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AmandaValderrama

ENC3331

ProfessorWolcott

24July2015

DefiningRhetoric&Citizenship

Therearequiteafewdifferentwaysinwhichrhetoricandcitizenshipcanbe

interrelated.Tobeginonemustfirstdiscusswhateachisseparatelybeforecombiningthe

twotogether.Thesimplestandmostcommonwaytobegindefiningisgoingtothe

dictionary.Rhetoric,accordingtoMerriamWebsterislanguagethatisintendedto

influencepeopleandthatmaybehonestorreasonableortheartorskillofspeakingor

writingformallyandeffectivelyespeciallyasawaytopersuadeorinfluencepeople

(Webster).Citizenshipisdefinedas,thefactorstatusofbeingacitizenofaparticular

placeorthequalitiesthatapersonisexpectedtohaveasaresponsiblememberofa

community(Webster).Nowthesearejustdefinitivetermsthatarebestowedupon

generalpublicandcanbecombinedintodiscussingthetwo.But,Iwouldliketogo

furtherintodefiningrhetoricandcitizenshipinregardstothewritingsofotherssuchas

rhetoriciansandtheirideasofwritingandrhetoricaleducationandparticipation.

Aristotle,thefirstpersontoreallyunderstandrhetoric,defineditas,abilityin

eachparticularcase,toseetheavailablemeansofpersuasion(Fritch12)Ithinkthis

meansthatyoutaketheideaofrhetoricandyouformaconclusiononseveraldifferent

factors.InAristotlescaseheusesthetermsofpathos,logos,andethosasthesedifferent
factors.Ethosisaboutcharacter,pathosbeingemotion,andlogosonshowingsomething

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orforminganargument.So,ifyoutieallthosethingstogetherAristotleswaysof

determiningrhetoricwouldbeifapersonistrustedbyitsaudienceforwhotheyare(also

ethos).Theyshouldfeelanemotionalreactionorattachmentofsomesorttothesubject

(pathos).Andtheyshouldbeabletoknowwhattheyaretalkingaboutverywell(logos).

ThebestthingaboutAristotlesapproachinmyopinion,whichwasdiscussedinthe

reading,ishowitcanstillbeusedtoday.Atheorythatwasformedyearsagoduring

Greektimescanbeusedintodayssocialmediaandtechnologyfusedsociety.Wetake

whatwereadonFacebookorInstagramandwebecomeemotionallyattachedtothese

opinionsofothersandconcludewhetherwestandbywhattheyarewritingorsharing

withus.Weareusingthetheoryofethos,pathos,andlogos.

AnotherrhetoricianwhogavehisinputastowhatrhetoriciswouldbeSamLeith.

ThethingaboutLeithswritingsonrhetoricisthatIfindthemeasiertorelatetomy

generationconsideringinmoremodernofAristotleswork.Leithdiscussesrhetoricin

termsofhowwehearitdaytoday.SuchashisexampleofDerekZoolandersaying

eugoogalizer.Weknowthathesmeanttosayeulogizerbecauseofrhetoric.Inother

words,rhetoricis,whenyouhearafamiliarwordorfigureofspeech(Leith8).So,not

onlyisrhetoricaboutthemixtureofethos,pathos,andlogosbutitsalsoaboutyour

understandingofwhatsbeingsaid.Leithsreadingsalsodiscusshowrhetorichasbeen

developedovertimethroughviewsontheworldsuchasreligion.Itsprovedits

diversitywithitsuseindramaticsandpoetryaswell.Theimportanceofrhetoricis
reflectedinjusthowdiverseitis.Itsalsoshownhowimportantitisintermsofwriting

becauseallthesevarietiessuchaspoetry,novels,plays,etcarecomposedthroughwritten
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word.
Thereareseveralotherrhetoriciansthathavecontributedtheirowndefinitionsof

rhetoricintheOxfordDictionarysuchasJohnT.GageanEnglishauthorwhosaid,isa

termusedtocircumscribeacomplexdisciplinewithalonghistoryencompassingthe

studyoforatory,persuasion,poetry,grammar,philology,logic(Kinney).Thisquote

expressestomesomuchoftheessenceofrhetoric.Inthesimplestofterms,rhetoricis

everchanging.Itsaconstantupgradewithinthelatestcultureandcommunication

amongstindividuals.Rhetoricisabouthowweperceivethings.Itshowwevecometo

understandwhatcertainthingsmeanbecausewevebeenpersuadedtobelievethem.A

scientistconductsanexperimentandshareshisfindingsinhisnextthesis.Ajournalist

writesaboutpovertyinothercountriesandwhyweneedtomakecertainchangestohelp.

ApoliticianmakesaspeechaboutabetterAmericainwhichtheyhopetoinfluenceour

vote.Allofthesescenariosarerhetoric.Youhaveinvention,arrangement,style,memory

anddelivery.ThesearethefivestagesofrhetoricaccordingtoLeith.Whensomeone

wantstouserhetoric,theyputthoughtintotheirwords,decidehowtheyaregoingto

projectit.Basicallyyourecoveringallyourbasesinawaythatwillappealtoyou

audience.

