My title's not as creative as everyone elses.

The text is not simple to grasp, partly because Ramage speaks in a verbose manner, but primarily because the topic being covered is one which is not concrete. Rhetoric in itself is marked by its verbosity…Maybe this is why Ramage uses seemingly pretentious language to illustrate the meaning of Rhetoric. Ramage is in-fact using rhetoric to describe rhetoric; his writing style parallels what he is explaining.

I noticed that rhetoric surrounds us. I found it interesting in chapter three when Ramage noted that in school teachers use rhetoric to teach. Even if what a teacher is presenting is in fact “truth”, they use rhetoric as a means for presenting the material needed to be taught. Persuasion is needed to get someone to follow a doctrine; otherwise, one would need to use force.

The third chapter also presented the prominence of rhetoric in politics. With primary elections taking place in our country currently it’s easy to find connections. Politicians use rhetoric to communicate a message. Slander is used to derail opponents. Speeches are constructed in fashions to favor the speaker’s goals, a tactic George Bush used in his 2003 State of The Union Address.

We use it when talking to our friends, parents, teachers, or anyone else who we want a response from. We use it to describe how much we abhor a certain book. Rhetoric's everywhere, whether we realize or not.