Rhetoric: The Power of Persuasion 1

Rhetoric: The Power of Persuasion

Stephanie Mesa

Lissette Soza

Lynn Edouard

Alex Quintero

Sara Ferrales

Tori Glynn

Marcela Lopez

Rodrigo Sorian

Andrea Toledano Mizrachi

Valorie Weldon

ENC3371

Professor Dickson

Florida International University

Rhetoric: The Power of Persuasion 2

Plato defined rhetoric as the art of ruling the minds of men. (Plato, n.d.) In todays

culture just the mention of the word rhetoric alone creates divergent response due to the often

negative connotation the word rhetoric carries. The definition of rhetoric has morphed since

philosophers first became conscious of its existence. In ancient society, rhetoric was vital to the

progression of humanity and perceived as fundamental for effective communication. Whereas

today, rhetoric is mainly seen as a tool for manipulation, utilized by individuals with narrow

goals and insincere messages to deceive or coerce the masses. It seems that modern politicians

utilize this philosophy constantly in their line of work. Nevertheless, this is just one form of

rhetoric. Aside from politicians, the average person uses rhetoric in their everyday lives.

Rhetoric is simply the art of creating persuasive language in order to gain something in return.

When people think of the word rhetoric, they often associate it with politics. Rhetoric

often gets a bad reputation because politicians using rhetoric are often deceptive to attain their

goals. Manipulation and rhetoric go hand in hand, in positive and negative ways. Nevertheless,

manipulation can be used for wrongdoing. Adolf Hitler, one of historys most foul leaders, made

the statement, The broad masses of a population are more amenable to the appeal of rhetoric

than to any other force (Adolf Hitler, n.a.). Propaganda has been used in both world wars as a

tool for persuading. Propaganda is usually used to show others that your side of the story is the

right one. During this period, propaganda was used to try and get society to choose whose side

they were on during the war. For example, during the Holocaust, Hitler used propaganda and his

speaking skills to convince his followers that the Jewish community was a community to turn

against. Unfortunately, he was able to persuade enough people of this that over 6 million Jewish
Rhetoric: The Power of Persuasion 3

people were killed. The advertisements that Hitler used were biased and misleading. This helped

him convince communities in Germany that the Jewish people were greedy and deceitful.

This is not the only time leaders have used rhetoric to commit nefarious acts.

Interestingly, not always are political leaders solely using rhetoric. There are people who purely

use rhetoric to commit their crimes. One of many examples is the infamous Jonestown Murders

where Jim Jones, a cult leader, assisted in the death of approximately 1,000 of his followers.

However, most of these deaths were suicide. But how could someone convince this many people

to take their own lives? Researchers continue to analyze how Jim Jones convinced this many

people to take their own lives, along with their childrens. What most researchers have come to

understand about this tragedy was that Jim Jones was naturally a great rhetor. The last speech

given before the mass suicide employed a strong ethical appeal. Jones called himself a prophet

and uses religious dogma to convince his audience.. By saying these things to a vulnerable group

of people, Jones establishes credibility. Jones tells his followers that without him, they are

nothing, striking fear and stirring emotion and . Even individuals who wanted to escape his

clutch were poisoned along with the rest of the followers.

Politicians very frequently find themselves using rhetoric in order to benefit from

whichever situation they are in. Whether its lobbyists trying to sway votes or politicians who

find themselves wanting to succeed in their position,more often than not they find themselves

becoming corrupted in their attempts to make a difference. Within politics, a major part of

swaying votes one way or the other is through lobbying. Lobbyist have to use rhetoric in order

for others to understand the power of their words and the power of clear communication. It

doesnt always have to be used in an evil manipulative way, designed merely to make your own

ends meet, regardless of who it hurts. Finding information and statistics is, of course, a crucial
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part of lobbying, but in this particular case, it is even more crucial that personal stories are used

as a means of pathos. Personal stories have a strong impact on politics. Politicians become

motivated by personal stories, as well as by the facts and statistics of a certain issue, and use their

power to fight this. However, with every issue, there are two sides either against it or for it. Both

have to be on the same page, though it is quite obvious when somebody does not even want to

meet in the middle. If a politician, for instance, is set on his ways, many attempts to meet in the

middle might seem futile, but both kairos and stasis should play a role in this. By being efficient

at employing rhetorical concepts, capturing the most stubborn persons attention becomes much

more feasible.

