After reading “Perspectives on the study of Rhetoric”, where basically Sonja K. Foss, brings us through the evolution of rhetoric and how it came to be. I am actually surprised and also not surprised about how rhetoric and the teachings developed. The majority of the reading is diving into history and the key people that took part in building these philosophies on rhetoric. Can I even call them philosophies? If not, so sorry. What struck me was that a lot of the beliefs of rhetoric originated from a few main people and they basically fought over who was right and who wasn’t, while also having similar thoughts. A lot of these men opened schools and taught students what their thoughts were on rhetoric, which could be openly denouncing what another person was teaching their students, and that was okay? That definitely points out the evolution of rhetoric, but also emphasizes just how vast that topic is. Rhetoric can have so many different purposes, which changes the way it’s done. Another point I found interesting was how significant speaking was. I mean I am not giving speeches everyday and I did take a public speaking class in my undergraduate years, but studying how to be an orator never really crossed my mind. A lot of these key men, like Cicero, were orators. Lastly, what stuck out to me in how closely politics and religion were tied to rhetoric. Again, something that, if you logically think about, makes sense, however you don’t often think that is the case. Now more than ever I feel it is important to tap into this analysis of rhetoric, especially in our political climate, which is also tied so closely with religion. Due to the fact that rhetoric is literally everywhere, I think that’s why we teach it. You honestly need to know how to function, think and communicate in society. I`d like to think that everyone is getting some form of education in writing, considering it is a huge communication tool, however, I know that is not the case. As a society we could benefit so much from having the majority of the country educated in rhetoric, consistently. This is a big ask but maybe there should be a set bar or standard that allows that.
week 1: disciplinary origins
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