Reflective Essay: The Use Of Rhetoric

All throughout history, rhetoric was seen as a way to persuade someone but unlike the current times, it was given a more negative connotation. Plato said that rhetoric was "the art of winning the soul by discourse" and even went as far to say it was “foul” and “ugly” in Gorgias. Aristotle defined rhetoric as "the faculty of discovering in any particular case all of the available means of persuasion” and like most things Aristotle studied, he treated it like science even though it is not exactly one. Unlike Plato, Aristotle thought it was important to study because it assists in the defense of truth and justice, it can be used to persuade people who aren’t as intellectual and he thinks that it makes sure both sides of an argument are considered. …show more content…
Rhetoric functions pretty much everywhere and most people do not even realize that they are using it; its used when we are arguing with friends, in most of the media and even on social media sites. Rhetoric has had many definitions over time but they all mean pretty much the same thing, so what exactly is rhetoric? To me, rhetoric is basically the use of communication to successfully get a point across to someone. To do that an argument should be made. To start the argument, a writer should start by taking a stand on what they are arguing about by asking a question. The answer to this question is followed up by an answer which becomes the thesis. There are three different methods for arguing, Ethos, Pathos, and Logos and sometimes Kairos. Ethos means credibility or trustworthiness of an author, basically are they a credible source. A writer can show ethos by being honest in other works or, if they haven’t written anything, by showing more than one side of an argument before arguing their …show more content…
Arguing with your friend about where you should eat is a good example. You want to eat at Taco Bell but your friend wants to eat at McDonalds so you start arguing over why Taco Bell is the superior option. Rhetoric can also be used on social media for example, celebrities promoting things on Twitter and Instagram. They look like they are enjoying the product they are getting paid to advertise so you might, why not buy it? This is using Ethos and it works just like the sports commercials. Some people deny that they are using rhetoric and even argue with others about why rhetoric should not be used, but by arguing they are still using some form of rhetoric even though they do not realize it. It is something that is inescapable, even if someone does not think they are using rhetoric, they probably have at some