My Rhetorical Stance

As a student in the Department of Rhetoric and Writing I have learned that communication is a process, not just two people talking back and forth. I have developed as a writer by learning that one of the most important goals when writing is to have an understanding of your audience. Communication is a process because it us continuous. This is something easy to understand, but what I didnt understand was what is meant by the term rhetoric. I have read several definitions of rhetoric in my textbooks, online, in class discussions, and even in politics these days. I will try to explain my definition of rhetoric and its application in my life. Gerard Hauser, author of Introduction to Rhetorical Theory, says that rhetoric is concerned with the use of symbols to induce social action.1 This definition seemed vague to me so I read the first chapter a few times to decipher what he was trying to say. Communication can occur several ways. Essays, reports, music, dance, speeches, and poetry are all forms of rhetoric. They all include an exchange between one person to another person or group through symbols. Reality produces situations in which one person makes a commitment to get a reaction. There are risks involved in making commitments in communication; therefore, we must be responsible in the communication process. The speaker has to be aware of the audience by taking into consideration what influence he/she will have on the audience, and also be aware that rhetoric can be used as good and bad. For example, a commitment is made by one person passing another in the hall and simply saying hello. The speaker expects the other to respond with hello. The receiver may or may not
1

Gerard A. Hauser, Introduction to Rhetorical Theory, Second Edition, Waveland Press, Inc., 2002.

respond. The Rhetorical Stance by Wayne Booth explains this best for me. His definition of rhetoric is basically a balance of three elements: subject, audience, and the writer. The speaker or writer must know their subject, have an idea of how the audience will perceive the writer, and understand the audience. Booth says that too much emphasis on one of these creates corruptive rhetoric. The speaker cannot communicate effectively to the audience if he/she doesnt know the audience or subject matter. This idea seems like the audience would lose interest which would break the commitment the speaker seeks. In order for rhetoric to be effective the speaker must be somewhat persuasive. I agree with Aristotles idea of persuasion using rhetoric. He said that in order to persuade effectively, one must use reason, evoke emotion, and the speaker must be credible. In my opinion, if the speaker has studies the subject matter and researched his/her audience, then the audience will, without a doubt, give credit to the speaker. All of these ideas evolve into one common idea. That is rhetoric can be any interaction between two or more people as long as they are interested and provoke some kind of emotion by persuasion. There are hundreds of situations that occur everyday between everyone, which is reality. Within these situations there are always two sides of the story, that have appropriate arguments to be discussed at a certain time and place the situation occurs. This social practice of hashing it out between at least two people to try to find the truth is rhetoric. The argument may be discussed verbally or written but two sides always have one goal in commonto find the truth through using language as a symbol system of letters and words. I think that if reality was perfect then none of us would need to debate or discuss opinions on any topic. That would be a perfect world but is not reality. There are issues that not everyone agrees upon. This is why rhetoric can

be seen in many different forms. We need breaks in communication to force ourselves to interact with language and symbols. In my everyday life I understand rhetoric as anything that helps me make a choice when a situation occurs. This could be stopping or going through a stop sign, understanding my professors lecture, or listening to a song on the radio. With all of these things we have to make a decision or develop an opinion by translating a meaning from symbols presented to us in a specific situation.