Everyday Rhetoric

Rhetorical analysis- something I really haven’t delved into since my AP Lang days. We see things advertised to us all day, every day. Each advertisement is designed to appeal to a specific audience. The rhetorical analysis unit has re-enlightened me to the idea that rhetoric is everywhere. We use rhetoric to convince people all of the time without realizing it. Ethos. Pathos. Logos. Repetition. Metaphors. These are things we see and are exposed to every day but often overlook. We analyze rhetoric without knowing it all of the time. How did that commercial make me feel? Why do I feel like I now need to go adopt every puppy at the pound? Probably because the rhetoric used in the commercial you just watched convinced you to.

This all goes on to teach us to be more discriminatory in the decisions we make. Are you doing something because you want to or was that youtube ad just incredibly effective in persuading you so? Rhetoric analysis has taught me to look out for these strategies when going on about my life in a non-academic setting.

By analyzing effective and ineffective methods of persuasion we can take these into account in our real, non-essay writing setting, lives. When I am trying to persuade or educate someone on a specific matter, I can more effectively go about doing so. I know that evoking emotions using pathos and also appealing to someone’s logic is important in persuasion. Not only do people decide with their hearts, but also their brains.

I believe this idea ties into Phyllis Mentzell’s beliefs on rhetoric outside of the classroom. Rider’s article reflects on the idea that rhetoric is not merely academic. Rhetoric is important in helping “you develop a repertoire of strategies for engaging with the world on your terms, even as it helps you understand how to respond when others try to set up the encounter on their terms.” People may have important and meaningful information that they want to inform someone about, but how this information gets delivered is equally as important. In order for the listener to really absorb what they are being told, they have to resonate with it. A speech that leaves someone in tears is one that is going to leave an impact on them. The “how” is important and rhetoric is what helps us develop the “how.”

From speeches to blog posts to everyday conversation, we can use rhetoric to help us deliver our messages in a more meaningful way that is more likely to leave an impact on the people encounter.