Response to Reading

Rhetoric in "the real world" is absolutely, without question, essential in motivating change of any kind. Quoting from the reading, "the rhetorician concerns himself with the possible because he refuses to keep people in their actual situation." The job of the rhetor is to show you what is possible, a path that we can take to lead us to something different, not bog us down with our current woes. Again, this makes Dr. MLK a perfect example with his most famous quote "I have a dream." Instead of making a pity party of the present circumstances, he began with "the possible" that he could see, his vision, his dream. Also quoting from the reading, "what compels a rhetor is a sense of urgency." The essay continues to discuss that without urgency, there is no need to speak. But in time of stress and duress, the rhetor feels compelled to attempt to change the situation with the power of words. Prime example: Shortly following the attacks on 9/11, the president addressed the nation with powerful words, many of which we still remember today. The reading says "speaking involves a temporal choice" meaning, the choice to speak comes from the speaker's sense of right place, right time. At that time, the president felt it was imperative to speak to the nation at that time, at that place, and tell us where he was going in the future. Another similar address was the speech by FDR following the attacks on Pearl Harbor. Perfect example of right place, right time, and the urgency to elicit change with powerful words. From the reading, I gathered that the precise wording is equally important as the time and place, to form the combination that will bring about change.