What is Rhetoric Anyway? (part 1)

in #esteem5 years ago

1.jpg
https://www.thoughtco.com/the-5-canons-of-classical-rhetoric-1691771

I thought the word ‘rhetoric’ was an insult – describing the kind of speech that is all about flash and nothing about substance. I thought it was something old and Greek and no longer of much use. It is those things, really, but it is also much more. After teaching rhetoric in homeschool, I’ve come to think of it as a process.

In The Well Trained Mind by Jesse Wise and Susan Wise Bauer, the trivium concept divides education into three stages: Part one is the Grammar Stage (grades 1-4); Part two is the Logic Stage (grades 4-8); and Part three is the Rhetoric Stage (grades 9-12). Each stage represents a step in a child’s developmental and intellectual growth.


https://www.halfahundredacrewood.com/well-trained-mind-plans-and-schedules/

In the Grammar Stage, the student absorbs facts. In the Logic Stage, the student begins to question, analyze, and develop a capacity for abstract thought. In the Rhetoric Stage, the student learns to express herself elegantly and persuasively.

The reason I lay out the steps of the trivium is to explain that, although “rhetoric” as a subject isn’t taught until grades 9-12, because rhetoric is a process, the grammar and logic stages provide the essential foundation.

Most people rhetoric with debate, and debate is certainly a very dynamic display of rhetorical skills. But, debate club isn’t for everyone. Rhetoric is. Rhetoric is necessary for everyone. It’s about speaking, writing, listening, and thinking. It doesn’t do anyone any good to learn something, then not be able to communicate about what they learn. Scientists must write papers detailing their research and findings. Business-people must communicate and motivate their employees. Mathematicians must present their solutions logically and completely. In personal life, families must listen and respond to each other in positive instead of negative ways. When you watch TV or a movie or listen to music, you listen, absorb, and interpret what you see and hear. When you walk into a grocery story, rhetoric bombards you and you must fight your way through this barrage, deciding what to buy and what to reject. This is all rhetoric.

Sort:  

Thanks for using eSteem!
Your post has been voted as a part of eSteem encouragement program. Keep up the good work! Install Android, iOS Mobile app or Windows, Mac, Linux Surfer app, if you haven't already!
Learn more: https://esteem.app
Join our discord: https://discord.gg/8eHupPq

Thank you for using Resteem & Voting Bot @allaz Your post will be min. 10+ resteemed with over 13000+ followers & min. 25+ Upvote Different account (5000+ Steem Power).

I would describe rhetoric as the art of communicating clearly, while sophistry in contrast is the art of disingenuous and dishonest discussion through fallacies.

This post has received a 22.2 % upvote from @boomerang.

You got a 10.67% upvote from @booster courtesy of @stratilatkryuko!

NEW FEATURE:

You can earn a passive income from our service by delegating your stake in SteemPower to @booster. We'll be sharing 100% Liquid tokens automatically between all our delegators every time a wallet has accumulated 1K STEEM or SBD.
Quick Delegation: 1000| 2500 | 5000 | 10000 | 20000 | 50000

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.36
TRX 0.12
JST 0.039
BTC 70181.59
ETH 3549.53
USDT 1.00
SBD 4.74