As I read these excerpts it seems like people look at rhetoric as something ugly and foul as Plato said. Most people tend to stay away from rhetoric; I mean it isn’t that great of a word, rhetoric? What does it mean? I believe rhetoric is writing not just words or statements but using pathos, ethos, and logos to evaluate and/or propose something. Before entering this class I always had a one-side point of view. I never looked at what the other people were thinking rather just what I thought was right and what I thought was just. I learned that rhetoric is analyzing both sides of the story. Being against abortion and gay marriage it is looking at what those who support it think about the situation. I realized that once I found out what true rhetoric was I paid more attention to taking into consideration everyone view and beliefs rather than just my own. I think when Plato said that rhetoric is ugly and foul he meant that when people write they tend to write sternly and really with an ugly tone. But that is not rhetoric because rhetoric is writing with love and most importantly knowledge and credibility.