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Definition: rhetoric from Philip's Encyclopedia

Art of discourse and persuasive speaking; language, written or spoken, designed to impress or persuade. Rhetoric is valued in public speaking, but the sophistication of many of its modern techniques may have led rhetoricians - such as politicians - to be more distrusted by a better-informed public.


Rhetoric

From Encyclopedia of Identity
Rhetoric may be defined as persuasive communication, written or oral, formal or informal; a verbal art or a type of poetics; or an academic discipline concerned with persuasive communication. In his seminal work, Rhetoric, Aristotle provided the original, neutral definition of the concept as simply “the available means of persuasion.” The content and style of one's rhetoric can help to convey to others information about one's politics, geographic region, nationality, race, socioeconomic status, age, religion, level of education, and other critical aspects of self. Depending on its content, for example, one may be correctly or incorrectly labeled “rightwing,” “leftwing,” “feminist,” “chauvinist,” “fundamentalist,” and so on. This entry explores various aspects and issues of rhetoric, including appeals and canons, history, verbal art or poetics, performance, varieties, and tropes and schemes. In Rhetoric, Aristotle outlines three modes or appeals of rhetoric: logos (reason), pathos…
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From Palgrave Macmillan Dictionary of Political Thought
The presentation of thought in accessible language, esteemed as a fundamental component in political virtue by Cicero , and considered to be an important part of all education in the medieval systems of schooling. The conflict between rhetoric – the art of persuasion – and philosophy – the pursuit…
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Full text Article RHETORIC

From The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of the American Enlightenment
The three ancient arts of discourse, known as the trivium, included logic (the art of thinking), grammar (the art of expressing thought), and rhetoric (the art of communicating). For nearly a 1,000 years, these were the first subjects taught to students in Western universities, as they formed the…
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Aristotle and Plato: detail from The School of...
Around 335 BCE, ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle composed his treatise Rhetoric to explore the argumentative element in oratory and place the subject within a philosophical framework. He defined and analyzed the many components of rhetoric, dividing the treatise into three parts: The first book…
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Full text Article Rhetoric

From The Classical Tradition
Although no single figure looms larger than Cicero in the history of rhetoric, Cicero himself throughout his career acknowledged his debt to the older, mostly Greek rhetoricians and orators who shaped his theory and practice. In the De inventione , an early work that so dominated medieval rhetoric…
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Full text Article rhetoric.

From The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Stage Actors and Acting
Rhetoric was an oral discipline that examined the context of speaking: the motivations of the speaker, the disposition of the interlocutor or audience, and the situation of utterance. All five branches of rhetoric codified by Cicero , Quintilian , and their Renaissance followers – inventio (the…
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Full text Article RHETORIC

From Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity
Rhetoric involves the same conception of life in the classical and the Christian world. In Greece, the people whom the Latins called “orators” they called “rhetoricians” or “rhetors.” In common, everyday speech, the term rhetoric is often used in a pejorative sense, to refer to at most an ornate…
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From Encyclopedia of Ancient Literature
Plato and Socrates shared the view that rhetoric made possible practicing the wisdom gained through philosophical activity. Rhetoric for them was a means to that end. For the Greek Sophists the purpose of rhetoric was political control of the state though the persuasion of the masses or was…
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Full text Article rhetoric

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Principles of training communicators. It may entail the study of principles and rules of composition formulated by critics of ancient times, and it can also involve the study of writing or speaking as a means of communication or persuasion. Classical rhetoric probably developed along with democracy…
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Full text Article RHETORIC

From Handy Answer: The Handy Communication Answer Book
In a political debate between candidates for...
KEY IDEAS AND TERMS Rhetoric is the art of persuasion and influence. Professor and classicist Angie Hobbs defines rhetoric as “the art of persuading a specific audience to specific actions and beliefs through the use of language.” It is a discipline existing primarily within the language arts. While…
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Full text Article rhetoric

From Merriam-Webster's Collegiate(R) Dictionary
pronunciation (14c) 1 : the art of speaking or writing effectively: as a :  the study of principles and rules of composition formulated by critics of ancient times b :  the study of writing or speaking as a means of communication or persuasion 2 a :  skill in the effective use of speech b :  a type…
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