Silva Rhetoricae: The Forest of Rhetoric

The Forest of Rhetoric is a valuable tool for getting to know the sometimes overwhelming and complicated parts of rhetoric. Since most rhetorical concepts have a Latin origin and name, the website recognizes the innate trepidation an audience might have with getting to know the various parts of rhetoric and creates a simple navigation pane for this knowledge share.

There is a gentle explanation of navigating the various parts of the rhetorical forest, but encourages the reader to “enjoy the simple beauty of a birch tree without knowing it is Betula alba and make use of the shade of a weeping willow without knowing it is in fact Salix babylonica.” The tree-like navigation will take a part of rhetoric (like persuasive appeal) and break it out into its various deployments (logos, pathos, ethos). “Branches of Oratory” is a tree of its own, braches including judicial, deliberative and epideictic oratory. With this simple introduction it was easy to find out that judicial oratory is “forensic” and limited to the speech you might use in a court of law. Deliberative oratory is traditionally the kind of speech one might give to weigh the good and the bad of a situation, like debating a bill in front of the legislature. Epideictic speech is reserved for performance – roasting your friend at the Lion’s Club on Friday night or pounding the bully pulpit for your most passionate cause.

The site also contains an alphabetical glossary of rhetoric-related terminology that I would probably never stumble upon because of its Latin origin. For instance, I quickly learned that brachylogia is “an absence of conjunctions between single words… [resulting in] the effect of a broken, hurried delivery” and that this is a major violation of the canons of rhetoric. “Delivery” – not what is said, but how it is said. Other fun elements of delivery include “tasis… the pronunciation of a word or phrase because of its pleasant sound” (I am thinking Al Gore, 2000 election, “lockbox” speech). The Forest of Rhetoric is a great all around learning resource for exploring a little more than is required about the powerful qualities of rhetoric.

Works Cited

Burton, Gideon O.. Silva Rhetoricae. Brigham Young University.26 Feb 2007. Web. Accessed 4              July 2011. <rhetoric.byu.edu>.

Kairos for All

In this month’s New York Times Magazine, conservative columnist Bill Keller opines that there is no better time than now for the GOP to engage in tacking “the problem of gay marriage”. Like a lot of conservatives, Bill Keller believes marriage as an institution is sort of outdated and miscreated in the first place. He feels that marriage is a sacrament that should be created in the church, not a courtroom… instead of marriage he prefers a sort of “civil union for all” which would contract the benefits of a traditional marriage, but strip the religious sanctimony from the state status.

Keller says the 2012 Presidential election won’t hinge on gay marriage, so why spend an entire New York Times Magazine full color bleed op-ed bit on it in the middle of an all out-election cycle? Because Keller believes it could play a major role.

“Thinking kairotically is to be attuned to the total context of a situation in order to act the right way at the right moment,” according to our text Writing Arguments (Ramage, 118). He points out the trend of states creating “more egalitarian marriage laws” is moving full steam ahead and voter statistics are leading the way. To stay timely, Republicans should get on board. He cites that only 28% of GOP voters accept same sex marriage – while more than 70% of 18-34 year olds surveyed in the latest Gallup poll are in favor.

Keller is quick to admit that his solution is in effect akin to “closing a public school to avoid integration” - but he doesn’t see it that way and quickly escaping the moral reservations of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. He calls civil unions for all “classically conservative” in a small government way, and warns conservatives that if they don’t recognize that now is the right time for change they risk being “on the wrong side of history.” That’s a kind of lost timeliness 18-34 year olds will not forgive at the voting booth.

Works Cited

Ramage, John D., et al. Writing Arguments: Rhetoric with Readings. New York. Pearson, 2010. Print.

Keller, Bill. A Decent Proposal: In which I solve the G.O.P.’s gay-marriage problem.” New          York Times Magazine. New York. 2 July 2011. Print.