Take a breath

Rhetoric, whether by speech or writing, is all around us. Its what our media revolves around, our politics dependson, and our society bases all of our interactions on. There are several aspects of rhetoric that people don’t know until they are told to read a few dozen articles on it, and even then its a topic that’s definition cannot be easily stated without some hesitation. “What are you studying for?” my friends ask as I intently flip through the dense pages of my Rhetoric textbook. “Rhetoric.” I say in a mono-toned voice. “....Whats that?” they ask looking at me as if Ihad said a subject in another language. “...Rhetoric. You know, like the study of...ummm....the study of language and, like, speech.” I say with a shrug. Rhetoric, although completely relevant to our every day lives is an unknown term entirely. We can have a better understanding of what Rhetoric entails by defining some of the more important terms of the course. Rhetorical Situation (Bitzer) is the concept that writers or speakers use to discuss rhetorical discourse. How should they be described? What are their characteristics? Why and how do they result in the creation of rhetoric? Audience is the conscience keeping in mind of who your audience is, what they believe, what they wants to hear and how they wants to hear it supports successful Rhetoric.

Invention (Aristotle) is the second of the 5 rhetorical canons that focuses on the thought process in which one composes their idea. Style is the third of the 5 canons that dresses up the the invented ideas in an attractive, deliverable way. Delivery is the last of the 5 rhetorical canons which uses of nonverbal signals, voice, and facial expressions to effectively argue your point and persuade your audience. Remediation is the changing from one medium to another, keeping the most effective aspects and getting rid of the ineffective ones. (Bolter and Grusin). Many of the definitions of the 5 rhetorical canons overlap because of the intricate involvement in one another. Without Invention there is not Style, and therefor no Delivery.

Our brain is the most amazing part of our body. It stores, creates, and signals almost every function our bodies do.

Knowledge is something I think everyone has the potential to embody (some more than others) but it is also something that needs to be taught. Yes, some people are naturally smart, and some people need to work their butts off to be smart, but knowledge is always possible.

Something as simple as playing “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” on an iPad can teach you things you never knew that you’ll, for the most part, remember. I think that knowledge can be defined as the below the surface understanding of a topic. Some people are knowledgable in sports or movies, some people in mathematics or science. I believe everyone can become knowledgable on any topic, but you have to learn it. As for “new” knowledge, I don’t think its safe to say that there is anything in this world that only one person knows, because no one knows every person, but in the sense of knowing something “new” that you didn't know before...that can be considered “new” knowledge.