An encomium to rhetoric
Rhetoric, speaking, talking, communication all has many things in common. What is the most upsetting commonality? Rhetoric is the most underestimated tool we have as humans.
Verbal and written communication is always around us. From the television to the newspapers, to cell phones and computers, we are surrounded by letters, symbols and sounds that are controlling our lives. We use language in so many different ways, we often take for granted the awesome tool we possess.
Most people use rhetoric all the time. They communicate in many different ways and they all use rhetoric in some form. The problem arises when people start forgetting the power of rhetoric and they underestimate what influence they have. Language and writing is extremely important. The ability to communicate and use rhetoric is what makes us who we are.
I can remember the time when I was a teenager and I got extremely ill with tonsillitis. This infection targeted my tonsils and caused them to inflame so much that I could not speak. During this time I was battling an infection as well as trying to break the threshold of communication boundaries. I felt trapped because I could not express myself through speech.
Now that I am over my infection, I often look back on the times where I was bed stricken. I am grateful that I can open my moth and tell someone how you are feeling. I never understood how lucky we are until I saw how difficult things could be. Some people lost their ability to speak, but they still can tell you how much of an asset rhetoric actually is.
I know now the importance of communication. As humans we should embrace our abilities and tools of rhetoric. By being educated and using language for good we will take advantage of opportunities and separate ourselves as being leaders. Rhetoric opens doors that other things cannot. By simply paying attention to what sounds come out of our mouths to the things our hands write on paper, we can use the remarkable power we possess.
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I like how you say rhetoric is the most underestimated tool we have. That is absolutely true even though everyone uses rhetoric everyday. I believe that it is the ignorance as to what rhetoric actually is combined with the political use of rhetoric that causes this.
ReplyDeleteNice encomium on rhetoric, praising the ability to do such and comparing it to conditions limiting the capability to do such. You make this exercise look so easy, and do so in ways that, to me, look like they are put together well.
ReplyDelete"Rhetoric opens doors that other things cannot." I love this line! I'm interested especially in the last few sentences you wrote. It's fasciniating to consider that language and communication is just a bunch of squiggles and sounds and that the important part of them is the meaning we assign them. Without intelligent interpretation and assignment, we're just cavemen using doodle and grunts.
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