Partial Road Trip

Hi All. The following is only a sample of my Rhetorical Journey.

My rhetorical journey began as a question: What is rhetoric? I did not buy the book until after my first Advanced Composition class and didn’t know what I was in for. The book cover of Rhetoric by John Ramage, with its bright yellow and blue contrast, philosophical brown, abstract painting, and subheading A User’s Guide reminded me of a serious museum where there is no running and no touching. And so the road trip began.

I had but one clue—a rhetorical question is that which the questioner does not want answered. I know this from personal experience.

It was a cold night; in fact, the first night of the spring semester and the rejuvenated feeling from winter break was still in my veins. Class had scared me a bit because we went through some blogs of students who experienced reading Rhetoric and their reactions were of frustration, anger at the author, and overall exhaustion. None-the-less, I felt I could conquer and my trip began with an excited confidence.

Chapter 1, an introduction to “The Way of Rhetoric,” began with a confusing voice. A voice by the name of Ramage. The text was very difficult to read because of the difficult wording and the amount of words used for many could-be simple sentences. Like asking for directions, I was given numerous complex routs and meaningless stories (“Ya have ta go down da valley and over ‘ol Petersons bridge—it was flooded last summer, but them there city folk came ‘n fixed it up”) and ultimately was told: “What we won’t be doing in the introductory chapter is telling you flat out what rhetoric is in fifty words or less—other than to say it always has to do with the production/interpretation of symbolic acts and usually has to do with persuasion” (1). I realized, by reading between the lines, that rhetoric is a complex way of conversing, a way to express oneself through confusion, and a way persuade through riddles. I stopped for breath.
Thus far, my journey had been agonizing and I yelled out loud “Where the heck am I going!?” but then I saw a rode sign: “Socrates Makes Since, Next Exit”

In Philosophy class, fall 2005, we read a very confusing book consisting of dialog between Socrates and one of his students. I wondered, while reading “A Word from the Anti-Rhetoric Spokesperson: Four Reasons for Abolishing Rhetoric,” if the puzzling conversations between Socrates and his student had something to do with rhetoric. My most blissful moment, when reading Rhetoric, came about when Socrates was mentioned.

“Oh thank goodness I’m getting somewhere!”

Chapter 2, “Rhetoric and Identity,” had a more interesting angle than chapter 1 and because of my experience so far with Ramage’s writing, it was easier to comprehend. Ramage began to associate rhetoric and identity with real life. He used examples like the presumed identity of a Harley Davidson guy and the sky seemed clear.