Scratch "Simple"

Ah, Rhetoric! It looked so simple when we were introduced to logos, pathos and ethos. Chapters 10 through 12 of Thank You For Arguing proved that rhetoric is not as simple as you might think. There's more to logos, pathos and ethos. In the field of rhetoric there are a lot of different concepts. I feel like I'm learning a new language or a complex subject, such as microeconomics. I know that for me it's hard to accommodate to all of this new content and language, but I'll give myself a few more chapters and I bet I won't be struggling as much. At least that's what happened when I took AP Macroeconomics last year. 

Don’t get me wrong; the content is very interesting and quite entertaining in my opinion. Heinrichs' didactic, yet whimsical tone makes the reading fully engaging. There's just so much going on at the same time that it sometimes seems like if he was talking too much. I mean, in just Chapters 10 through 12 we learn about: passive voice, backfiring, humor (and all of the different types of humor), "The Common Place", "The Advantageous", babbling, labeling, "The Rejection", stance, framing, redefining, term changing, and definition. That's quite a lot, I believe. 

 However, I do feel that Chapter 11 introduced the topics very thoroughly. It was my favorite chapter out of the three. I really liked the idea of "The Common Place" because it explains something that I have been trying to do whenever I give presentations to a big audience or simply in an argument. If I manage to point out a common viewpoint that the audience holds, then I can "use it as [my] argument's jumping-off point" (p. 142). This just made me realize that if I find that "Common Place" I'll sound more convincing. 

Tenet: (noun) One of the principles
on which a belief or theory is
based on.

 While reading, I also noticed some things that have already happened to me in the past. I talked about this in previous blog posts (how I've already experienced some of the things mentioned in the book), but I like to realize these things because to me they are just coincidences. I have never studied rhetoric before. That's why it's so interesting to me the fact that I have already employed techniques that are explained in the book. A clear example of this is when Heinrichs defines babbling. Babbling has been used in my life so many times, especially when I was a little girl. It happened whenever I argued, or actually fought, with my brother. Stubborn little kids do it all the time, and stubborn old people do too (I see it all the time with my grandfather). 

 Even though Thank You For Arguing has been and engaging and delightful opportunity for me to learn about rhetoric, I feel like Heinrichs "talks" to me very fast. I always need time to digest whatever I read, and with this book it's been hard due to all of the new concepts explained. I know that soon I won’t be complaining about this, and that I'll be able use all of the new techniques.