A Rhetorical World

Chapter two of Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students explains kairos, chreia, and proverbs and how they relate to rhetorical situation. In the book kairos is defined as special notion of space and/or time. Ancients believed kairos can be used as a mean of invention in discovering all the arguments of a rhetorical situation. Reading further about kairos I couldn’t help but think that it relates not only to rhetorical situations but everyday life. Kairos suggest the use of heuristics for rhetorical situations. Heuristics being a list of questions that help rhetors to investigate issues systematically. An example being “how urgent is the issue?” or “what interests might motivate someone to make that argument?”But do we not think this way in our everyday lives? When we make a decision about something as humans we usually analyze the situation the same way we would in a rhetorical situation. For instance, let’s say you’re trying to decide what movie to go to with a group of friends. Perhaps some in the group wants to see a horror movie and others want to see a comedy. Analyzing the situation you would think that perhaps the people who want to see the comedy are more fear prone, hence their motivation to want to see a comedy. Then there is the power dynamic. Who in the group holds more power/influence? Does the opinion of one in the group decide for the whole group? Then there is the urgency of the issue. How much do individual in the group really care about which movie they see or if they see one at all. When you think about it rhetorical situations appear every day, whether or not we are aware of them.

Later on in the chapter, chreia, a brief saying or action that makes a point was explained. I found it interesting that chreia came from the Greek word “useful”. Much like kairos, chreia appears in daily situations. Chreia suggest the use of praising a famous person’s work to show proof to an argument. Outside of rhetorical situations people are generally influenced by well known people and their opinions. For example if a famous food critic said a new restaurant had awful service and a distasteful cuisine, many would automatically think the same, instead of trying the restaurant out themselves.  Which arises the question how influenced are we by others? And are we aware of it?

Toward the end of the chapter the use of proverbs in rhetorical situations was expanded on. Proverbs use in people’s everyday’s life is evident. “The early bird catches the worm,” is one of many well known proverb that influence people not only in rhetorical situation but everyday life. Popular proverbs are taught to us at a young age to motivate and teach us important lessons in life.

Famous Sicilian rhetor Gorgias discusses in his work “Encomium of Helen” the power of language. Gorgias compares language to magic and drugs, “speech is a powerful lord; it can stop fear and banish grief and create joy and nurture pity.” Following on how rhetoric is a part of everyday life I have to agree with Gorgias. Words are the strongest tool a person can use. This is apparent in how karios, chreia, and proverbs are dependent on words. Whether we are aware of it or not we live in a rhetorical world and can use rhetorical devices not only to win an argument but to make everyday decisions.