Jam-Packed Rhetoric Every form of written, oral, and nonverbal communication throughout the entirety of history can be boiled down into one simple word-rhetoric. One may ask, "What does this word that summarizes all forms of communication even mean?" According Merriam-Webster Dictionary, rhetoric is defined as "the art of speaking or writing effectively" ("Rhetoric"). While formal definitions provide a broad understanding, these tend to lack the depth that encompasses the entirety of rhetoric as a whole. It goes beyond being able to just speak or write effectively-rhetoric consists of the skills we use to help us appeal to a specific audience whenever we communicate, having its foundation of the rhetorical appeals; ethos, pathos, and logos. …show more content…
Another location of these rhetorical devices is in Kate Ristau 's memoir, Legos for a Child With a Hole in His Heart. The story being told is that of her son, Rowan, who was born with two holes in his heart, and is now a few years older and with only one of the holes remaining. Rowan loves Legos and is always asking for some when going to the store. Kate discusses the difficulty of saying no to her son who could potentially pass away from his condition. She continues with the various struggles of the situation and end on, "It 's the way he looks up at you. It 's the flash of smile, his glittering eyes, and the feeling that if anything ever went wrong, you 'd find those Legos, you 'd hold up that toy and you 'd tell anyone - anyone who 'd listen - that he was the best of you" (Ristau). Ristau entire story is just absolutely heart wrenching. She is able to convey her story so effectively due to the emotional elements, appealing to the rhetorical appeal of pathos. While reading the story of Ristau, her son, and the Legos, the reader sympathizes with her which is the exact definition of pathos, an emotional appeal to what is being communicated. If she would have used a different rhetorical appeal, it would have nowhere near the same effect as it did when she appeals to the readers emotions. A common theme among the three is the rhetoric devices being used and the