1 Webb Ashlynn Webb ENC 3331 Professor Wolcott April 11, 2014
Rhetorical Citizenship Writing can be done in various ways but not everyone knows this fact. After enrolling in writing and rhetoric, students quickly discovered different ways to write with various topics that were deliberated in this class. The discussion consisted of rhetoric, civil engagement and citizenship. These complex topics brought interesting conversations to the registered students and made everyone think twice about how these themes play out in our every day lives. They also brought attention to how rhetoric is undistinguishable and how they are used in writing today. All of these aspects are imperative for understanding writing and rhetoric. One of the works read in class was Sam Leith’s “Words Like Loaded Pistols.” Leith’s work contributed to the fact that rhetoric’s not something that’s noticed by people in their everyday lives. It turned out that rhetoric is very beneficial and interesting to students who have never heard of the subject. It’s used almost every day even though it goes unnoticed. President Obama is one individual that used rhetoric in his speeches while he was running for office. Another great historical figure is Shakespeare. He used a lot of rhetoric in the play called “Loves Labour’s Lost.” Another play that is well know is called “Pygmalion” but it more commonly know as “My Fair Lady”. Pygmalion uses rhetoric when they convers about social cases, dress, stance, gesture, vocal modulations and correct posture. In the early twentieth century, rhetoric helped classify a well-
2 educated man from lower class. Rhetoric also helped with speeches and helps to deliver something that might be false but you deem to think true. Which is why Leith had the phrase “the knave or the fool.”(Leith 27) There will always be someone who falls for the trickery of rhetoric and there will always be someone who knows how to use it. That’s just how the world works. An additional author, who talks about rhetoric in countless ways, is Catherine Helen Palczewski. Catherine mentions, in “Rhetoric in Civil Life,” how historical figures have used to influence the world since before World War II. Plato wrote speeches about how rhetoric is a “false art,” (Palczewski 11) and furthermore, a “dangerous form of manipulations.” (Palczewski 11) When drawing upon the definitions from Leith and Palczewski, rhetoric can be simply defined as words that can be fashioned into questions while influencing the whole world. It’s furthermore a form of persuasion used in the form of writing. According to the Oxford dictionary, rhetoric is “the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques.” For example, Wayne C. Booth understands rhetoric as “the whole range of arts not only of persuasion but also of producing or reducing misunderstanding” (Booth 10). Most people when they see the word Citizenship, they automatically think of it in terms of the place where you are born. Some students even think it’s a birthright to have citizenship. One major writer that the class focused on, for citizenship, was Amy J. Wan and her journal called “In the Name of citizenship.” Wan observed how Citizenship should be used, or taught, in both college and high school because “democracy can’t work unless citizens are both literate and informed.” (Wan, 31) Through out the world, certain individuals do not research in depth about who is running for a presidential
3 Webb election. Even in high school students do not care about who is running for their student government. When in fact, the elections can affect the students completely because the individuals who might be running presidential election, or student government, could wreck the name of our virtuous country or an institute. When the country is not informed it does not make it a true democracy. When individuals ask whom to vote for, whether from their family or friends, it gives someone the opportunity to have their vote counted twice. Democracy does not work in that way. It is suppose to give everyone a chance to become an informed citizen in their country and have the right to choose they see fit. By developing the definition on Citizenship, as Wan did, students can see how Citizenship isn’t about just living in their home country, or your native country, its about participating and acting upon the right given. Wan also expanded the definition by adding culture and how involved we are to the definition of Citizenship. Citizenship is not just about where you live, but being an active participant in political and social aspects of a community. For one individual, having access to particular resources enables the citizen to be informed and have a better understanding of how democracy truly works in the United States of America. That is what brings an overall definition of Citizenship to Wan and the rest of the world. Citizenship is not just a birthright because it can be taught and shaped by your everyday experiences. Citizenship is about the way you understand the world around you and it shows off your beliefs and desires. Wan supports this idea by saying, in the article mentioned above, “the United States has cultivated the idea that citizenship is not just a birthright, but an achievable status, which residually has resulted in a citizenship based on individual actions and behaviors.� (Wan 37)
