August 19, 2008, 4:45 pm by Tiana

In reading the beginning of the book I realized how uninformed even informed people can be. The thought that even a well-educated person could see rhetoric as being empty and mainly for the use of getting ahead is sad. I thought about politicians and the way they use words. The attempt to make falsities seem true in order to sway the vote sickens me. It is an abuse of rhetoric. It makes a mockery even of the thing that is supposed to help others see the other side of the coin. Even in an attempt to try to win the votes for a good cause, people tend to go the other way and use words and phrases that have nothing to do with the other in order to gain the emotional appeal of the people. Because of this, I am understanding of why people in ancient times distrusted the Sophists becuase of their use of rhetoric. A person of even a reasonable mind could be swayed in the wrong way because words can be conveyed in so many ways and have so many different meanings to different people. I think when rhetoric is used on the right way it can be an effective method of bring about change and progress to society. The people who use rhetoric have a responsibility to use it ethically. While I must say that in the past I too have used it just to get my way or to yeah, just to get my way, if I had a better cause my persuasive words would have gone a lot farther an been more beneficial to other people not just myself. This is why rhetoric is important for everyone to learn. It really is not just a bunch of useless words- they are words that can change things. They are words that are meant to make people think and truly decide on where they stand on a particular subject.