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. 

Rhetoric itself

 Why is rhetoric important; because we are emotional beings? Does the use of rhetoric hold us back from finding truth because because we hide behind perceptions that fit our agenda, are happy with lies that fill our lack of understand and force us to become stubborn towards a shift in the right direction? Rhetoric might be an important persuasive tool but does that make it a good one? I believe the use of rhetoric is as detrimental as it is beneficial. No tool is a bad tool until it is in the wrong hands. Hammers are crucial to building houses, fixing machinery and so much more but used by the wrong person they kill 400 people per year. Martin Luther King jr. used rhetoric to unite a nation in the fight against oppression of fellow human being; Adolf Hitler used rhetoric to unite a nations in the fight against fellow human beings. Rhetoric is a tool, use your tools wisely.

Dr.Martin Luther Kings use of Rhetoric

 Martin Luther King is a famous leader of the civil rights movement. He spoke at over 2,500 public events,  wrote five books, and led multiple non-violent protest. While speaking Martin Luther King used rhetoric very well and he is now known as a rhetorical genius. He is best known for his iconic "I Have a Dream" speech.

In his 1963 speech "I Have a Dream" He used multiple forms of rhetoric in this speech. In the opener to his speech he used ethos by trying to unify the people against discrimination in the quote  “I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.” He used repetition with the words "I Have a Dream" throughout the speech. Not only did he pick the perfect words to repeat because of the pathos appeal they evoke but he said them in a tone to set them in and drive his point showing his clear understanding of rhetoric. He also uses the rule of three as he pairs three communities together then says "Free at last" three times "we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!” Another clear use of Pathos in his speech is "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” A example of when he used ethos and logos was when he talks about the emancipation proclamation and how African Americans still do not have every thing they were promised and then when he talks about the declaration of independence and the quote "all American men should have equal rights". 

Why is Rhetoric Important for Democracy

From the beginning of time people have had arguments and disagreements. It is a major part of human nature. So how do we go about solving these issues? Rhetoric, which is the art of using persuasive speech or writing effectively.

Knowing how to use rhetoric properly can help you understand how to make people agree with you. Rhetoric is essential to democracy, because you have to be able to speak in a way to influence people. It isn't always about who has the most correct views or answers but who can create a bigger amount of people following them. This is why people elected into leadership often have strong rhetoric skills. This is also a important skill for these leaders to have when it comes to negotiation. Another thing it helps with is solving internal social and political issues.   

The Process of a Persuasive Essay

 In chapter 28 of Thank you for Arguing, Jay Heinrichs explains that the most persuasive kind of essay is the personal essay. It persuades the essay by connecting to the emotions of the essay. Heinrichs provides many different pointers that can help boost your own persuasive essay. The first pointer being to set your topic right off the bat. He explains that your audience may get frustrated and leave if they cannot figure out what the main point of the essay is. The next pointer is to give your theme a twist. You need to ensure that your audience is engaged and entertained while reading your essay, which why you need to provide a "twist". The final pointer is to show your flaws. The reader should connect to you through your piece of work and apply emotion to the writing. 

In chapter 28, Heinrichs connects Ethos, Logos, and Pathos to your persuasive essays. ETHOS: quirk it, PATHOS: Spread the love, and LOGOS: Get inside their heads. 

The Perfect Essay

     In Thank You for Arguing, Jay Heinrichs explains the steps to writing an essay.  The main strategies that are useful are tactical flaw, theme twist, epiphany, and narrative arc.  

    The tactical flaw, is often utilized by comedians.  The tactical flaw is when the author makes a connection with the reader by showing an imperfection of their own.  By degrading themselves, the author does not seem as perfect to the audience and the audience can see the similarities.  When the audience relates to the author it makes them want to listen and are more interested in what is being said.