4 When you place together rhetoric and citizenship you have something that can be taught, thought and shown in today’s writings. Both of these terms bring something that is new to the table of literature. They show people various ways to influence their readers and encourage the audience to take action in their communities. Rhetoric and citizenship are so different yet so close together and Wan shows the perfect example of how that is done. Presidential elections are where mostly anyone can find Rhetoric in their everyday lives. Candidates use it to influence their audience and at the same time get their audience involved in their communities by showing their support. A definition written by Gerard A. Hauser supports the idea that rhetoric can encourage social action. Hauser’s definition is “rhetoric, the, is concerned with the use of symbols to induce social action.” (Hauser 3) This definition demonstrates how rhetoric and citizenship is closely related in the world today. When I started this class I really didn’t have any notion of what exactly to imagine but as the course got underway I found it captivating and constructive to my potential job in Public Relations. A couple of weeks into the class, we started talking about Citizenship and our experiences with it. When I truthfully thought about the question, I realized I genuinely had no prior experience or activity that benefited my community. When the class began to look for definitions of civil engagement, we looked at readings about the subject and discussed with fellow students. Subsequently, the students came up with our own individual classifications of what it intended. My personal explanation of civil engagement is the actions we can take to better our own community in the present and future. A characterization of rhetorical citizenship can be deducted after forming a definition of civil engagement and what it entitles. When I deliberated about
5 Webb rhetorical citizenship I came to the deduction that civil engagement is integrated into the definition. Both of these terms have a way to influence an audience by persuading them to take action in ones own individual community. Whether that includes improving the public or just helping out in the local schools. For instance, when I was in elementary school my mom came up to the school to come help out at social events, such as field day, or assistance in the classrooms when it was needed. My mother was additionally part of the PTA or the Parent Teacher Association at my school. The PTA is a national organization that helps raise money for student activities and their main goal is to involve parents in their local schools. This organization is a great illustration of what civil engagement truly is. My definition is enhanced by this example because rhetorical citizenship is truly about ways to influence and better your local community. Being a citizen is not all about the place you are born or what country you reside with, it is about showing you care about everything going on in that country. In the United States you will discover people have taken their citizenship for granted and disregard what everyone, in the past and present, has done to get every citizen rights. This can be anything from voting rights to freedom of speech and people have fought for these rights since the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. One example, which we did as a class, is something we called Knights the Trip Fantastic and it is a project we did to support another project called TrIP. TrIP is an anagram for Transit Interpretation Project. This group or organization works to help bring attention to problems in the transportation system here in Orlando. Some individuals rode the local Lynx busses or the University Central of Florida’s shuttles they provide for students. I personally decided to ride the UCF shuttles because I am an everyday rider, and I find and know problems with
6 the busses. My goal in writing about my experience was to help bring attention to the new off campus bus problems. Such as, traffic, the lack of a time schedule or the fact that they only have one bus coming and going for their students. In my opinion, the TrIP project shows there are many ways to improve your community and how being a true citizen of this country matters. This past semester we explored various topics involving writing and rhetoric. Leith, Wan, Hauser, and Booth are some of the authors we studied who provided their individual definitions of rhetorical citizenship. From these authors, I was able to form my own definition of rhetoric, citizenship and civil engagement allowing me to recognize these terms in my day-to-day life. Overall, the class has given me the experience and information that is necessary for a future career. Writing has been and always will be something that is needed and encouraged throughout the world.
7 Webb Works Cited: Gerard A. Hauser, Introduction to Rhetorical Theory. 2nd ed. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland, 2002. 3. Leith, Sam. Words Like Loaded Pistols: Rhetoric From Aristotle to Obama. New York: Basic Books, 2012. Print. "Rhetoric". Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press, n.d. Web. 06 April 2014. <http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/rhetoric> Wan, Amy J., In the Name of Citizenship: The Writing Classroom and the Promise of Citizenship, 2011-Sep, Journal. Wayne C. Booth, The Rhetoric of Rhetoric: The Quest for Effective Communication. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2004. 10-11.