Much like any successful politician does, individuals should be able to identify when

rhetoric is being used deceptively in an attempt to coerce you. As someone living in America, it

is easy to think of political corruption as something that only occurs in Third World countries.

But while it may not be as rampant here, it definitely still is present on a smaller scale. Therefore,

this type of thinking is flawed because it leaves people vulnerable to politicians who would use

any means necessary to get into their heads and further their own agendas. In an effort to avoid

this, it should become a habit to always fact check information. According to Transparency

International, which measures the levels of corruption found in the public sector of nations all

across the world, the United States comes in as the 18th least corrupt government of 2016. Not

particularly impressive, but definitely not terrible when you consider that 176 countries were

ranked. Also worth taking into account is the score that accounts for where each nation was

placed. Out of 100, with 0 being totally corrupt and 100 being totally honest, the US received a

mediocre score of 74. (Transparency International, 2017) The point is, no matter where you live,

you shouldnt take everything you hear at face value, because if you wait for severe conditions to
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start questioning the rhetoric being perpetuated by politicians or in the media, it might be too late

to change the trend.

An example of this that was recently making media rounds is Donald Trumps comments

regarding the presence of Syrians taking refuge in Sweden. In a rally held in Florida shortly after

his inauguration, President Donald Trump stated Whats happening last night in Sweden. Who

could believe this? in reference to Swedens immigration policy and the number of Syrians

being allowed to enter the country. President Trump has repeatedly made it known that he is

against more refugees being allowed into the United States, and even claimed in his campaign

plans to deport those already in the country. Trumps comments were met with confusion by the

Swedish embassy in the US, and a request for him to explain what he was talking about. His

rebuttal was a tweet in which he claimed that he was referring to a story featured on FOX News.

CNN reports that this story in no way makes mention of any event occurring in Sweden the night

before the rally, nor was it indicative of rising crime rates in Sweden as a result of Syrian

refugees. But ask yourself - of the thousands of people who showed up at that rally to support

Trump, how many of them ended up hearing of the Swedish embassys rebuttal or CNNs report?

Its safe to assume that many of them never did. This is why its crucial to analyze the rhetoric

heard in your day-to-day life, because if youre not careful, misinformation could make its way

into the publics minds and influence the way a large amount of people think.

When we look at instances like this, it can be at times difficult to move the other person

agree with what youre saying - regardless of the facts. Imagine a conversation you had with

someone with opposing views or beliefs as you. More than likely, when coming across in a

touchy conversation or discussion topic, you, as a rhetor, will begin to make your opinion heard.

However, should they find a way to counteract your statements with a rebuttal, it is your chance
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as a rhetor to shift your use of language in order to persuade them into understanding, or even

believing, your point of view as theirs.

There are many extreme situations in which this use of rhetoric within language is used,

as well as a much softer version. Ultimately, the goal is always the same - to persuade, or at

times manipulate, the other in order to get them to believe what you want them to believe. As

mentioned earlier, Trump did just that during his rally in Florida when he was talking about

immigrants. However, if someone who was at the rally were to speak to someone who heard

what was said, along with read the news report coming from CNN, it would be difficult to reach

that point of stasis.

