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.
Rhetoric and Its Societal Importance
By: Sydney Gribbin
“Rhetoric” is a word that, to many people, seems like a riddle wrapped in a mystery, often associated with literature and academia. Upon hearing it, people tend to dismiss it as a term that Ancient Greek philosophers like Plato and Socrates would use. However, to limit its scope to academia or the ancient world would be a disservice to rhetoric’s prevalence in our culture today. Most people are unaware that rhetoric is used wherever language and discourse take place.
Rhetoric is defined as “the study of how language shapes behaviors and beliefs” (Martin), which seems like it would only be present in formal, academic spaces. However, using speech to persuade others happens all throughout everyday life. An example of this could be interviewing for a job. The interviewee will take time to prepare a list of reasons why they would be a perfect fit for the position and present this to their audience, the interviewer (Plung). Essentially, prepping those reasons and then successfully or even unsuccessfully convincing the interviewer is a modern example of rhetoric.
However, we can take this modern example much further and apply more aspects of rhetoric to it. Aristotle developed three primary aspects to rhetoric: logos, ethos, and pathos. Logos is the idea of reason within rhetoric. This could mean using facts, evidence, and logical thinking to support the argument of the speaker or writer. In the context of a job interview, this pertains to the interviewee stating how their skills and experience would align to the job position. Ethos deals with the credibility and overall perception of the speaker when utilizing any sort of discourse (Rapp). The speaker, whether through their text or speech, would want to create a sense of trust with their audience, which could be using reputable sources, for example. Applying this concept to the job interview, the list of skills and experience would be attempting to prove the credibility of the interviewee. The candidate could also who their knowledge of the company and ask good questions that would build even more credibility (Whaley). Finally, pathos describes an emotional connection that a speaker or writer makes with the audience. This could mean giving personal experiences that support the argument the speaker is using to persuade the audience. Tying this back to the job interview, the interviewee could mention how he or she once solved a difficult problem, flexing critical thinking skills that would be useful to the job position.
With this example, one can see that rhetoric is not just found in the pages of ancient scholars, but in every day life. Job interviews, TED talks, or even convincing your spouse to eat out for dinner proves that rhetoric permeates our entire society.
“Aristotle’s 3 Rhetorical Appeals – Logos, Ethos, and Pathos.” Atlas of Public Management, https://www.atlas101.ca/pm/concepts/logos-ethos-and-pathos/
Martin, Juzanne. “How We Use Rhetoric in Everyday Life.” University of Central Florida News, University of Central Florida, 31 Jan. 2023, https://www.ucf.edu/news/how-we-use-rhetoric-in-everday-life/.
Plung, Daniel. “Job Interview Preparation: A Practical Exercise in the Rhetoric of Oral Argument.” Sage Journals, Association for Business Communciation ,10 Han. 2023, www.researchgate.net/publication/328039672_httpjournalssagepubcomdoiabs1011770887302X07303626.
Rapp. Christof. “Aristotle’s Rhetoric.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 15 Mar. 2022, plato.stanford.edu/entries/artistotle-rhetorical/#DefiRhet.
Whaley, Nicholas. “Aristotle’s Rhetorical Appeals: Ethos, Logos, and Pathos.” Pressbooks, pressbooks.pub/openrhetoric/chapter/aristotles-rhetorical-appeals/. Accessed 13 July 2025.