Essays on Rhetoric

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...

Rhetoric in The Illiterate Gregerson’s article “Rhetorical Contract in the Lyric Poem” expounds upon the purpose of lyric poetry. She posits that there is a relationship between the reader and the speaker that extends beyond utilitarian or surface purposes, claiming that a contract forms between...

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...

The sharks are circling, and you are just panicking, the overwhelming feeling that they sense your fear. The fear of presenting is more demanding than the fear of death. We have all heard tips and hints on how to make the perfect presentation, but none...

Being a Chair is such an exciting position to hold at a MUN because it requires you to take on responsibility, but also to think well on your feet and to respond immediately to a committee. In many ways, the Chair sets the tone of...

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...

A spectre is haunting the world – the spectre of populism, the art of appealing to or rhetoric aimed at ordinary people. However, demagoguery has embraced populism with a big fat hug. If it reminds you of our Prime Minister, well it should, for he...

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,...

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...

As we get older, we realize that not many things in life are timeless, but rather fads. That shirt that was trendy in high school, or that band that was always on the radio. Trends come and go, but ethos pathos logos is here to...

In today’s modern age originally, Aristotle defined rhetoric by any way of persuasion while appealing to emotion. Aristotle defines rhetoric as the counterpart of dialectic. A more definitive description of rhetoric is using symbolisms as a method of persuasion to clarify or an understanding. How...

The texts that are given by the authors and what the readers understand may not be the same at first. This is because of background knowledge and perspective, but the definitions that are constructed can be changed when paying particular attention to the internal structure...

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...

In “Me Talk Pretty One Day” by David Sedaris, the author spends the first part of the book describing his childhood years in North Carolina with his many siblings. He talks about how he had to go through speech therapy, music lessons, and art school....

Context Hillary Clinton’s 2011 speech on the rights of the LGBT community delivered in Geneva, Switzerland during the International Human Rights Day on December 6th sought to inform the world that members of the LGBT deserve to be treated like any other members of the...

Hillary Clinton delivered several kinds of speeches in various periods and events in her life. The former presidential candidate is identified as a gifted speaker; whatever her rhetoric style is, she knew how to get away from stress and panic to face her audience 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,...

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...