Everything's rhetoric

"Everything's rhetoric" was a favorite saying of one of my old rhetoric professors. "Look at that door," she'd tell us. "What rhetorical elements do you see in the door?" Eventually, we'd realize that it had a lock (which argues for something), had a small, high window (which argues for something), was painted the same color as the other doors in the hallway (which argues for something). It's all part of rhetoric. Your blog responses on the reading (considering a few of you found it heavy or boring) were all thoughtful and insightful . Jason and Winnona both bring up the question of how to teach rhetoric, and I think that the fact you're teaching writing ultimately means you'll be teaching rhetoric whether you know it or not -- Williams (and I) want you to know it. Several of you (Amber and Amber and Liz) all touched upon the idea of rhetoric as part of the legal system. Yes, it's a huge part of the legal system which is not, as we like to believe, based on justice (or Plato's Truth) but on probabilities and the ability to argue those probabilities. Sue wonders about the advent of technology and how its emergence effects theories of rhetoric. The answer is that the theories remain the same, just as they did when we moved from an oral based rhetoric to the technology of writing with parchment and quill. Visual rhetoric, too, has always existed, and rhetoricians often invoke images or refer to familiar objects (doors with locks, monuments, etc.). Art, photography, bumper stickers, posters, paintings -- all rhetoric. But as Rachael points out, the cultural perception of rhetoric continues to shift, until we now tend to see what Jamie terms "the danger of words," or, as Jen points out, the corruption of politicians. It's hard to trudge through to begin with, but once you've covered the basics it's fun stuff -- but stuff that affects all of us every day. That's why it's important for writers and for teachers of writing to understand that writing is rhetoric. I look forward to next week's thoughts as we move into ideas about discourse and the composition movement.