The Brief Thompson (72-87) & The Purdue Owl on Rhetoric

The Purdue owl video is something I actually found to be somewhat interesting. I knew that overall, rhetoric was the awareness of our word choice and how we choose to present our argument. I thought it was cool to know that rhetoric came from the ancient Greeks and their tradition of preparing for speeches. Just like in this class, we’re learning the best ways to develop, shape and present our argument. We can compare that to the greek experts who taught students these similar tools. I can’t say I’m surprised that some greeks thought the tools of rhetoric should’ve been used by higher class students only. This type of oppression easily reminds me of how different minority groups/classes in history weren’t always given many opportunities in education. Just like in that case, the greeks knew that the ability to convey an argument successfully can give someone some serious power over the people. The reading in The Brief Thompson (72-87) said ” the aim of an argument is to change minds, rally supporters or foster sympathy.” All these appeals can give someone power over the audience. To be able to skillfully develop an argument and effectively present it can really persuade people to do what you want or agree with you. Really what I can say after the video and reading from the book is, I know a lot of people in this class know what a thesis statement is and know the general idea of rhetoric/why it’s important in writing. But, what I realized from this homework is how powerful not only our writing can be, but us as individuals, can be if we seriously put good thought into our rhetoric and how we’re going to deliver our writing so that we can persuade the reader into believing what we’re trying to convey.