Summary Of Rhetoric By Richard Toye

In these three articles, the readers learns about the importance, value, and true nature of rhetoric. Richard Toye describes how in society, rhetoric is associated with negativity, showcasing Plato’s influence, who believed rhetoric as “the enemy of logical discourse” (Toye 1-2). However, in reality, rhetoric should not be overlooked as a surface phenomenon because language is an ideological fingerprint. Therefore, people need to overcome the preconceptions associated with rhetoric to master the art of persuasion. Rhetoric surrounds you all the time, evident in our everyday actions among peer groups, voters, family, as “personal rhetoric is an important basic of individual social identities, which in turn form the grounding for political and

It is impossible to persuade the audience, if the speaker doesn’t understand the true meaning of their spoken words. Moreover, rhetoric is not merely spoken words, the process where ideas are generated and expressed are powerful, because only by the process of debate, one solidifies one’s beliefs and ideas, as well as forms new ways of thinking when seeing familiar ideas in a new context. Furthermore, Toye recounts the origins of rhetoric, starting with Sophists, a group of teachers who believed the “art of communication can be taught and that it is a marketable skill” (Toye 7). This view was challenged by many, including Socrates and notably Plato. Socrates argues that rhetoric should be used for moral improvement, not merely for gratification. He doesn’t denounce the possibility of this rhetoric, but he believes such form of rhetoric is not practiced

Rhetoric is a form of art that is different than any other, where the technical knowledge is not inclusive to a particular subject. The article describes the means of persuasion in the public. First, is ethos, character, showing the audience that the speaker is worthy and passionate about the spoken words, making it more likely the audience will believe the words also. Next, logos, which is appealing to the audience with logic, showing the truth behind the speaker’s words. Lastly, appealing to the audience’s emotion through pathos in the speech is effective because it will cause the audience to be attentive and the subject details will be clear and evident. Furthermore, the reading explains that all speakers persuade with logic by either paradigms or enthymemes, depending on the circumstance. One technique is not less persuasive than the other. According to the situation, one technique just may be more favorable with the audience. If the paradigm is used inductively and the enthymeme syllogistically, the message is evident to the audience and does not need to be stated. Furthermore, enthymemes are derived from probabilities and signs. A necessary sign called a “tekmerion” is syllogistically valid, “for only it, if true, is irrefutable” (Kennedy 43). The passage concludes with Aristotle distinguishing rhetoric as an art controlled by the speaker purposefully and