In a much more extreme situation, we see this play out among dictators. Dictators like

Hitler and Kim Jong Un use manipulation and persuasion in order to shift their language in order

to appeal to the mass public. Take a look at ISIS for an even more extreme situation of how

people use rhetoric within their speech in order to manipulate the masses. Not only do they use

language, they also use their beliefs and religion as a way to persuade others to join them to

ultimately get what they want. Whichever way language is used to manipulate or persuade

others, it all comes down to knowing who your audience is. If you look closely at people in

power and wonder how they got to where they are, it is because these oppressors used rhetoric to

their advantage. By doing so, they took into consideration the vulnerabilities and the

commonplace of their audience by appealing to their religion and their beliefs. Dictators such as

Hitler used his well-spoken and charming attitude in order to persuade others to follow him, the

Islamic State take advantage of the vulnerabilities of the people and the use of religion in order

to make others believe that what theyre doing is not for them, but for Allah. As unfortunate as

these extreme circumstances are, they are apart of our everyday lives through recent outcomes
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and throughout our history. Which can begin to allow us to question, would awareness of rhetoric

impact the outcomes of these extreme situations? It might. The awareness of rhetoric allows

people to question and doubt the overall implications of certain situations, however, although

rhetoric is used as a way to persuade and manipulate, much more life-threatening factors come

into play when talking about people such as Hitler, Kim Jong Un, and the IS rebels.

Persuasion is not only used to gain something for selfish or evil reasons. Take for

example Lale Labuko, an Ethiopian humanitarian from the Kara tribe. In his village, they have a

tradition in which the elders kill children who are believed to be cursed (National Geographic,

n.a.). There are many ways a child can be deemed as cursed or Mingi (National Geographic,

n.a.). The most common way to determine a Mingi is to see if their top teeth come out before

their bottom teeth (National Geographic, n.a.) . It is the Kara tribes belief that Mingi children

will bring famine and therefore must be gotten rid of Luboko sought out the elders to try to

convince them to stop the practice (National Geographic, n.a.). It took three months, but the

elders finally agreed with him (National Geographic, n.a.). Through the use of rhetoric, Labuko

was able to persuade his elders to do something for selfless reasons.

When focusing on the use of rhetoric, it is also important to change the negative

connotation associated with rhetoric. Many people ignore the fact that rhetoric is used everyday

by people with benevolent intentions. You can see rhetoric being used in a positive way through

nonprofit organizations such as: American Red Cross, Human Rights Campaign, and St. Jude

Childrens Research Hospital. Nonprofit organizations such as these are established to help

resolve or bring awareness to an issue in the world or society that would otherwise be overlooked

by people or local governments. Nonprofit organizations use rhetoric through their actions in

communities around the world and advertisements. These actions and advertisements result in
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donations which help fund their purpose or mission. Since nonprofits run on donations it is

important for them, when making advertisements, to take into account their audience in order to

effectively and successfully communicate their message.

For example, St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital is a nonprofit corporation that

focuses on the treatment and research of catastrophic pediatric diseases such as cancer that affect

children. Part of their mission statement is to never deny a child of treatment based on their race,

religion, or a familys ability to pay (About St. Jude). St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital

uses manipulation with postcards that are randomly sent to people in the mail asking for a

contribution to their research and treatment of children since they dont charge their patients

families. On these postcards they will generally show a picture of one of their patients, including

their name, and what illness they may be suffering from. At the end, they will ask the reader if

they can donate some amount of money to help with their fight and treatment of the illness. The

intention of the postcard is to develop a connection between the reader and the child on the card.

The image of the child appeals to pathos because it is an intent to spark compassion from the

reader. Rhetoric isnt just about manipulation through the words people say or the images on an

advertisement, but can include symbols.

Symbols or signs can also be used as physical facts, or real events that inevitably or

generally accompany some other state of affairs. Aristotle makes an argument that symbols or

signs are infallible and does really mean what a person can perceive or relate to the state of

affairs. One example of signs as rhetoric appears in criminal cases. A State Attorney can argue

that a defendants bloody clothing is a sign that they committed the murder beyond reasonable

doubt.The way you perceive signs and symbols plays a part of your daily life more than you

realize.
Rhetoric: The Power of Persuasion 9

Media also takes signs or symbols and also makes assumptions or stereotypes especially

in politics. In the political system rhetoric can include signs or symbols as a way of

communicating a connection or relationships to others. For example, Americans connect the

elephant as a symbol for the republican party, and also the conservative or traditional ideals the

party holds. Similarly, the donkey is a symbol representing the democratic party, and the liberal

ideals the party holds. Another example of rhetorical symbolism in politics happened during the

2008 Presidential Election. Controversy ignited because of the absence of then candidate Barack

Obamas flag pin. Some media outlets implied that the absence of the flag pin was a lack of

patriotism on Obamas part because the flag is a symbol of American pride.

