Last semester, through the magic of “required courses to be completed”, I ended up in a communication arts class. The focus of this class: rhetoric and human behavior. Prior to this experience, I didn’t really think about rhetoric or what it meant at all. The only time I ever heard it used was as “That is a rhetorical question”, or “If a tree falls in a forest…” etc.

In taking the class, I came to be more aware of the nuances and functions of rhetoric. For example, the way it impacts everyday life and how we often exercise our rhetorical skills without even knowing it. Before I read today’s selection by James Herrick, I would define rhetoric as a piece of work, spoken or written, that is used to bring awareness to a group of people about a given topic and viewpoint. The topics can be trivial (such as what we should watch on Wednesday nights: Real World or Top Chef), or significantly more important (i.e. Should gay marriage be banned in the state of Wisconsin).

After reading the piece by Herrick, I would stand by my definition, but perhaps elaborate a bit more to include his functions of rhetoric. I suppose I never really considered how rhetoric could be used to build a community, or form what we know to be “knowledge” (Herrick, p. 22). While I was aware that rhetoric is often used without realizing it, I was not aware how the simplest situations could be considered to be taking a rhetorical form. According to the reading for today, it seems that every decision made among a group takes the form of rhetoric; each group member puts forth an idea to be considered and why his/her idea would be the best for the group, and then the group decides which idea would be best, most likely based on the best argument presented.

While I thought I had a pretty firm grasp on the concept of rhetoric and its functions, today’s readings made me realize that its definition is ever changing and modifiable, making it applicable to many aspects of everyday life.