rhetorically speaking

One statement from last Tuesday's class that stuck in my head is, "rhetoric is the basis of every argument". Argumentative to me means pertaining to argument, but when describing rhetoric, argumentative is meant to infer a suggestive statement rather than a combative one. Rhetoric is the backbone of all methods of persuasion.

Rhetoric plays a larger part of my everyday life than I imagined. I've always heard the term "rhetorical" in reference to a statement made with no expectation of a retort. Little did I know, the term is much more encompassing. Rhetoric is the backbone of all methods of persuasion. Advertising comes to mind when I think of rhetoric. I come across advertising in some shape or form a number of times on an hourly basis. For example, I came across this ad while reading Sports Illustrated.

(see picture above)

The ad is an example of the pathos form of rhetoric. The presumed sick child sitting on an examination table in what looks to be a hospital or clinic is clearly akin to the pathos or emotional side. Upon further inspection, the ad indicates that PI affects 10 million and that early detection can lead to a better quality of life. These statements are meant to strike a chord of fear in the reader and alert them to investigate this matter further via the web address or phone number provided. I wouldn't expect a full page ad like this in a sports magazine, but rather some kind of dietary supplement to aid in body building. Nonetheless, this ad immediately caught my attention, even given my lack of my own children.

The vast majority of the rhetoric I use on a daily basis is of the logos form. I'm a software technician, so I speak in binary code (figuratively, of course) all day. I'm constantly relaying information between engineers. I try to keep things simple to cut down on confusion, so I make sure to leave out the fluff and stick to the technical specs and data they're most concerned with.