Thank You For Arguing

 Now that the semester is finally coming to an end, I wanted to do book summary and review. Throughout the whole book Jay Heinrichs walks you through a journey to understanding why rhetoric and persuasion are very important in everyday life. Heinrichs talks about all the different kinds of rhetoric and how people use them, he also quotes Aristotle a lot in this book.

In part one of the book, Heinrichs focuses on the basics of an argument. Every argument seems to have three basic steps. Stimulating the audiences emotions, changing the audiences opinion, and get the audience to do something. The author then proceeds to break down all the kinds of arguments and tips on how to deal with debates. It wraps up by teaching us about the very well known, ethos, pathos, logos. Heinrich then proceed to talk about the use of ethos, pathos, logos, and shows many examples of each. That is a very well known tactic in an argument.

In the second part of the book Jay Heinrich focuses on some tips about rhetoric that would help a person spice up their argument. He goes on to tell us all different types of rhetoric technique we can use to help strengthen our argument. One of the biggest way he does this is he focuses on the use of logical fallacies and how you can use those to keep the audience interested. Heinrich ends the second part of the book by talking about how to evaluate someones ethos by testing there values, practical wisdom, and disinterest.

In the last part of the book, Heinrich talks about more rhetorical tricks that may be useful. The author gives many useful tips on how to give a good apology and when the "right time" for that would be. Heinrich also discusses some tips over public speaking and how to appeal even more to your audience. 

This book overall did a very good job at teaching me about rhetoric and when to use it. It also taught me how to identify rhetoric when I see it and how to defend myself from it. If Americans were willing to spend more time learning about rhetoric in detail, Heinrich states, they'd be able to find more common ground and reverse the growing polarization and tribilzation of America society. 

                                                    

Three Reasons You Should Care About Rhetoric

 We all know time and time again in this class the concept of rhetoric is brought up. We have written multiple essays over this concept and have watched/seen multiple examples of it. Although, you may think this is some dumb thing we have to learn in class, it actually can be used in everyday life. 

The first reason is you can never escape rhetoric. Rhetoric is around us everyday, whether we like it or not. This includes the media trying to convince you of something, a politician trying to get you to vote for them, a salesperson trying to sell you there items, etc. Someone is likely trying to persuade you of something all the time. It is important to truly learn about this concept so you know how to defend against it, to help form your own opinions. 

                                              

The second reason is that just learning simple rhetoric can make you a better person. One of the most known rules about rhetoric is to always know your audience. This can come in handy throughout multiple occasions in your lifetime. You learn how to read people and how to appeal to them. This is a good skill to have in just a social aspect but especially at important events or job interviews. This is something, in my opinion, everyone should learn. 

The third and final reason is you will honestly become more of a powerful person. The use of rhetoric is actually a very powerful weapon. Knowing how to persuade people will make such a huge difference for your life, in you favor. Think about it, every celebrity basically has used rhetoric to make it to the top. It is something that can get you very far in life. 

                                        

Hitler’s Rhetoric

 Although his use of rhetoric was obviously used for immoral and evil purposes, he really had a way with his words. His speeches were what made him so revered by the German people. While giving his speeches, he would often start off slow and at a lowered volume. As he carried on, he would gradually get louder and more powerful. By the end, he was yelling and flailing his arms erratically. He would often appeal to the audiences emotions, inciting fear and hatred towards the Jewish people. He would do this through different mediums such as posters, radio, and his speeches. In this example, the Jewish people were portrayed as the devil. Using stunningly racist imagery, he was able to caused the German public to openly fear the Jewish race. 

 He would also try to appeal to the values of the German people. He did this through the blaming of the Jewish people for all of the major issues plaguing the country. Basically, if the Germans valued the wellbeing of the people around them, they would promote antisemitism. 

Clearly, all of these claims were ridiculous. But by playing into the fears the citizens already had at the time, Hitler managed to convince millions to spread hatred for a race. While this is clearly a terrible example of the uses of rhetoric, it still proves just how effective rhetoric can be on the average person. You can get almost anyone you want to do unspeakable things to other through the power of your words. The power of rhetoric is almost unmatched. 

Rhetoric is Everywhere

 

    As we all go about in our day, rhetoric surrounds us everywhere we go. It comes in many forms. Television commercials, newspaper and billboard ads, and podcasts all have some type of rhetoric in it. Once you step back and realize it, rhetoric shapes the way that we live every day. We are all persuaded to buy this product, vote for that president, or live in this lifestyle. If you think about it, maybe everything that you own was influenced by rhetoric. The laptop that you have may have been influenced by raving reviews, the shoes that you wear may have been influenced by your favorite athlete, or even the fast food that you just ate was influenced by that commercial. 

TYFA ch.26 and the five canons

Cicero explains that there are five canons, or tenets, of rhetoric which are invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery. One thing to remember about these canons is that they were originally created with a focus on public speaking, however most are also very applicable to writing and rewriting.

The first canon, invention is all about processing and coming up with the material that is being but onto the page.  This has everything to do with the research you do, brainstorming, and drafting what you are writing about.

Canon number two is arrangement.  In writing the arrangement stage is still around the time of drafting.  You are deciding what points should go where in your writing and how you want to organize your material.

The third canon is style, style is simply how you put together your thoughts and put them on the page.

The next canon is memory.  This canon is not as applicable to writing as it is to public speaking seeing as it is simply be able to remember your topic and points during a speech or address.  Memory is the process of committing a text to memory.

The fifth and final canon is delivery.  Delivery is the presentation of your work whether it's in the form of a speech or the delivery of the words you have written on the page.

Thank Kids for Arguing

 

    I am quite thankful to have read "Thank You for Arguing", by Jay Heinrichs, over this semester. It broke down how important rhetoric is in everyday life, and I do think that everyone should read this book in order to expand on their communication skills and become better at persuading people's opinions. This skill is important in the real world if you would like to make a change for the better. People like politicians or advertisers can learn a lesson or two about this book, which could help them be a lot better at their job. The certainties in this book hold important life skills that I believe are not stressed enough in our education system. I believe that teachers should start adding rhetoric in their curriculum as early as junior high. Imbed rhetoric inside the brains of the kids while their brain is still in their development stage. Jay Heinrichs explains, "I rattled on about Aristotle and Cicero and figures of speech, and I pointed out our own rhetorical tricks around the dinner table. I let the kids win an argument now and then, which gave them a growing incentive to become still more argumentative." His kids do him proud as he ponders the thought of developing their argumentative skills. Bestowing this knowledge upon kids at a young age is important in order for them to develop great rhetoric skills and become great communicators in the future, which is an essential skill to have for everyday life.

At home learning

 As some may say they love e-learning due to the freedom at home, are kids really learning from parents and online schooling? I hear opinions from the parenting side of things and they say they are personally exhausted and struggle with being the lunch lady of the house plus the teacher and then of course the parenting side. While sleeping in may be great and getting to relax on the couch while you do it all, is information being retained?

Edweek.org says that 60% of teens say online schooling is much worse than in-person schooling as well as 61% say they are worried about falling behind. This shows that many kids were doing way better academically when in-person. I find myself that I don't focus as well sitting in a room as well as I do when in a classroom setting. I feel more motivated where as at home I do not retain the information well of an hour lecture video.