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Comm 380, Rhetorical traditions, has taught me many different ideas about rhetoric. In this essay, I will talk about my definition of rhetoric and how it has changed throughout this class. At the beginning of the term, I thought Rhetoric was an argumental speech and only people who are in debates use rhetoric. After going through this class I still don't really know what rhetoric is because it can be so many things but I know it's not just for debates. However, if I were to define Rhetoric I would say rhetoric is finding the truth in everything. For example, watching tv Ads and understanding that they just want people to buy their products. However, they try to sell people on the fact that buying this will create happiness. Throughout this post, I will be giving examples of Aristotle, and Socrates to prove that Rhetoric means finding truth in everything. Also, I will be giving you an example of an artifact I chose to show the best way to learn rhetoric is.

In an article, How Many Rhetorics by Wayne Booth, it talks about many different definitions of Rhetoric. For Aristotle, Booth talks about Aristotle's idea of antistrophos Booth stated: " Aristotle's claim that it was the antistrophos of dialectic became again interpreted to mean that rhetoric and dialectic overlap, as equal companions, each of them able to cover everything" (Booth 7).  This means that the way people talk connects with Rhetoric. This proves that Rhetoric is finding the truth because using rhetoric in everyday conversations leads to people finding the truth in what is being told to them or finding a better understanding of the other person's viewpoint. For example, in-classroom students and teachers discuss every day about many different things like politics, current events, or homework. By using rhetoric in these discussion students can learn about new ideas or a different perspective from fellow classmates. 

Socrates' idea of Rhetoric is that it's a knack and not a craft. He claims rhetoric is for producing pleasure because people us it to win over an audience. He believes that not all people can be rhetoricians because not everyone can speak. For example, people tend to believe a person who is more confident-sounding in their speech instead of the person who has the most knowledge but doesn't know how to articulate their words. Socrates' idea connects with my definition because he calls people to find the truth in person rhetoric rather than who sounds good to them. Even though he doesn't believe everyone can be rhetorician he believes that people can call out the lies within people's rhetoric and form a truth with it. 

An artifact I chose was a picture of students discussing in a classroom. Discussion is the best way for students to learn about other people's perspectives on life and ideas. For example, a person growing up in a low-income household will have a much different perspective than a person who grew up rich. It's important for the two to discuss because they learn why the other person believes what they do. Even if they might agree they can understand the opposing argument or viewpoint. Also, it gives them the opportunity to see the world through the lens of another person. 

Overall, Rhetoric is finding the truth in everything. It's important for people to be able to seek out lies that they are being told and form a truth for their lives to live by. People who blindly through life believing everything they are told will truly learn because they can't form their own truth or ideas to things

Work cited 

Booth, W. (2004). How many Rhetorics? In the rhetoric of rhetoric (pp. 3-22). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

Plato. (1999). Gorgias. In J. NienKamp (Ed.), Plato on rhetoric and language (pp. 86-104). Mahwah, NJ: Hermagoras Press. (Original work published in 380 B.C E).

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https://youtu.be/qlFFuW2q554

Critical Question: the critical question I chose was what gender/sexuality norm is constructed or undone in this artifact, how is it rhetorically done, and/or how does it promote a dominating ideology over a marginalized group or push back against the ideology or gender norms? Is it productive/unproductive (ethical/unethical)?

The artifact chosen to answer this question is the song "Chicks Dig It" by Chris Cagle. In this song, he sings about girls and how they like when men are reckless. In other words women like men who are bad boys. Throughout this post, I will be using Judith Butler's article "Introduction: Acting in concert" to evaluate this song. I will also talk about symbols and how they shape people’s view of society. 

Judith Butler's article is about undoing gender stereotypes. This article talks a lot about how as humans we construct human and social norms. To follow these norms blindly means to leave out or marginalize a group of people. In order to change these norms then a person has to deconstruct society and rebuild so it includes all and doesn't marginalize. 

To start off, the title "Chicks Dig It" the term Chicks is used to marginalizes women because it dehumanizes females. This relates to Butler when she states "Certain Humans are recognized as less than humans, and that form of qualified recognition does not lead to a viable life" (Butler). What Butler means is that certain concepts and words dehumanize people in order to put another group ahead of them. By Cagle using the term Chicks, he takes away their human value because he compares them to an animal that needs to be controlled by a larger being. Also, he assumes that women want to be called chicks because it makes women feel better. He stereotypes all women as wanting a man to call them Chicks. 

