Thursday, June 01, 2006

Week 1--Value of Classical Rhetoric

What is the value of classical rhetoric in today's contemporary world? In your profession? And which of the pieces listed during Week-1 have you selected to present over? Please confirm your selection with Dr. Rice ASAP via email. Thanks.

Classical rhetoric is very much valuable today. I'm not going to discuss any specifics because I anticipate that that will be the subject of future posts. The idea that language has power and that the way we structure that language makes it more powerful is central to our contemporary world.

We can see this idea in psychology, education, marketing, politics, personal relationships and the list goes on. Each specific field uses different terminology to discuss the same fundamental idea. For example, psychology uses reality therapy, cognitive therapy and affirmations. At the center of all these is that language and how we use it can color as well as transform the way we see the world. Becoming conscious of the power of language is the first step to gaining control over ourselves and, ultimately, others. Control may be too strong of a word. Perhaps I should say persuading others.

Professionally, I find myself making rhetorical choices all the time. I am a faculty member and department chair. Those two roles force me to make very specific choices about the language and delivery that I use in almost all situations. I am at the same time an advocate for the student, for the faculty and for the administration. I have to be conscious of the language that I use and the result which I want to produce.

2 Comments:

At 8:07 PM, Blogger Kendall said...

I hadn't thought about the psychological power of speech acts in rhetorical terms before. Great observation.

Kendall

 
At 12:48 PM, Blogger Rich said...

Absolutely. Elements of CR are in nearly every walk of life. Well, so too is writing. What we teach when we teach writing is good thinking. It's awareness of the elements that make up a rhetorical act. This is no doubt even more imporant as a chair; this is something I don't have experience with, of course. But in the management of large numbers of people, which I do have experience with, every decision is a butterfly's wings flapping. Ultimately, what we do is management disagreements; but disagreements, as ancient rhetors believed, are productive. They lead toward stasis and movement toward new knowledge.

 

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