Blog 12: The Medium is the Message

These last few chapters of this short book were very interesting. It seemed to coincide with something that I have been talking about in my New Media and Culture class. The topic we studied was a sentence coined by the person named Marshall McLuhan. The phrase is, “The Medium is the Message.” This chapter goes into depth explaining the advancements in technology and how we are able to use these technologies with rhetoric. I think the phrase, “The Medium is the Message” goes very well with this chapter. It matters the way that we spread rhetoric whether it be through written, oral, or some other means such as TV. The chapter also talked about how human culture moved broadly from its initial ‘primary orality’ where spoken word was the most popular way in which rhetoric was spread to the ‘second orality’ which we use writing to spread rhetoric that is used mostly in the modern era.

Another interesting thing the chapter talked about was the way in which leaders used rhetoric. For example, how Teddy Roosevelt used it to help get people on board with going to war against Germany in WWII but at the same time trying to cover up some of the facts of war. Another example was how Hitler used rhetoric to try and say that Jews must be the ‘necessary consequence’ of war while sending messages to his subordinates letting them know what was expected of them. These chapters did a good job explaining how rhetoric has been used in the past along with which mediums are used.

Questions:

Do you think that we are moving into a ‘third orality’ with the way technology is advancing in the ways you are able to use rhetoric?

Which medium do you think is the best when using rhetoric?

Picture taken from: https://jamesbhurley.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/rhetoric.gif

Toye, Richard. Rhetoric: a very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford U Press, 2013. Print.

Blog 10: The Power of Persuasion

I would first like to offer my thoughts on how Richard Toye goes about talking about rhetoric. For me, it was confusing how he jumped around in time it seemed. Also, this style of writing is difficult for me to read personally. However, I do feel that I know more about what rhetoric is and how it has been used in the past. The big thing that I got out of the introduction and chapter one was rhetoric is about persuasion. Rhetoric is such a powerful tool. It was first discussed back by Aristotle and Plato. Another important thing that was mentioned was how there can not be a set of rules defining what rhetoric is and how it can be used to be successful in your task. You can not make assumptions about your audience. This changes based on factors such as class, gender, and race.

I think rhetoric has been very controversial in its inception, but has also been very important in many roles such as leadership. It is very important to learn how to use rhetoric and how it can be used against you. I did not fully understand the importance of why we should be teaching students about rhetoric until reading this first bit in the book. Being able to make a good case and being persuasive can get you very far in certain situations.

Questions:

Did you know what rhetoric was before taking this class?

Have you ever used rhetoric before in any situation, if so can you name that situation?

Picture taken from: https://www-tc.pbs.org/parents/adventures-in-learning/files/2015/11/powerofpersuasion.jpg

Toye, Richard. Rhetoric: a very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford U Press, 2013. Print.