Exam 1 Flashcards
(44 cards)
Rhetoric
The study of all the processes by which people influence each other through symbols, regardless of the intention of the source
Rhetorical Criticism
the scholarly work of describing, analyzing, and evaluative rhetorical acts to understand how and for whom they work
The 7 “P”’s of Rhetoric
public, propositional, purposive, problem-solving, pragmatic, poetic, powerful
Rhetorc
attempts to influence or persuade an audience through reason-giving that appeals to the social and cultural context of their audience
Rhetorician
those who study rhetoric; interested in understanding the persuasive effects of messages, regardless of intent
Rhetoric as Symbolic Action
symbols attach meaning to things or events; symbols have power and are grounded in ideas
Functions of Symbolic Action
to create identification, constitute identity, & construct social reality
Identification
a communicative process through which people are unified into a whole on the basis of common interests or characteristics
- doesn’t automatically exist; created through symbolic action
Construct Social Reality
reality as understood through the symbols humans use to represent it
- people create this by naming objects, actions, concepts, and each other
Constitutive Rhetoric
the art of constituting character, community, and culture in language
Symbols
an arbitrary representation of something else: a word, an image, or an artificat that represents a thing, thought, or action
- can be verbal, visual, or multisensory
Symbolic Action
expressive human action, the rhetorical mobilization of symbols to act in and affect the world
-EX: silent marches
Visual Symbols
symbols such as pictures, images, objects, artifacts, and embodied actions
- EX: photographs
Verbal Symbols
symbols found in language (spoken or written)
- EX: dog = animal in the canine family
Social Construction of Reality
- Rhetoric “constructs social reality” through the creation of symbolic action – It is made and not given
- We negotiatre/construct the meaning of reality
Civic Engagement
People’s participation in individual or collective action to construct identity and develop solutions to social, economic, and political challenges in their communities, states, nations, and world
Stranger Relationality
A willingness to communication with others to develop “collective self-understanding that acknowledges mutual interdependence with strangers” and in ways that focus on the public good instead of simply seeing one’s self as “seeking to maximize individual power” through purchasing and economic decisions
Political Friendship
A set of habits people use in civic spaces to interact and make decisions with people who might be strangers or who have different identities, interests, or needs
Rhetorical Agency
The capacity to act, that i, to have the competence to speak or write [for engage in any form o symbolic action] in a way that will be recognized or heeded by others in one’s community
Posthumanist Theory of Agency
A theory that “rejects the human agent as the primary source of change redeems that agent as a participant in the larger network of which they are a part”
McLuhan-Medium is the Message
-Medium itself shaped and controlled “the scale and form of human association and action”
-Medium, this extension of our body or sense or mind, is anything from which a change emerges
What metaphor does Postman use for America?
Las Vegas
Central argument of Postman’s essay
- Television as a medium erodes our capacities for educational and civic discourse
- The bias of television is to create content that narcotizes the audiences, numbs us into passive spectators, and discourages us from thinking critically
Postman: World of Cameras is a World of Camera Appeal
- “Cosemtics has replaced ideology as the field of expertise over which a politician must have competent control”
- “Those without camera appeal are excluded from addressing the public”
– Camera-savviness is more important than political expertise - “Goods are subordinate to the artifice of the display”
