Exam 1: An Overview of Rhetoric

Which three types of power are enhanced by an understanding of the art of rhetoric?

What social functions of the art of rhetoric are discussed in this chapter?

The word rhetor can be defined as:

Respond to the claim that rhetoric is important to the process of building community. Has it been your experience, when people come together to form a community, that ways of speaking and reasoning in common are an important part of that process? Could a greater understanding of the art of rhetoric enhance this process of building a community?

Steven Mailloux has written that there are "oral, visual, written, digital, gestural" rhetorics. Which other types of rhetoric would you add to this list? What special types or genres would you include under the types you have added?

Provide the term for the following definitions: -The systematic study and intentional practice of effective symbolic expression.

Issues of power and its distribution have always been central to rhetorical theory.

Which specific resources of language are discussed under the heading "Rhetoric is Planned"?

Provide the term for the following definitions: -Any mark, sign, sound or gesture that communicates meaning based on social agreement.

What are the marks or characteristics of rhetorical discourse discussed in this chapter?

Some people have criticized rhetoric for being manipulative. Do you believe that rhetoric is, by its very nature, manipulative? If not, what ethical guidelines might be important for constraining the practice of rhetoric so that it does not become a tool for manipulation?

Rhetoric can be defined as:

Is rhetoric pervasive in private and social life, as the chapter suggests? In what realms of life, if any, does rhetoric appear to have little or no part to play? Where is its influence greatest, in your estimation? Where is it present, but hidden?

What is the definition of the following term: -The Art of Rhetoric

Provide the term for the following definitions: -A system of belief, or a framework for interpreting the world.

What is meant by the statement that rhetoric addresses contingent issues?

The following speech was delivered by Civil Rights activist Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer on August 22nd, 1964 to the Credentials Committee of the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Though she lacked formal rhetorical training, the speech stands as a powerful example of morally informed oratory. Drawing on this chapter's discussion of the social functions of argument, write a one-page analysis of how Mrs. Hamer's testimony before the committee illustrates any two of those functions.

____________ is defined as discourse characterized by reasons advanced to support a conclusion, as well as reasoning made public with the goal of influencing an audience.

What are the four resources of symbols discussed in Chapter One as assisting the goal of persuasion?

If rhetoric accomplishes the benefits and performs the functions discussed in this chapter, it might follow that rhetorical training should be a central component in education. Has training in rhetoric or some related discipline been part of your educational experience? Should education focus more on the skills that make up the art of rhetoric?