Not Mere Rhetoric: So Many Talismans and Gems

Rhetoric and its study is never “mere,” nor is it the empty entity that people seem to imply when they say, “That’s just rhetoric.” Quoting from Harriet Beecher Stowe and using her words in a new rhetorical context, words, well-chosen, well-placed, fit for the occasion, are indeed “so many talismans and gems” just waiting for us to use in our communication.

An ancient Grecian wall inscription warns that “he who does not study rhetoric can be the victim of it.” And so we study it.

And we learn how to use it well and ethically. Grimaldi (1980) writes that “rhetoric prevents us from making wrong judgments, and in doing so it protects truth and justice.”

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Pictured above by Federico Scarionati on Unsplash: Fori Imperiali, Rome, Metropolitan City of Rome, Italy