Blog 9

Through this course, my conception of “public discourse” has somewhat grown as I have become more open and involved in the world around me.  In high school, I had not paid much attention to public speakers other than having the thought of “what a waste of time” or “what a great speech!”  As I started really paying attention to what people have been saying, I have found it very interesting in analyzing the rhetoric people use to make their point.  With this year being home to such an important election, there was a world of persuasion out there to look at and attempt to understand.  While I was never particularly strong at distinguishing rhetoric, examples of it all around me soon became painfully obvious.  Through my new-found knowledge of rhetoric, I was able to (at least I believe I was able to) cut through some of the fluff and make determinations for myself about the true meaning behind what was being said.  Looking back at some of these election speeches, there are key techniques that I would have taken away from both presidential hopefuls.  President Barack Obama was much more gifted at conveying emotion and using that to his advantage when he spoke.  Through his entire campaign, he was able to reconnect with his target voters without having to bring up his past time in office.  Mitt Romney, on the other hand, had used rhetoric to convey his ideas towards a more logical audience.  While these techniques were both radically different, they were both fairly effective at being able to persuade their target audiences of their beliefs and ideas.  As of right now, there is no one person in particular who I would like to emulate in respect to their rhetoric.  I am more of a cut and dry person and would prefer to just get to the point rather than adding all the fluff.  That is one of the many reasons I would never be a successful politician. 

Blog 9 -Ryan Kiefer. Spare. Reflection.

I believe I have done all the blogs adequately and on time. If, however, I have not, here is a supplemental entry.

My conception of Public discourse has changed in one major way, and that was in a political way. Through this class I learned two different areas in politics where rhetoric is very important. First, with the analysis of the presidential debates I opened my eyes to the methods people use when trying to get what they want. The use of eloquent language that covered the three main areas of rhetoric was very important, but I also learned that the speakers themselves, even if they didn’t write the speech, still had to deliver it in an effective way to incorporate half of Kairos. In the second writing assignment when I was writing about the hunting of wolves I learned how to write the type of paper that the presidential candidates were presenting.

Over all my change has been very little, but only because I had a class just like this my junior year in High School, AP Junior Literature. We even had the same text book. It was very good to have a review, though, and I feel now that what I learned will stay with me so that I will actually be able to use it.

I really did enjoy the speech that Mitt Romney gave, mostly because of his Kairos. If I could create his kairos and sentiment, but back everything up with the logos of Obama, I think that would be the ideal rhetorician to emulate.