Understanding rhetoric in an author’s writing is integral to reading. As a reader, understanding possible biases is key to reading rhetorically. Authors will almost always use some sort of persuasion or coaxing to help you better understand something in their writing and/or to convince you of something. Understanding this helps you understand what you are reading and what the author is trying to get you to understand or to think.
In argumentative writing authors will often quote or cite things to prove their point, however, because of the nature of argumentative writing they may be biased or quoting someone or something that is biased. When reading a persuasive essay someone quoting John F. Kennedy could be incredibly effective, but as a reader using rhetoric it is clear that quoting a partisan politician is not going to be convincing to everyone. In the same way, when writing a piece of fiction a talented writer will control the emotions of the audience. To understand how they do this as a reader you need to understand rhetoric.
Talented writers may leave little up to imagination if they are trying to persuade a reader. For example, when reading a book like Of Mice and Men the author, John Steinbeck, makes Lennie, one of the main protagonists, so universally sympathetic that there is no confusion on how to feel about his character. He also makes one of the main antagonists, Curly, so deplorable that there is no confusion on his role in the story. Steinbeck and other writers use rhetoric in ways like this so that the audience will almost certainly understand and be convinced of whatever the writer wants to make them feel. As a reader, understanding rhetorical language is important for this very reason. While many times readers are reading inconsequential material for class or for fun, but when you are reading something that is important like an article meant to persuade you on a political topic, realizing an author’s rhetorical tactics becomes much more important.
Leave a Reply