January 04, 2007

Rhetoric

1. the art or study of using language effectively and persuasively.

2. Language that is elaborate, pretentious, insincere, or intellectually vacuous.

Posted by sdelagrange at January 4, 2007 09:17 AM
Comments

What's up with the Noise Ordinance in the top left of the front page?

Posted by: Nic McGregor at January 4, 2007 11:23 AM

Good question! I have to admit, I cut this out years ago because I thought it was amusing. But in the context of our study of rhetoric, it suggests several lines of inquiry.
How are ordinances such as this devised if not through rhetorical means? What lines of argument might have informed the pros and cons of the debate? What are the values that we can perceive behind the words "unhealthy noise" and "continuous minutes"?

Posted by: Susan Delagrange at January 7, 2007 02:12 PM

I would have to say that the silence warning instantly makes me think of the health factor. I have to say that the noise may be unhealthy becuase of the fact that it keeps people awake. Minutes definitley show an example of a symbolic Rhetorical situation. It is becuase of our society that we percieve the minute to be an amount of time. We all agree that this amount of time can be measured and that it is what we have measured it to be. We hold this measurment as a standard, making time or minutes symbolic in nature.

Posted by: Joe McGregor at January 9, 2007 01:40 AM