Writing Help 129 | - Freelance Writer
Mar 25, 2013 | #1
Using Advanced Rhetorical Devices to Surprise and Delight
In the previous two series we covered many topics that are essential to any student, and that are important to anyone who does not want to sound completely out of place in the company of educated people. For better or worse, we find ourselves in a time where the focus of educational institutions is the production of individuals who will be able to participate in the workforce, rather than the development and broadening of students' minds. The devices and errors presented in the previous two series, while they may be revelations for many, would have been considered elementary fifty years ago, and anyone who successfully graduated from high school would have been expected to know and use them properly.
As education in North America has moved away from teaching classical content like Latin and Greek, and toward teaching more practical skills and concepts, the study of rhetoric, the backbone of classical learning, has all but disappeared. We are now at a point where students do not know classical rhetoric, which is not all that surprising; what is shocking, however, is that the majority of students do not even know what the word rhetoric means! The only place it survives in popular usage is in the term rhetorical question, and while students do have a good idea of what this term means, rhetorical is not a word for them that can stand on its own.
The situation is what it is, and I do not expect there to be a revolution in educational priorities anytime soon. However, I do believe it is a crime that students who have graduated with a bachelor's degree, who will be in positions of power and authority in our society, do not have the tools (developed about two millennia ago!) needed to delve into the language which powers every move they will make. Students commonly argue against the relevance of rhetoric, claiming that they will "never use it again" once they leave school. My usual reply is that whether or not you use it, it will without a doubt be used around you, and sometimes against you. This might not seem like such a dangerous thing, but we cannot forget that rhetoric is essentially the art of persuasion. Whenever you watch a clever ad or hear an inspiring political speech, you can be assured several rhetorical tactics are being deployed to convince you that you need what is being offered, whether it be a product or a pension plan. If you know what they are and how they are designed to work, you will recognize them when you hear them, and empower yourself to analyze the content of the words without being sucked in by rhetorical lures. I believe the study of rhetoric is valuable in itself, but in this time of all-enveloping information, it can be an important safeguard to the autonomy of individual thought.
Before embarking on this series of articles, I strongly suggest you read through the previous series; these serve as a necessary foundation for what follows here, and without a grasp of the basics, the more advanced concepts will be more difficult to comprehend. The language of this series will be somewhat more challenging at times. Few rhetorical terms are heard outside advanced college classes, but remember that the devices they describe are all around us in everyday speech and writing. Aside from the aforementioned general life benefits, knowing rhetoric in the current academic environment will vault you above your peers, and you can bet the first time you use the term pleonasm or tmesis in a paper, your instructor's comments will be glowing.
Introduction
In the previous two series we covered many topics that are essential to any student, and that are important to anyone who does not want to sound completely out of place in the company of educated people. For better or worse, we find ourselves in a time where the focus of educational institutions is the production of individuals who will be able to participate in the workforce, rather than the development and broadening of students' minds. The devices and errors presented in the previous two series, while they may be revelations for many, would have been considered elementary fifty years ago, and anyone who successfully graduated from high school would have been expected to know and use them properly.
As education in North America has moved away from teaching classical content like Latin and Greek, and toward teaching more practical skills and concepts, the study of rhetoric, the backbone of classical learning, has all but disappeared. We are now at a point where students do not know classical rhetoric, which is not all that surprising; what is shocking, however, is that the majority of students do not even know what the word rhetoric means! The only place it survives in popular usage is in the term rhetorical question, and while students do have a good idea of what this term means, rhetorical is not a word for them that can stand on its own.The situation is what it is, and I do not expect there to be a revolution in educational priorities anytime soon. However, I do believe it is a crime that students who have graduated with a bachelor's degree, who will be in positions of power and authority in our society, do not have the tools (developed about two millennia ago!) needed to delve into the language which powers every move they will make. Students commonly argue against the relevance of rhetoric, claiming that they will "never use it again" once they leave school. My usual reply is that whether or not you use it, it will without a doubt be used around you, and sometimes against you. This might not seem like such a dangerous thing, but we cannot forget that rhetoric is essentially the art of persuasion. Whenever you watch a clever ad or hear an inspiring political speech, you can be assured several rhetorical tactics are being deployed to convince you that you need what is being offered, whether it be a product or a pension plan. If you know what they are and how they are designed to work, you will recognize them when you hear them, and empower yourself to analyze the content of the words without being sucked in by rhetorical lures. I believe the study of rhetoric is valuable in itself, but in this time of all-enveloping information, it can be an important safeguard to the autonomy of individual thought.
Before embarking on this series of articles, I strongly suggest you read through the previous series; these serve as a necessary foundation for what follows here, and without a grasp of the basics, the more advanced concepts will be more difficult to comprehend. The language of this series will be somewhat more challenging at times. Few rhetorical terms are heard outside advanced college classes, but remember that the devices they describe are all around us in everyday speech and writing. Aside from the aforementioned general life benefits, knowing rhetoric in the current academic environment will vault you above your peers, and you can bet the first time you use the term pleonasm or tmesis in a paper, your instructor's comments will be glowing.