Cagle sings  "Told the neighborhood girls said, "Hey y'all, watch this!" My fate was a broken arm. My reward, one big kiss. When Daddy asked me why I did it. I made him laugh out loud. When I told him 'cause the chicks dig it" (Cagle). In this lyric Cagle uses the social norm that girls love reckless guys. He tells boys that a girl will kiss boys if men show women that they can be reckless and dangerous. Therefore promoting the social norm of that girls wants guys who are "bad boys" and guys need to be "bad" in order to get a girl. This relates to Butler because Cagle is promoting the same social norm that boys must be mean and reckless in order to get a girl. instead of teaching boys to be caring and nice towards the person they are interested in. 

In addition, Cagle promotes the social norm of heterosexual relationships. His song is about heterosexual relationships and doesn't mention queer relationships. He assumes that all women will like men who are reckless thus promoting heteronormative relationships. In addition, he assumes that all men want to be with girls. He also promotes male dominate relationship that women will follow the bad boy persona because "chicks dig it." 

In an article I read, The Power of Symbols, it talked about the power of symbols and how they make up our lives. Symbols make up everything we know, they motivate us to live a certain life, in other words, they create societal norms. There are two types of symbols internal and external. Internal is the symbols that drive self and external drives society. Chris Cagle's song uses both internal and external symbols. The external symbols are calling women 'chicks' to show that they are lesser than males. This creates the social norm of male’s being dominant in the relationship. Teaching men that they need to control their women. The internal one is being reckless in order to get the girl creating the social norm that men are crazy and reckless. In addition, it creates a social norm by telling males that it’s ok to act crazy because girls will love men who are dangerous. This leads to the societal norm that women should date men who are reckless because they can change them. Other symbols that Cagle uses are heterosexual relationships. This creates the social norm of relationships only being with men and women leaving out the queer community.  Overall, this song uses symbols to promote societal norms to which most people live their lives.

Work cited 

Butler, J. (2004). "Introduction: Acting in concert." In undoing gender (pp. 1-4). New York: Routledge.

Cagle, Chris. "Youtube". Youtube.Com, 2003, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlFFuW2q554.

Wydra, Harald. “The Power of Symbols—Communism and Beyond.” International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society, vol. 25, no. 1–3, Sept. 2012, pp. 49–69. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eoah&AN=26546621&site=pfi-live.

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https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2016/09/27/clinton-trump-hofstra-entire-first-presidential-debate-sot.cnn

Critical Question: the critical question I chose was how Burke's notion of the unification device is evident in this artifact? How are each of the components at play? How is this unproductive/unethical for society?

The artifact chosen to answer this question is the first presidential debate between Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump. I broke down the first fifteen minutes of the debate and compared the two candidates' arguments to Burke's unification device.  I chose to do both candidates because I wanted to show that both sides, Republicans and Democrats, use the unification device. Also,  I wanted to prove how easily the unification device can be used without the individual's knowledge. In addition, I will look at how the candidates use rhetoric to appeal to their audiences.

Burke's unification device consists of four components: inborn dignity, symbolic rebirth, projection, and commercial. Inborn dignity is a national idea that one class is superior and the rest are inferior. For example, Hitler had his country believe that the Aryan race was superior to all other races. Symbolic rebirth is having citizens aspire towards a utopian society. For example, Hitler convinced citizens that a society without Jewish people would benefit them. Projection is blaming one group for all the problems that occurred, otherwise rephrased as, scapegoating. For instance, Hitler used Jewish people as a scapegoat to explain why the German economy was failing after World War I. The commercial device is telling people only the great things about a plan and not the bad things and vice versa. For example, Hilter replaced the phrase "failing" economy with a "Jewish" economy to explain that the Jewish people were responsible for the entire country's economic failures. However, he neglected to tell people the true reason why the economy was failing which was the backlash and debt from World War I.

