Reflection
Before this class I was aware of what rhetoric was and its use, but I was not aware of the present extent it has in our everyday lives. This class has pushed me to think in new ways and has greatly improved my writing. From learning the methods of ancient rhetoricians such as Aristotle’s ethos, pathos, and logos I now am able to better acknowledge my audience to meet there needs and better explain my argument. The exploration style of this class has allowed me to acquire a better knowledge of rhetoric and to discover my own communicating and writing rhetoric approach. From the readings, class discussions, blog entries and essays I have found that I am an analyzing learner who communicates by subtly proving my point with factual evidence, forcing my audience to question their own opinions in regards to my own.
Through the course of this class I found that doing the readings was crucial to fully understanding rhetoric. I found this to be especially true when comparing traditional and modern rhetoric. To understand the components of modern rhetoric one must understand the mechanisms of traditional rhetoric. The methods and techniques of traditional rhetoricians are still greatly used among modern rhetoricians. The readings opened me up to the presence of rhetoric in everyday life, such as advertisements, and helped to shape my opinion of rhetoric. The more I read further into the semester, the more I began to realize that I have a fondness for more traditional rhetorical methods such as Aristotle’s ethos, pathos, and logos. I discovered that I am more of a passionate learner then a factual one, which can be seen from my blog entries and essays. For example in the third essay assigned, I argued that the modern use of scientific proof is not always the most affective. This can be seen from when I said, “Sometimes all the scientific facts in the world cannot convince someone to do something or believe something. Scientific proofs have been deemed the most reasonable and logical, but people still have to believe it is true.” I attempted here to show that dialectic or rhetorical reasoning can be as persuasive as scientific demonstration showing my preference towards traditional methods of rhetoric.
Along with the readings, the class discussions helped to form my own rhetorical methods and opinions. Although I did not participate often I found it helpful to listen to others opinions and observations to fully develop my own and later apply to my writing. Often I found that many of my classmates had the same views and observations from the readings as me. I found this reassuring to know that I was understanding certain rhetorical topics such as kairos or stasis theory correctly. However, there were times that my classmates pointed out new ways of considering a rhetorical concept. In regards to my writing this was the most helpful. Hearing others interpretations helped me go beyond my own thoughts and apply them to my writing. This is evident from the second assigned essay where I first went over the negative aspects of print on rhetoric before explaining the benefits. Before the class discussion on the effects of print on rhetoric, I only considered the benefits. Hearing others voice their concerns over the negative effects made me want to acknowledge them in my writing. I believe that the class discussions were one of the more important components of this class. Rhetoric is the art of persuasion and part of rhetoric is acknowledging all sides to an argument. Without the class discussions I believe my writing would have been very single minded.
The blogs were another way for me to explore my opinion of rhetorical concepts and a way for me to discover my strengths as a rhetorical writer. The freedom of the blogs allowed me to voice my thoughts without methodically trying to support myself as I had to in the essays. When writing the blogs I would skim the readings until I found a point that I found particularly interesting. I tended to focus on more traditional concepts and techniques, especially ones that are still presently used by modern rhetoricians. For instance in my blog discussing the rhetorical use of memory I argued that memory is still used by modern rhetoricians despite the technological advancements that have allowed rhetoricians to not rely heavily on memory. This can be seen from when I said, “It has been argued that this has created a decrease in the need for memory. However, this is not true. Although modern rhetoricians are able to write down what they want to remember, they still have to remember from pure memory how to write and how to use electronic devises.” My present favoritism towards traditional methods of rhetoric in my blog helped me to develop my writing style. From my writing style in my blogs I found that I like to give my audience information from all sides of an argument and then make my point. Also I discovered that I like Aristotle’s method of ethos, pathos and logos, which I attempted to use in my writing. Overall I found the blogs very useful to developing my writing style. The blogs were a way for me to explore my rhetorical writing style before applying it to the assigned essays.
In the beginning of this class I found writing rhetorically difficult, as it did not follow the standard writing components I had been taught in the past. From the readings, class discussions, and blogs I found that rhetorical writing was much more effective than traditional explanatory writing. In developing my essays, I would gather all the information and research needed, and then write a well thought out outline that followed a methodical plan. In my essays I would try and apply the five canons of writing: invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery. I would also try and apply ethos, pathos, and logos. Despite the methods and techniques of other rhetoricians I found that I always returned to Aristotle’s proofs of ethos, pathos, and logos. Whether people are aware of it or not this is how we generally communicate. When making an argument we generally address who our audience is, try and establish our credibility and provide sufficient evidence to prove our point. The essays were challenging at times but I found them to be the most important element of this class. In writing the essays I incorporated what I had learned from the readings, class discussions and blog entries. I was able to improve my strengths as a writer and acquire the skills needed to write sufficiently in a rhetorical manner.
Overall I feel that I have learned a lot from this course both about rhetoric and myself as a writer. From this class I discovered the presence of rhetoric in everyday life, the influence of traditional rhetoric on modern rhetoric, and most importantly my rhetorical writing style. The required activities of assigned readings, class discussions, blog entries and essays helped to develop my opinion of rhetoric and the methods I found the most useful to my writing. I feel that the skills I have acquired from this course are important both for my academic life and everyday life, and for my future professional life.
