Rhetoric in the Electronic Age
Analyze the (potential) future of rhetoric in our electronic age. Look at major theorists and movements, and how they have expanded our current understanding of rhetoric. You might take a closer look at concepts such as deconstruction or the rhetoric of display insofar as they influence our post-modern discourse and political process. You might note how rhetoric has substantially changed from the classical age, and incorporate a discussion of Cicero’s model as it has been adapted to digital methods of delivery.
For further understanding of contemporary rhetorical theory, and to help prepare for the final paper, you might review the supplemental reading assignments and speeches, to include the following:
Digital Rhetoric: Toward an Integrated Theory (Links to an external site.) Zappen, J. P. (2005) from the Technical Communication Quarterly (Hunt Library)
Recovering Delivery for Digital Rhetoric and Human-Computer Interaction (Links to an external site.) Porter, J.E. (2008) from Science Direct (Hunt Library)
Digital rhetoric: Theory, method, practice, (Links to an external site.) (Ch. 2). Eyeman, D. (2015) from ProQuest through the Hunt Library
The fate of rhetoric in an electronic age. (Links to an external site.) Enculturation, 1(1). Brooke, C. G. (1997, Spring).
ANSWER
Rhetoric in the electronic Age
Introduction
Rhetoric has been considered as the art of utilizing language persuasively and effectively. This is a study of pathos, ethos, and logos which is an art of writing and speaking effectively. According to Aristotle this is the art of writing and speaking effectively and finding the available means of persuasion. Rhetoric relies on written, visual, and spoken language (De Romilly, 2013). This investigates how language is utilized to structure and maintain identities and meanings as well as social groups, produce change, and coordinate behavior thus creating knowledge. This paper will focus on rhetoric in the electronic age. The paper will look at key thinkers and how they have stretched the development of rhetoric. The paper will also look at how rhetoric has changed in the electronic age from the rhetoric age as well as the different socio-political factors that have influenced rhetoric in the digital age.
Rhetoric in the Electronic Age
In Ancient times, rhetoric had generated several great people, both male, and female who focused on the development of the discipline of communication and rhetoric in general (De Romilly, 2013). The founders of rhetoric in ancient Greece consisted of Socrates, Plato, Aspasia, Aristotle, and Cicero who greatly contributed to the understanding of rhetoric. Aspasia of Mellitus was one of the highly considered women in ancient Greece that played a great role in classical rhetoric (Porter, 2009). Plato was another significant author that contributed significantly to the understanding of rhetoric. Aristotle was Plato’s student that disagreed with the teacher and believed that rhetoric is an effective approach to establishment of the society. Aristotle argued that rhetoric can visualize in every form of persuasion available (Binkley, 2012). Aristotle’s definition was essential since he acknowledged the role that was played by the context and audience where a particular situation with a particular audience may lead the speaker to generate an idea in a specific way that might be different from what was held by another audience. Cicero, on the other hand, explained that there exist five canons of rhetoric which include arrangement, invention, memory, delivery, and style (De Romilly, 2013). These have been used in structuring arguments, persuasions as well as developing effective messages.
However, rhetoric has changed due to technological changes that have to affect the scopes of rhetoric. The rapid changes that have occurred in the electronic change have greatly influenced the conventional understanding of literacy (Eyman, 2015). Ideally, electronic text forms such as hypertext, email, and network exchanges have changed the intellectual perceptions and created tension between the static printed forms that have been influenced by the computer age.
Teaching the structure of persuasion is changing innovatively in human communication due to mass media devices. Millions of people are using electronic devices that are portable and can easily communicate with one another. Whether Facebook, Twitter, video messaging, and Instagram have played a role in rapidly changing technology. Therefore, due to the changes in technology, there has been a need to change the way teachings and instructions are being delivered in the world. Considerably, educators have now focused on integrated the new digital media era into their teachings and instructions.
The evolution of rhetoric
Traditionally, people expressed rhetoric through public forms such as debates, speeches, and lectures (Binkley, 2012). However, in the electronic age, they have vastly changed the way people communicate. This is because communication in the present day has taken place through the means of face to face. Classical rhetoric was born in Athens. During that period, it was relied on in politics to bring people together and stand in the assembly to persuade all the country men to vote in a specific part of the legislature (Porter, 2008). Considerably, the achievement of an individual to convince another person highly relied on their rhetoric ability. During this period, schools educated students about rhetoric with the primary instructors being sophists. Later Aristotle relied on rhetoric as a way of searching for essential ways to influence individuals. He also argued that rhetoric offered an individual with weapons that were effective in disapproving agitators as well as those who utilized rhetoric for the wrong purpose.
Rejuvenation of rhetoric has been experienced in the electronic age through the development of enlightenment (Binkley, 2012). Rhetoric was used to spread liberty and freedom in the electronic age where it shifted its discourse from political and religious revolutionaries. In the last two centuries, universities in Europe and the United States have been devoted to teaching rhetoric (De Romilly, 2013). In the twentieth century, the use of mass media has evolved with most people using these devices as tools of persuasion. Digital rhetoric has drawn its methods and theory from traditional rhetoric (Porter, 2009). This s because all human acts of communication have engaged rhetorical practice. Digital rhetoric has been considered as the utilization of rhetoric in digital texts and performances.
