Response 15- Adam Klaser


When reading The History and Theory of Rhetoric by James Herrick it was clear that rhetoric, ever since its origin, has been getting a bad rap by veryone. Rhetoric as defined by Richard McKeon, exercises a measure of control over every other discipline and that it becomes the study of how we organize our thinking on subjects. I believe that rhetoric, because of this very definition, is one of the most important tools that a person has at their disposal. That is if it is used correctly and effectively. Coming into English 1020 I never knew how important rhetoric was in everyday life, but now I realize that rhetoric has the power to shape not only who we are but everyone around us. For example take the party scene, from Braindead Megaphone, in which a man comes in with a megaphone and starts shouting about random topics and influence what the guest are talking about. With this example, it clearly shown that rhetoric has the power to influence not only what people think about but more deeply what they believe in. With this in mind, I have realized that when writing it is not merely about what you say in a paper but how you go about doing it and how you present yourself, which is what Plato was talking about when he said that people seem to look at rhetoric as ugly and foul.