While political leaders manipulate the public from time to time through the use of

language, companies do it all the time. People are exposed to advertisements every day and

although they may not notice, ads leave a subconscious imprint on our minds. There are

thousands of companies competing to sell the same product, and advertisers are mindful of that

fact, thats why they use certain terminologies into convincing us that their product is better or

THE best. The connotations that are attached to words spur emotions within us and retailers

often take advantage of this. Take for example, A LIMITED TIME OFFER, the word limited is

quite negative, but because it creates a sense of urgency consumers are now in need of the

product thats being offered. Fast-food companies such as KFC and Burger King use humorous

language to distract us from the fact that their food is unhealthy. For example, Burger King used

the slogan Friendship is strong, but the whopper is stronger in one of their ads to distract us

from the fact that the whopper is probably the unhealthiest option on their menu. The phrases

sugar free and fat free all lead us into thinking that they are healthy options when in actuality

the sugar free sugar is replaced with a sweetener and the fat free fat is replaced with sugar.
Rhetoric: The Power of Persuasion 10

You can see how the language used in advertisements can be misleading. This form of

advertising uses language to hide the negative information associated with their products and

chooses to focus only on marketing the positive aspects. Like it or not, companies manipulate

everyone; when youre in-between two products, your ultimate selection is the result of

manipulation brought upon you by the advertiser. By understanding how language is applied in

rhetorical advertising can help the average person become more conscious and educated

consumers.

In conclusion, rhetoric is essentially the power of persuasion. Rhetoric is an art form

that aids to effectively or ineffectively send persuasive messages to the receiver. Almost always,

rhetoric is used to gain something. Whether you are listening to a politician campaign, watching

a documentary, or simply shopping online, you are being bombarded with rhetoric. Rhetoric has

been used as a form of manipulation throughout history by ruthless leaders, communities, and

companies alike. Rhetoric persuades you into buying products or aligns you with the entitys

beliefs. By applying proper rhetorical skills, individuals have the power to sway public

perception and even manipulate the masses. Even so, rhetoric is not innately evil or coercive in

nature. Rhetoric at its best, can and should be, used for improving communication for the

progression of humanity.
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References

About St. Jude. (n.d.). Retrieved April 13, 2017 from

https://www.stjude.org/about-st-jude.html

Bradner, E. (2017, February 20). Trump's Sweden comment raises questions. Retrieved

from http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/19/politics/trump-rally-sweden/

Crowley, Sharon, and Debra Hawhee. Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students. 5th ed.,

Pearson, 2004.

National Geographic (producer). (2013, July 29). Lale Labuko: Rescuing Children of the

Omo| Nat Geo Live [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=gzsKBqa_3T8
Rhetoric: The Power of Persuasion 12

Plato. (n.d.). Plato Quotes. Retrieved April 13, 2017, from

https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/p/plato159589.html

"Revolutionary Suicide: A Rhetorical Examination of Jim Jones Death Tape."

Alternative Considerations of Jonestown Peoples Temple. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2017.

Transparency International. (2017, January 25). Corruption Perceptions Index 2016.

Retrieved from

http://www.transparency.org/news/feature/corruption_perceptions_index_2016

"11 Facts About the Holocaust." DoSomething.org | Volunteer for Social Change. N.p., n.d. Web.
13 Apr. 2017.
Adolf Hitler. (n.d.). Adolf Hitler Quotes. Retrieved April 13, 2017, from

https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/adolfhitle125155.html