    The next strategy mentioned is theme twist.  This is when the author talks about something that could be considered common knowledge but adding something unexpected to it.  Jay Heinrichs exemplifies this with "Gratitude is good for you, but my wife uses it to manipulate me."  It is public knowledge that "Gratitude is good" but he adds in that his wife uses it for manipulation and that part is the twist.  You could think of this as a plot twist but instead of the story taking a change, it is the idea the author is trying to get across.

    The third strategy introduced is epiphany.  When utilizing this strategy, the author shows the moment of them making the discovery, so the readers can make the discovery with the author.  This can make the reader more invested in the story because they made the discovery too instead of just finding out the outcome right away.

    The last strategy brought up is narrative arc.  This is more of an a storytelling approach.  The protagonist leaves their comfort zone, getting obstacles, on a quest and finally accomplishing the task.  This is a common outline for stories especially fiction books.

    Even though all of these strategies are very different, they all are very useful ways for the author to get the point across and persuade the audience to listen and understand their points.  Next time you read a book or an article try to notice what strategy that other is using.

Five Main Canons

Cicero states that there are five main canons of persuasion. These cannons should be consciously used in speech and presentations. These canons include invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery.

Invention means "to find". This canon is where you find information and different materials for your speech. This part leans extremely on logos. This part needs facts and data to support what the person says. For writing project two we had to find various examples of rhetoric. We had to find rhetoric for BOTH sides of the argument. This plays into invention because Cicero says that it is important to spend time figuring out what you will say about both sides of the argument.

Arrangement is how you set up the presentation. This is important thing that people learned in elementary school when they began writing essays. Introduction, body paragraph, body paragraph, body paragraph, and then conclusion. Kids would get a bad grade on an essay if they arrange it in any other format as the arrangement matters. Cicero's arrangement is introduction, narrative, division, proof, refutation, and conclusion. This is a much more complicated version of arrangement compared to elementary school essays but both are arrangement nonetheless. 

Style is how you do something to make it look or sound good. Cicero states that the main elements of style are proper language, clearness, vividness, decorum, and ornament. 

Memory is what Cicero calls, "the treasure-house of the ideas supplied by invention". This is the most complicated canon for people in today's world to grasp. The idea behind this is that everyone creates an imaginary house and fills the empty spaces with ideas.

Delivery is where you actually present your speech. This is the part where you get up on stage and talk. It is important to think about your voice, your gestures, your eye contact, your breathing, and your expressions. This is an important part because this is where you convince your audience to believe what you are saying. All of the other cannons are preparations for the delivery.

These are Cicero's five canons of persuasion and why they are important.

The Ancients Five Virtues

 Throughout this week's chapter reading, you see the author gives the reader's tips on how to express words in an argument or persuasion. Rhetorical style has so much to do with the way we choose to write or speak. One of the big things that stood out to me is realizing in a rhetorical sense it's not much about self-expression as it is dealing with the audience's expression. To help us understand this idea a little more, the author gives us five virtues and vices that have been known to help get that point across.

                                           

The first virtue that they talk about is proper language. You want to make sure that the words or language you are using relates to the audience and they understand what you are saying. You should stray away from different languages or vocabulary words that are not mostly understood by everyone. This will create the audience from not losing attention while you are trying to get your point across.

The second virtue is clarity. You want to make sure you are not throwing in too much "fluff" into your dialogue. This may lose the attention of the main topic and confuse the audience.

The third virtue is vividness. This is one that may be more difficult for some people more than others. You have to have the skill to create a rhetorical reality before the audience's eyes. You want to create a picture for the audience and something that they do not forget. 

The forth is the most important virtue. This virtue is decorum. This is mostly trying to fit in with the audience. You should not try to talk a different way, or act like you know what you're talking about when you really don't. You should stick to your roots and state facts. This will help the audience have more credibility with you and it makes you more persuasive.

The fifth and final virtue is ornament. This focuses on the the cleverness in your words and rhythm of your voice. People tend to listen to you more if you have a nice voice and talk at a good pace. This is important for the audience. You want people to like listening to you.