Lets talk about interactions: rhetoric and the places. (P-106)
Rhetoric, rhetoric, RHETORIC! This word! Its prevalence throughout all of reading has been beyond obvious. (Way to drive the concept home Robert.) Seeing concepts of rhetoric resurface once again in Walter Ong’s Orality and Literacy is not surprising given the context. If rhetoric is the art of speaking, a “method of persuasion” – diplomatically, the way in which we verbally B/S, then I understand why C.S Lewis saw it as “the greatest barrier between us and our ancestors.” What are we if not a world of people simply “trying to get our point across?” The barrier being the we understand. It’s not hard to see that as time goes on we both progress and regress, both mentally and emotionally. In some aspects we have advanced in our means of communication, and in other ways we have lost our art of speech. The barrier I believe Lewis is speaking of is that of the lodge between the ages—point A to point Z. God help us if a middle ground is not found. Understanding the emotion captured in a moment and being able to take that emotion throughout the ages, all encompassed in rhetoric, the ART OF SPEAKING. It’s really important, I can see why but I’m having a difficult time being able to verbalize the importance. All these big gun names (by Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, etc) emphasizing the significance of rhetoric. I think the concept is too vast to summarize, and it’s meaning to infinite to attempt to nail in a summarization. Basically, rhetoric is mega important, practice rour B/S tactics and you will rule the world!
