October Blog Post

In class, we talked about what it means to be a 'good citizen.' We watched a video as well that depicted the question, "What if we got to pick and choose what laws we follow?" This includes things like community service, being friendly, showing acceptance, voting, jury duty, law abiding, civil engagement, and disobedience. All of these factors contribute to the definition of being a 'good citizen.' I pondered this lecture and really thought about the effects of if we were to have the choice on what laws to abide. This is probably not a very good idea, as everyone has certain hardships and experiences that they face that would alter their views on the means of being a 'good citizen.' They could potentially take their anger out on the public and cause harm to others. With this said, there needs to be an overall structure for which society follows, so our day-to-day lives are laid out smoothly and we are all on the same page with goals of being ethical. Of course, there are rules that are bent or mistaken here and there, but not enough to cause an extreme dent in our society. In the words of professor Ivey, "There's a reason for court obedience-public opinion would not be good."

This conversation then led to the topic of rhetoric. There are many scholars that have certain interpretations of what rhetoric is. Rhetoric roots from what was first defined by Aristotle in the means of Persuasion. Sir Francis Bacon said rhetoric is used "to apply reason to imagination for the better moving of the will." I interpreted this to mean that there is a balance of reason and opinion that mold together to form rhetoric. We all have our own personal views and opinions based on separate experiences and interactions. Putting reason to each of these creates this harmony that leads to what is known as rhetoric. Sonja Foss, a feminist communication scholar, defined rhetoric as "humans using symbols for the purpose of communicating." This is a more straight-edged view of what rhetoric means. She brought up a new idea of the use of symbols. This is huge when talking about rhetoric. To me, this definition is the most accurate. Catherine Helen Palczewski, Richard Ice, and John Fritch convey rhetoric as, "the use of symbolic action by human beings to share ideas, concern and to construct social reality." They too included symbols as a factor in defining what rhetoric is. Symbol use is extremely relevant in our society today and is crucial in understanding rhetoric, as these are known to constitute character in a certain culture. Here, symbolic action takes place.