them by saying what they want to hear. Lying could be used, but you have the eyes and ears of the audience once you speak about their actions, likes and dislikes. And once they start giving their attention it will pass on to others.
Lastly, Gerard A. Hauser’s quote says “Rhetoric is an instrumental use of language. One person engages another person in an exchange of symbols to accomplish some goal. It is not communication for communication’s sake. Rhetoric is communication that attempts to coordinate social action. For this reason, rhetorical communication is explicitly pragmatic. Its goal is to influence human choices on specific matters that require immediate attention.”
Peoples communication and symbols go a long way to achieve a reaction from someone. For example, comedians may say something not that interesting, but once they use movements, faces, or tone. They achieve the their goal by making the audience laugh. Communication goes far even if one person isn’t talking, because they probably are watching or listening to your language. And you can see if you grab the audiences attention.
