Essays on Rhetoric

The surroundings which an individual is raised affects their perception of life and greatly influences their actions. According to J.D Vance Hillbilly Elegy being raised in a poor neighborhood of society with a working-class culture was challenging to deal with, and his poor upbringing influenced...

The best way to win over people is to go down the path of making them realize that you are going to work for their benefit and that you are going to bring out the problems a normal person faces and help them get over...

It has been said that the success of any democracy is incumbent upon the participation of its citizenry. Indeed, our governmental, economic, and social institutions (explicit or otherwise) require the cognizant and informed participation of us all. We are the juries for our peers. We...

In Hidden Intellectualism, from They Say I Say, Gerald Graff makes some very impressive arguments on why we shouldn’t overlook people who are ‘street smart’ as they may have even more intellectual potential than people who are ‘book smart’. This is a topic that is...

College, for most of us, is a huge step. When you enter college the biggest decision to make is what you will major in. What should you consider when deciding your major? Family, social status, friends, religion, etc. Mark Edmundson speaks on this topic in...

Rhetoric has been used throughout history, including the Classical era. In fact, it was often celebrated in Ancient Greece, where rhetoric was often seen as a skill, and even an art form. Since then, it has evolved and modified to what is now different standards...

“What does sadden me is that, while judging correctly of their wrong-doings we should be so blind to our own” (235). Montaigne’s essay “On the Cannibals” is a criticism on how the ‘civilized’ man passes judgment too harshly upon others while disregarding their own actions....

Rhetoric is the art of persuasive speaking techniques. Examples of rhetoric are: ethos (credibility), pathos (emotion), and logos (logic). In Animal Farm by George Orwell, the pigs have pushed themselves in power because of their use of rhetoric. They used ethos, pathos, and logos to...

Author Anne Lamott uses anecdote to have an influential effect on general writers and students. The article is appealing as she is both sarcastic and humorous. Her main purpose is to bring into sharp focus that it is perfectly ok to write horrendous sentences and...

Dwight Eisenhower was the 34th president of the United States, he served two terms as a Republican president from 1952-1960. During his first term as president, he looked into fixing relations with the Korean peninsula and ending the Korean War. Also, during his first term,...

Plato’s “Gorgias” is a dialogue that attacks the rhetoric of the politicians in ruling ancient Greece. It uses the voice of the teacher Socrates to express views, and includes the viewpoints and perspectives of Gorgias, Polus, and Callicles as well. Socrates in particular discusses many...

Gourmet magazine had originally intended for David Foster Wallace to write a harmless review of the annual Maine Lobster Festival (MLF). As the essay continues, the reader notices the transition of a review of the festival into a topic on to the ethics of food...

Under current circumstances, students are always overwhelmed by unity and test. From Preliminary English Test (PET) in elementary school to SAT and GRE in universities, our life is “polished” by all those standardized scores graded. The idea that despite the indicator properties of standardized test,...

To prepare myself to begin my Marian Scholars research project, I watched three TED Talks delivered to audiences by kids my age who took time and effort to research and present an idea of topic that they were passionate about. I first watched “A Promising...

On November 9, 2016, millions of people watched in disbelief as the words “Donald Trump Elected U.S. President” flashed before their eyes. Their worst nightmare had come true. Trump’s victory was one of the most shocking events in American political history. Less than five months...

Superman and Me is a memoir written by Sherman Alexie in 1998. It’s about Sherman’s childhood and how reading a Superman comic book made an impact on his life. Sherman Alexie is a writer who comes from Native American culture and was not given a...

Joe Rogan is one of the most popular comedians and social commentators of our time. Rogan is known for currently known for his stand-up comedy, including his popular feature “Triggered,” as well as his widely listened to podcast called “The Joe Rogan Show,” which features...

“Imagine” presents the argument by Lennon that world peace is a necessity. This song has become a large part of pop culture, Lennon proves his argument through the use of several different examples of throughout history. He uses rhetorical strategies like ethos, pathos, and logos....

We constantly hear news of our planet’s decline. Whether it be climate change, famine, rising sea levels, wars, or another species of animal becoming endangered or extinct, we are made aware of them almost, if not, every single day. These issues aren’t new to us....

John F. Kennedy was the 35th president of the United States of America. He served for 2 years and on the day of his inauguration, he gave an inaugural speech in Washington D.C. In this speech, he used many rhetorical strategies to get his point,...

Not all people whose English as a second language speak it in the same way. This argument made by Amy Tan throughout in the story “Mother Tongue”. In the essay, she successfully expresses all three of rhetorical styles such as logos, ethos, and pathos. Tan...

The act of persuasion is an ancient and delicate balance of art and science. Persuasion, in simple terms, is to coax someone through subtle techniques with the aim of changing their beliefs, intentions or decisions. To persuade someone is to convince them to act, think...

A discourse community is a conglomerate of individuals that share common knowledge and use the same rhetoric to communicate ideas within a specialized topic. The financial sector is a prime example of an extremely exclusive discourse community that is very difficult to become a part...

Paul J. Meyer has been recognized as a great superior in the field of motivation and professional development. He also was the direct author of the quote “Communication – the human connection – is the key to personal and career success”, of course, you have...