Thursday, September 4, 2008

Week 2 - Blog # 1

The Rhetorical Tradition was very interesting to me in Chapter 4. The author defines rhetoric as a form of artful public communication for persuasion. Some of the great leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., and JFK used persuasion when they addressed the public. They would focus on certain points, organize the speech a certain way, their use of language and delivery was used tools to connect with people.

I have been following both the Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention. I have noticed that Senator Obama is a great public speaker and uses rhetoric in his speeches as well. Last night I saw the VP candidate for the Republican National Convention, Governor Palin, give a speech accepting her nomination to the party. To be honest, I had no idea who she was and why she was even picked. However, to my surprise, she turned out be a great speaker and used a lot of rhetoric to convince people like myself why she would a good candidate for the VP ticket in the Republican party. She even had some humor in her speech.

It should be an interesting election and I am looking forward to the debates. Hopefully, one day I can be as an effective speaker like them.

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