In the first fifteen minutes of the debate, the candidates were given the task to talk about achieving prosperity by bringing in more jobs. Hilary went first and talked about small businesses great jobs and she advocated for the middle class. She talked about how she hears people's struggles and wants to fight for them. She stated "So let's have paid family leave, earned sick days. Let's be sure we have affordable childcare and debt-free college. How are we going to do it? We're going to do it by having the wealthy pay their fair share and close the corporate loopholes" (Clinton). In this quote, Hilary Clinton used an inborn dignity device because she makes the rich look like the bad guys. She presents them in the light that they do not care for any other class but their own. She makes people believe that all rich people are the same and the same meaning they try to cheat the government and that they are selfish. In addition, this statement is used as a projection device because Hilary projects the rich as the reason why others are struggling. Because of rich people being selfish and not getting a fair tax cut, the middle class suffers because they are left with paying the rest of the taxes. Hilary talks about how Donald Trump and her have different perspectives. Trump believes that rich people will help our economy, therefore, the government should help rich. Clinton mentions "what I believe is the more we can do for the middle class, the more we can invest in you, your education, your skills, your future, the better we will be off and the better we'll grow. That's the kind of economy I want us to see again" (Clinton). This is an example of symbolic rebirth because by not helping rich people and focusing on the middle class the better of the economy and people will be. In addition, she wants people to believe that the way to a better society is not helping rich but making sure that the middle class is the ones to prosper. This also used as a projection device because again Hilary Clinton is putting blame on all rich people as to why the other classes are suffering and not getting a fair chance in life. Hilary also states "..most of the new jobs will come from small business. We also have to make the economy fairer. That starts with raising the national minimum wage and also guarantee, finally, equal pay for women's work" (Clinton). Clinton uses the commercial device in this statement. While raising the minimum raise and having equal pay for women are great things, Hilary doesn't mention that raising the minimum actually causes a small business to lose their companies because they can not afford to stay in business. 

Donald Trump also used the unification device during the debate. Trump states "You look at what China is doing to our country in terms of making our product. They're devaluing their currency, and there's nobody in our government to fight them. And we have a very good fight. And we have a winning fight. Because they're using our country as a piggy bank to rebuild China, and many other countries are doing the same thing" (Trump). Trump uses the projection device in this statement. He is blaming the government, politicians, and china as to why the United States has no jobs and why the economy is failing. He wants people to believe that electing another politician will only allow other countries to prosper and not the United States. This statement is also an example of inborn dignity. Trump wants people to believe that America should be the number one country and the fact that China is using the United States as their piggy bank is ridiculous. He even uses it in his slogan "Make America Great Again" (Trump), he wants Americans to believe they are superior to the rest of the world. This slogan is also used as symbolic rebirth because it tells people that picking him it will make the United States great. Trump also mentions "we have to stop our jobs from being stolen from us. We have to stop our companies from leaving the United States and, with it, firing all of their people"(Trump)." Trump uses the symbolic rebirth in this statement. He says that bringing the companies back to America will cause the United States to prosper. He calls the American people to stand up and make us great again and America can that by bringing every business that was "stolen" from The United States. Throughout the debate, Hilary Clinton mentions that Donald Trump received a 14 million dollar loan from his father to start a Business. Trump states "my father gave me a very small loan in 1975, and I built it into a company that's worth many, many billions of dollars, with some of the greatest assets in the world, and I say that only because that's the kind of thinking that our country needs" (Trump). This statement is an example of a commercial device because Trump did not receive a small loan. In addition, he neglects to mention that most people do not start out with more than a million dollars to start a business. In fact, most people invest all of their money into their business therefore if the business fails then they lose everything. Whereas Donald Trump could afford to fail because he had more money to build a new business. 

In an article, I read called "A Must-Have Guide for Successful Debate" this article is talking about what it takes to have a great debate. It talks about the way a person communicates their points will set them to win or lose. They have to appeal to the audience. Both Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton used this method to appeal to their certain audience. Donald Trump walked out in a suit with a blue tie signifying he can be trusted. His arguments appealed to more republicans and business people. He would talk about how he created billions out of millions and that he would do this for our country. This appealed to business people because they like to see a profit. Hilary Clinton walked out in a red business suit signifying her dominance. In addition, her argument appealed more to working-class people and democrats. She would talk about how working-class people are getting what they deserve and that the rich are prospering over them. This would appeal to working-class people because they work so hard but never get rewarded for it. Overall, both sides do the same thing when comes to their arguments are reaching their audiences.

Citations 

Burke, K. (2005). The rhetoric of Hitler's battle. In C.R. Burckhardt (Ed.) Readings in rhetorical criticism(3rd ed.) (pp. 188-202). State college: strata Publishing, inc.

"Donald Trump Vs Hillary Clinton Full Hofstra Debate - CNN Video". CNN, 2016, https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2016/09/27/clinton-trump-hofstra-entire-first-presidential-debate-sot.cnn.

International Debate Education Association. The Debatabase Book : A Must-Have Guide for Successful Debate. International Debate Education Association, 2003.

