The Art of Persuasion
Posted by felixgrobler on April 16, 2008
Felix J Grobler
Ariana Paliobagis
English 121
Response 6
16th of April 2008
The texts of Achebe, Han Fei Tzu and Cicero all talk about the power of language and how it can be used. The use of rhetoric and language in general coincidentally shows our intelligence as humans in general.
Language plays a pivotal role in society, without which our society would be unable to function. Achebe illustrated this point very well in his piece Language and the Destiny of Man. In order for two people to be able to interact properly with each other there needs to be communication present. Not all, but most communication between humans is based on language, may it be written or spoken. Body language and other factors come into play as well, but language makes up the single most important part of communication.
Both Cicero and Han Fei Tzu describe how an argument should be constructed. They describe the principles and rules of composition of arguments in general. I see rhetoric being more of an art form than a science in general. Even though there are many general systems of organizing arguments, there are some people that just have the innate ability to be persuasive. In order to be able to bring forth a well rounded argument it is important to connect with the audience. Making an appeal to the audience’s ethos allows for them to relate to the arguments of the speaker. Naturally politicians need to be very adapt at using rhetoric to persuade people. Cicero shows his skills of persuasion in the Rhetorical Invention. When experiencing a speaker, for example a professor, it often is obvious from the start whether the person is an accomplished public speaker. An accomplished public speaker must be able to bring across their ideas in a concise manner. Politicians need to be well versed in the tools of persuasion in addition to being a good public speaker. In general, how well a person uses language shows from the start. Being able to use rhetoric to bring across your ideas in a coherent and structured manner proves how educated you are in the use of language. Communication skills, writing and oral, are an important part of everybody’s education, they make up one of the most important sections. Without language we would lack a medium to interact with, which would prove detrimental to the workings of society.
