Alayna Wagers
Eng 360
Essay 2
11/4/12
Revolution of Rhetoric
Rhetoric's many facets, are changed
and manipulated by the way they are delivered; particularly when a
written argument versus one recited orally. Writing influences an
audience in different ways than oral reception does – these changes
in the perception of the argument received are necessary to
acknowledge in order to develop the best argument in each form
possible. The effect of written rhetoric on an audience must be
understood in order for the author to effectively deliver his/her
message. What are the changes in the effect that oral vs written
rhetoric have? The five canons of rhetoric; invention, arrangement,
style, memory, and delivery – must be looked at differently when
used in these two, seemingly similar, ways.
Lets take a step back and look into
history, as we have examined through this course, rhetoric began and
grew in it's original oral form with ancient rhetors around.
Classical rhetors like Aristotle, Cicero, Plato, Isocrates – all
delivered their arguments orally. Memorization and delivery, the last
two canons, were especially necessary in this time, and accepted
without question. This analysis of a subject required an in depth and
practiced knowledge in order to speak intelligently on the topic.
Ancient rhetors were required to research thoroughly and seek all
available avenues of solution in their problems. In oral rhetoric,
orators acquired skills that we today may find extremely difficult
(due to the change in spatial to linear thinking). Written rhetoric
brought liberty to new rhetoricians that ancient oral rhetors had no
advantage of – somewhat of a written memory. Literacy brought a new
meaning to rhetoric, and it has completely changed the way rhetors
write and deliberate today. With the addition of written language,
came the ability to write ideas down, saving
them. Not only that, but the invention of the printing press in 1450
revolutionized communication and consequently rhetoric. Major changes
happen with these two technologies; I am referring to writing, and
then the productivity and expansion brought by the printing press as
two distinct technologies, each affecting and changing rhetoric for
rhetors and their audiences.
Writing
as a technology allowed authors to remember their ideas without the
need for constant memorization – and allowed for revisions and
editing that would make organizing and arrangement
an entirely new animal. Authors gained the ability to cut and paste,
to rearrange and develop arrangement further than possible before –
or at least much easier. Authorship also brought new changes
associated with ethos,
and the character represented in their writing. With writing, rhetors
become invisible once the text is printed, and read at another time –
other than any wide reputations they may have. The audience cannot
see for themselves who is speaking, and what ethical credibility they
carry, instead the author has to be sure to present this throughout
their writing, and be explicit in the character they carry in order
to develop the best face to win their audience. This brings up the
importance of the fifth canon, delivery. Delivery in oral rhetoric
was completely up to the original
author.
When it comes to delivery through writing, or print, the audience
wields more power in the interpretation. Authors who write their
arguments must pay extra attention to their style, and punctuation in
their writing. New writing rhetors had the challenge of educating a
reader on themselves. Sentence length and structure take on new
responsibility in delivering a message to the reader – or new
interpreting orator. Subtly disguised in style authors, now allowed
by the new role of arrangement, would change rhetoric in their
attempts to write it down. Style becomes important in written
rhetoric, and although it was important before for oral rhetors,
style deserves special attention from writers. When giving a speech
orally, the way it is delivered and the style chosen is easy to
deliver, since it is from the orator and author themselves. When
writing, an author must pay special attention to the word choice
used, and the style presented and ensure that others reading the work
will hear the author's voice. This is important in the establishment
of ethos and voice in writing.
The latter technology, the printing press, revolutionized rhetoric
and its world as well through the availability and expanse of print.
Not only can more people read a written piece of work, but the
phenomenon of print, welcomed commerce, and changed how rhetoric was
written. Elizabeth's Eisenstein's writing, “The Printing Press as
an Agent of Change”, described in depth the change in print, and
how the ability for people to store their knowledge (in writing)
allowed for them to accumulate it over centuries and generations of
people in a way that had never been equalled before. Although we have
learned that oral societies relied on their strong memories and
methods like storytelling to acquire and retain their knowledge,
written technology and print itself let people build a database, that
more than the owner could access. In this way rhetoricians and
writers, did not have to investigate every topic they wished to speak
about themselves, or have an intimate first hand knowledge of many
topics, they could read of others' without having to know the owner
of the experience. Authors could now contribute to a collective
knowledge. Rhetoric would be changed in the way rhetors approach
invention. Compared to oral society, literate society allows for
individual research with no need for collective experience as a
necessity for a knowledge base. Due to the invention of print,
writing could travel farther and expand to entirely new audiences.
This changed the way that rhetor's needed to approach their audience.
Oral rhetors saw their audience, spoke directly to them, and lived in
their commonplaces. New foreign audiences present a new challenge to
writers, who must think outside the box much like invention, and
image their audience and all of their possibilities. Audiences are
wider with print, and one could argue more knowledgeable as well due
to the invention of print. When rhetorically arguing to these new
audiences, listeners value an in depth knowledge, one they cannot
easily learn themselves. This makes research necessary for writers,
as discussed before, since so much more information is available to
everyone, audiences want unique genuine insight and information.
As I have discussed, rhetoric has undergone many changes due to the
revolution of writing and print as new technologies. The development
of humankind as we are rests on the transition from oral to written
rhetoric, and has resulted in new meanings for the canons of
rhetoric, specifically for invention, arrangement, memorization and
delivery. Ancient rhetors, while relevant to rhetorical principles,
dealt with a different form of rhetoric than the one we deal with
today. Today rhetoricians publish to a widespread audience, one much
larger than that of ancient Athens. The invention of the printing
press and writing itself, transformed oral society from communities
reliant on strong memories, to humankind with the ability to build
knowledge, and share it for everyone to build off of – not just the
original author.
Works Cited
Duffy,
Shannon E. "H-Net Reviews." H-Net
Reviews.
N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Nov. 2014.
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