DTC Blog #1

In "Contemporary Perspectives on Rhetoric," by Foss, Foss and Trap define rhetoric as, "the human use of symbols to communicate (1)." To me, however, communication is impossible without the use of symbols, be they the conscious or otherwise in Foss et. al.'s examples using a heart attack victim, so while I must recognize the authors as more of an authority on the subject than myself, I do struggle to agree with their definition of rhetoric (3). Their definition comes off as merely defining rhetoric as human communication, something they say themselves when they say, "for us, rhetoric is another term for communication (Foss et. al. 4)."

I do not believe in rhetoric as merely being communication. They themselves cite Aristotle's definition of rhetoric as, "the faculty of discovering in the particular case what are the available means of persuasion (Foss et. al. 7)." Aristotle's definition is the same definition I've worked with through my entire schooling life, and, with all due respect to Foss, Foss and Trap, it is the one I continue find the easiest to apply to. I do not believe all communication between humans sets out to persuade by the best means possible; much of it is merely for the joy of interaction or to convey information without need for persuasion or for many other reasons. Further, I believe when others use the term rhetoric with some understanding of the background of the subject, they do not consider it the same as the art of all communication. I believe to make the two terms and arts synonymous is to rob rhetoric of its real meaning, value and applications.

Working with Aristotle's definition (or either, really), rhetoric is something I engage in within the confines of digital cultures on a near-daily basis. Much of my free time is spent in the realm of sports discussions online. In particular, I write for the website SB Nation Dallas-Ft. Worth. In articles such as this one, for example, the entire point is to present an idea to readers in a way that persuades them towards a point of view one believes is the most correct. The available means utilized in this case include appeals to emotion (primarily that fans feel for their team), and, most of all, logic in terms of statistical analysis presented in terms readers can understand and interpret that reflect what I'm trying to convince them of.

Works Cited

1. Foss, Sonja K., Karen A. Foss, and Robert Trapp. Contemporary Perspectives on Rhetoric. Third. Waveland Press, Inc., 1-15. Print.