Students in Dr. Nicole Pfannenstiel’s summer 2025 writing seminar crafted blog posts exploring Rhetoric & Composition. Over the next several weeks, we will share their work in this space to bring visibility to their posts and offer a variety of perspectives on pertinent topics within Rhetoric & Composition. These posts are written by graduate students currently in the MA and M.Ed. English programs.
The Incredible Power Held by You, the Modern-Day Rhetorician
By: Andrew Robinson
Contemporary rhetoric is all-encompassing. Andrews argues that rhetoric covers
persuasion and influence – ancient rhetoricians would agree (16). Essentially, a person engages in rhetoric whenever they are speaking, but they consciously, actively utilize rhetoric when attempting to persuade. However, he also believes rhetoric includes ideas such as informing, clarifying, and delighting, among others (16). So, rather than solely covering the act of persuasion, rhetoric includes, truly, every piece of writing.
Importantly, Andrews believes rhetoric is not just made up of numerous mandatory rules, but is instead something in tune with an optional instruction manual (16). So, there is not a set curriculum to follow when engaging in rhetoric; one picks and chooses what to use based on their goals and audience. In concordance with this, Andrews believes that not all rhetoricians should use eloquence – it differs based on the context (16-17).
Finally, Andrews also mentions it is sexist to always refer to rhetoricians as “he,”
indicating anyone can be a rhetorician (16). This is probably the biggest departure from ancient rhetoricians’ viewpoint, which was, almost universally, that only men could be rhetoricians – and many believed that only wealthy, politically– and philosophically-relevant men should be.
Contemporary rhetoric enjoys a close relationship with composition. Essentially,
composition is the general make-up of a work (Andrews 45). How one chooses to present a work can be the difference between a highly effective speech and one that falls flat; composition matters just as much, if not more than, the presentation – the rhetoric.
Present-day rhetoric has been transformed by modern-day technology. The Internet has forced rhetoric to be adaptable to text messages, email, video game chat platforms, and the like (Roberson 29). This change has resulted in younger generations using rhetoric differently and having trouble adapting what they know about informal rhetoric to more formal versions a school assignment or speech would necessitate (Roberson 29).
Politics are now attached with rhetoric in ways Plato, Aristotle, and other ancient
rhetoricians would be aghast to see. Partly because of the inherent political nature of contemporary rhetoric and partly because of the technology of today, it is no longer simply tied to a single time and place; a single context; instead, rhetoric now extends beyond its single situation, permeating the lives of people in all parts of the world (Hayden 15). This is especially true when it comes to rhetoric used regarding politics and hot-topic issues. In fact, in analyzing
rhetoric present in American popular culture, one can see just when landmark events became possible. For example, rhetoric used in TV shows Will and Grace and Rosanne, as well as movies such as Philadelphia, paved the way for the legalization of gay marriage (Hayden 15). Present-day rhetoric, much more so than ancient rhetoric, impacts culture and human lives directly.
Of course, not all examples of rhetoric in popular culture have benefitted humanity. Donald Trump’s ability to use rhetoric to frame realities as crises caused by X, Y, and Z led to his presidential elections in 2016 and 2024 (Elnakkouzi 17). Here, the deceitful nature of rhetoric is shown, as Trump’s slogan of “Make America Great Again” has thrown wool over his supporters’ eyes, who believe everything he says and does is in America’s best interest, up to and including excusing his 34 felony convictions and being held liable for sexual assault.
When engaging in any form of writing, then, it is important to remember there is no set manual for using rhetoric, so it is up to the discretion of the user how to utilize it. Finally, a rhetorician must realize that every work they produce uses rhetoric. That school essay? Rhetoric. Tweet? Rhetoric. Facebook post about how great their partner is? Rhetoric. It is the responsibility of the writer/speaker to realize what power their rhetoric holds, and to wield that power in a
responsible manner.
Contemporary rhetoric holds a similar backbone as that of ancient times, but offers a much larger impact on our technologically-savvy society.
Works Cited
Andrews, Richard. “Why Rhetoric?” A Theory of Contemporary Rhetoric, 2014, pp. 16–27,
https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203129029-9.
Andrews, Richard. “Rhetoric and Composition” A Theory of Contemporary Rhetoric, 2014, pp.
43-56, https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203129029-9.
Elnakkouzi, Rania. “The Argumentative Function of Rescue Narratives: Trump’s National
Security Rhetoric as a Case Study.” Critical Discourse Studies, vol. 21, no. 1, Jan. 2024, pp.
17–33. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2022.2095413.
Hayden, Wendy. “Recurring Rhetorics and Cultivating Connections: The Transversals of
Rhetoric, Sex, Freedom.” Radical Teacher, no. 129, June 2024, pp. 13–22. EBSCOhost,
https://doi.org/10.5195/rt.2024.1225.
Roberson, Julie. “Removing the Boundaries: Composition and Rhetoric Internet Resources from
Classical Greece to the Present Day.” Journal of Library Administration, vol. 43, no. 3/4, Nov.
2005, pp. 27–40. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1300/J111v43n03_03.
Westerfelhaus, Robert. “Interrogating American Popular Culture.” Res Rhetorica, vol. 5, no. 2,
June 2018, pp. 64–68. EBSCOhost,
research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=52ea9158-ace8-371b-af83-e12fb882fa00.