Movingforward,Iwouldliketofurtherdiscusscitizenshipanditsmeaning.As

mentionedintheintroduction,citizenshipreflectsaroundtheideaofastatus.Itinvolves
apersonbeingacceptedbyacommunitybaseduponstandardsandwhatisexpectedtobe

classifiedasone.Thisisthegeneralunderstandingthatmanypeoplehaveoftheterm.In

Wansdiscussiononcitizenshipshestates,Citizenshipisoftenrelegatedtoarhetorical

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flourishinpolicyandpracticaldiscussionswithoutspecificityregardinghowone

achievescitizenshipthroughclassroompractices(Wan30).Thisisacaseinwhich

rhetoriccanbetiedintowithcitizenship.Sointermsofrhetoricwecouldsayhow

someoneperceivesthemselvestoasocietydeterminescitizenship.However,notmuchof

thatperceptionisconsideredwhenitcomestoeducationalenvironments.Theresmany

differentrulesofcitizenshipinacountry,manyofwhichareclassifiedbasedonthe

abilitytovoteorthebirthrightofbeingbornintheUnitedStates.Alltheseareduties,

thingsthatdonttakemuchotherthanphysicalrepresentations.Justbecausesomeoneis

abletovote,theyshouldbeconsideredacitizen?Theirabilitytotakepartinaphysical

activitydoesnotexpresstheknowledgetheyhaveonthesubjectmatter.Whynot

considerthemacitizenbecauseoftheireducationalcapabilitiestoexpresssothroughthe

writtenword.Studentsshouldgraduatewiththeabilitytocreatemeaningintextand

interpretmeaningfromtextsaccordingtoWan.Intelligenceshouldbedetermined

througheducationandintelligenceinreturnwoulddeterminecitizenship.

Whenitcomestowriting,Iknowpersonallyasastudentthathavinganopinion

oncivicmattersareimportantandmyfreedomtoexpressthatintheclassroomis

important.Takeforexampleourfinalprojectinvolvingcivicengagement.Mygroupand

Iconstructedasurveyforthestudentbodyinwhichwewouldopenupaboutcampus
safetyandsecuritycameras.Howdidwegetthisinformationouttoallthesestudents?

Throughthewrittenwordandapresentation.WouldIhavetakenpartinthiscivicduty

hadInotbeenintheclass?Probablynot.Thisshowshowtheclassroomisahuge

influenceoncitizenship.IgainedknowledgeonthesecuritymeasureofUCFandmadeit

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acivicdutytogooutthereandmakeothersinmycommunityaware.Thatword

communityliesinthemostcommonofdefinitionstowardscitizenshipitself.Everything

inaclassroomisaworkingmachineofcitizenship.Youhaveourprofessorwhoisthe

educatingusoncivicengagement.Welistenandbelieveherteachingsbecauseweve

beenpersuadedtothroughrhetoric.Wevebeentaughtthroughculturethatthisisthe

waythingsaresupposedtobeinthataspect.Thenshehasgivenusthisassignmenttogo

outandengagewithourcommunityinaproductiveway.Sheisalsoteachingushowto

endureintheseactivitiesthroughpublicwriting.Wegooutthereandascitizenswe

becomeeducatedonthesubjectwearetryingtomakeaninfluencein.Wearebeing

productiveandusingourwordstogetresults.Theviewsonwhatwouldbeconsidered

citizenshipareabitmurky,especiallywhenitcomestotheclassroomenvironmentand

Wandiscussesthis.But,themostimportantthingisthatwearebeingengaged.Thatwe

arepromotingthisideathatcitizenshipshouldbecultivatedthroughliteracybecauseit

reflectsontheintellectofapersonandtheirabilitytohaveaninfluenceonthe

community.

Toconclude,rhetoricandcitizenshiparetwowordsthatgohandinhand.Weuse

rhetorictopersuadebutnotalways.Weuserhetorictosoundeducatedonwhatwespeak
of.Wehavecitizenshipasaclassificationofcertainstandardsbeingmetandour

intelligenceiswhatweemphasizeshoulddeterminesaidcitizenship.Thebestwayto

expressthisintelligenceisthroughliteracyandcivicengagement.Hence,makingthe

classroomenvironmentanimportantpartoftheprocess.Aplacewheresomeoneis

influencedtoparticipateandbettertheircommunity.

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Becominginvolvedinasocietywhichiswhatcitizenshipisallaboutandthewayone

presentsthemselvesinsocietycanbedeterminedthroughrhetoric.
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WorksCitied

Ed.ErikaLindemannandGaryTate.NewYork:OxfordUP,1991.18.
"Citizenship."MerriamWebster.com.MerriamWebster,n.d.Web.31July2015.
<http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/citizenship>.

"Rhetoric."MerriamWebster.com.MerriamWebster,n.d.Web.29July2015.
<http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/rhetoric>.

AnIntroductiontoCompositionStudies
JohnT.Gage,OnRhetoricandComposition.

Leith,Sam,andSamLeith.WordslikeLoadedPistols:RhetoricfromAristotleto
Obama.NewYork:Basic,2012.Print.

Palczewski,CatherineHelen.,RichardIce,andJohnFritch.RhetoricinCivicLife.State
College,PA:StrataPub.,2012.Print.

Wan,AmyJ."IntheNameofCitizenship:TheWritingClassroomandthePromiseof
Citizenship."CollegeEnglish74.1(2011):2846.Web.29July2015.