In the technological age, rhetoric has emerged as a conditional approach to humanizing the influence of machines and enabling humans to direct them. Ideally, rhetoric focuses beyond interdisciplinary through connecting and summarizing diverse elements in the chase of practical application and theoretical questions (McCorkle, 2012). However, in the twentieth century, images, Tv’s, and films have become influential persuasion tools. Therefore, rhetoricians have now boosted their variety not only to include the mastery of written and spoken words but also to focus on visual arts.
Scholars in rhetoric in the digital age have begun to pay attention to the role of visual rhetoric for the writer in the digital environment. Visual rhetoric has been used for persuasion and meaning (Porter, 2009). Considerably, visual rhetoric is novel but its significance has been enlarged by the interactive and visual nature of native multimedia and hypertext writing. Multimedia technologies have greatly relied on visual rhetoric rather than writing. This has greatly changed the traditional rhetoric since the digital environments have relied on visual rhetoric and have made it difficult to separate visuals from words.
New forms of rhetoric
The electronic age has come with a new form of rhetoric that has greatly impacted how one understands or interprets a message. For instance, a student in the electronic age watches a history program but may fail to live by what these programs and plays highlight. However, according to Plato, there is no entity for rhetoric discipline which offers an opportunity for electronic technology.
The twentieth century has greatly relied on digital rhetoric which has been a way of persuading, informing, and inspiring actions through the use of digital media that is created, composed, and communicated through various digital media platforms (Binkley, 2012). Due to the digital nature of the current society, the traditional rhetoric which relied on debates and speeches has been overtaken by digital rhetoric which focuses on sending and receiving messages that have been using to impart knowledge (Eyman, 2015).
The 20th century was the utmost appropriate eras in the understanding of rhetoric evolution since the novel rhetoric has focused on the use of digital forms of argument and persuasions. Rhetoric began being utilized in methodological writing and business. For example, the styles and structures of writing memos, letters, and other methods of communication in the digital age still followed the rhetoric principles (Porter, 2009). Politicians also used rhetoric in persuading individuals to vote while courts also utilized the rhetoric principles while arguing about innocence and guiltiness of victims.
However, modern rhetoric has limitations that are linked to sociology and philosophy. This is because rhetoric is not about writing a good essay but also understanding how one can communicate effectively to the audience and influence the conscience of the audience. For instance, during the enlightenment, Martin Luther King persuaded the citizens to the unit in the civil war movement rights (Binkley, 2012). The use of science and logic has been one of the most challenging ways of persuading people. Therefore, the use of rhetoric is essential in enabling an individual to offer both sides of an argument which enables one to speak out their ideas and arguments.
The electronic age has had a great impact on society. This is because as people interconnect they give way to the growth of electronic communities. The electronic age has led to changes that have been essential and non-essential. For instance, the electronic age has given a chance to examine the current technologies and evaluate the future composition of rhetoric (Boyle, Brown, and Ceraso, 2018). The internet has offered essential information to different departments that have gained quick access to contexts and editions.
Cicero Model in Digital Delivery
The arrangement and structure of rhetoric documents will be impacted by electronic media since in traditional documents it was easier to differentiate the order in which the paper is structured such as introduction, main body, and conclusion (Binkley, 2012). In electronic media, it is challenging to tell the structure of the paper. This is because the suitable arrangement and structure of the paper in the electronic age will greatly rest on on the inventiveness of the author. The imminent rhetoric will similarly be influenced by the style of digital media as compared to the traditional rhetoric. According to Gorgias, the influence of dialectal is altering the order and meaning (Porter, 2008). In the traditional rhetoric, they were limited to black and white colors. However, in the electronic age, there exist new forms of expression with colors and images on the sites which have offered authors the power to appeal to audiences. Memory is among the five canons of rhetoric according to Cicero. This requires individuals to have the ability to recall issues and events. The Greeks and Romans in the ancient time developed memory systems that allowed to delivery of speeches without any form of writing (Binkley, 2012). This has great changes in the digital age since memory that is required is only remembering where one can access or browse the content on the internet. Delivery was important in the traditional rhetoric but in the digital age, browsers have been developed to look at documents that have been posted. The browsers have supported varying features that have enabled effective delivery of messages that have been written and presented as documents and presentations on the browsers.
Conclusion
In summation, the definition of rhetoric in the electronic age cannot be limited to receiving and sending messages to impart knowledge and persuade. This has represented the ancient view of rhetoric. However, in the electronic age, rhetoric consists of different forms of discourse that have served any particular purpose in distinct contexts while being shaped by the contexts. Mobile applications, social media, and online communities have created platforms for digital rhetoric. Scholars have also supported the inclusion of digital rhetoric in the curriculum to offer a more practical understanding of digital rhetoric such as fundamentals, procedures, rules, and design conventions in web writing.
References
Binkley, C. S. L. R. A. (2012). Rhetoric before and beyond the Greeks. SUNY Press.
Boyle, C., Brown Jr, J. J., & Ceraso, S. (2018). The digital: Rhetoric behind and beyond the screen. Rhetoric Society Quarterly, 48(3), 251-259.
De Romilly, J. (2013). Magic and rhetoric in ancient Greece. Harvard University Press.
Eyman, D. (2015). Digital rhetoric: Theory, method, practice (p. 177). University of Michigan Press.
McCorkle, B. (2012). Rhetorical delivery as technological discourse: A cross-historical study. SIU Press.
Porter, J. E. (2008). Recovering delivery for digital rhetoric and human-computer interaction. Genre, 27, 1-28.
Porter, J. E. (2009). Recovering delivery for digital rhetoric. Computers and Composition, 26(4), 207-224.