"The First Trump-Clinton Presidential Debate Transcript, Annotated". Washington Post, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/09/26/the-first-trump-clinton-presidential-debate-transcript-annotated/. Accessed 25 Oct 2019.

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Why America is NOT the greatest country in the world, anymore. In this entry, I will examine the critical questions: is the leader using their rhetoric to challenge or speak the views of the demos? What are the benefits and disadvantages of doing so? 

To investigate these questions I watched the clip of "Why America Is NOT The Greatest Country In The World, Anymore" as my artifact. This clip shows a narrative that America is not the greatest country anymore, which challenges the American society to be informed of their country instead of blindly following what they want to believe is true. In this video, the three panelists were asked "Why is America the greatest country in the world" (Mottola). Two of the panelist said good things about America, for instance, America is free. The third panelist says that America is not the greatest country in the world but it can be. At first, everyone in the video was shocked by what he said but after he explained himself people started to understand his point of view.  

In Pericles' speech "The Funeral Oration," Pericles challenges his people to fully believe and trust in their state in order to win the war. He tells them that they are an example to their neighbors because of their patriotism. While other states need allies, they do not because they have each other to fight and die with. This narrative is meant for people to band together and fight. It doesn't matter what happened this is your country, therefore, one must give everything to it. 

The third panelist Challenges Pericles idea of full patriotism. When it was his turn to answer the question, Why is America the greatest country, he took a while to answer the question but eventually said that America is not the greatest country in the world anymore. He states "There’s absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we’re the greatest country in the world. We’re 7th in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, 3rd in median household income, number 4 in labor force and number 4 in exports. We lead the world in only three categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real and defense spending, where we spend more than the next 26 countries combined, 25 of whom are allies" (Mottola).  Then the panelist went to say America used to be great. America wasn't afraid to stand up for themselves, we made great scientific advances, it didn't matter who we voted for, we cared for each other, and we inspired to be great because we were informed. Then the panelist said America can be great again but we need to recognize the problem first before we can move on. This shows that having patriotism is fine however to blindly accept what to believe in is wrong. 

The United States has always taught its citizens to believe that this country is the best. After World War II, Americans believed that if it wasn't for us the war would have been lost. That is what the third panelist is arguing about because it wasn't just us who won the war it was other countries who put their soldiers in to help win the war. Yet Americans believe it was us who won it because that's what we were told and that's what we keep getting told. The third panelist is not saying that having patriotism is wrong however, it's our duty to understand what is the truth and what is not. 

Another topic that the panelist brought was people now mark themselves by who they voted for. What he means here is instead of accepting people by who they voted for we belittle them because we think they disagree with us and he's right. As a country, we now fight with each other more then we fight with our enemies. If things go wrong instead of fixing the problem we point the finger at the other side Deming them responsible. We lost ourselves because we are too prideful and blinded to see real problems. We are blinded because we accept what is being told to us rather than being informed of the problem. We would rather point the finger then banding together to solve a problem. How do we change that? We stop blindly following our leaders and what we believe to be right then we need to research what the truth is and make a conclusion from there.  

In Pericles' speech “After the War”, he talks about how people are angry with the war. They are just to be angry however blaming him or the leaders is not the way to solve it. Pericles' accepts his faults but tells people that every great country has been through the mud. However, the greatest countries find a way out not by blaming one another but by accepting their faults and moving forward together. This proves the panelist point because he tells that recognizing the problem is the first step to repairing it. 

Overall, this video informs people that the United States is no longer the greatest country. However, blaming one another solves nothing and blindly following the leader solves nothing. However, being informed, recognizing the problem, and coming together is a step closer to solving the issue. 

Work cited

Mottola, Greg. Newsroom: We Just Decided To. 2012.

Murphy, James J et al. A Synoptic History Of Classical Rhetoric. Routledge, 2014, pp. 217-221.

Thucydides. (431 B.C). Second Year of the War- The Plague of Athens. (2nd Book, Chapter VII). The History of the Peloponnesian War. (R. Crawley, Trans.). Retrieved September 23, 2019, file:///home/chronos/u-34070ec08a84dc78a974f3fb615cdcc577d906e2/MyFiles/Downloads/Pericles,%20The%20Funeral%20Oration.pdf

"Why America Is NOT The Greatest Country In The World, Anymore.". Youtube, 2012, https://youtu.be/VMqcLUqYqrs.