Pacudan 1

Aries Pacudan

Professor John Bultena

WRI 1

12 November 2013

Rhetoric

Throughout the first semester, I have been exposed to various forms of rhetoric and how their numerous purposes and messages affect everyday life. These purposes can range from attempting to make ones literary skills seem more impactful than they really are, to simple such as and the list goes on. After being notified of rhetoric’s existence, and its beneficial and harmful usage, I started noticing how much it has affected my upbringing and still continues to do so. I have learned how rhetoric can enhance or diminish information, ignore the topic completely and discus a different topic altogether, use visual imagery instead of written words to portray a message, and much more. In short, I have learned that rhetoric is the art of discourse.

One of the most impactful pieces of literature that I have had to read this semester is

Donna Woolfolk Cross’s, “Propaganda: How Not to Be Bamboozled.” In her article, Cross mentions thirteen different types of propaganda (means of ), which are not necessarily “good” or “bad” until they are utilized for good or bad. “Propaganda. If an opinion poll were taken tomorrow, we can be sure that nearly everyone would be against it because it Pacudan 2 sounds so bad.”(Cross 209). Of these thirteen types of propaganda, the two that stuck out to me the most were: and Argumentum . The reason these two stuck out to me is because they both shared a similar purpose: to convince or persuade an audience to taking the user’s side. They are also similar in the sense that neither of these methods ever actually refer to the argument itself, rather it is like they avoid the topic altogether. In Argumentum Ad Populum, the method of persuasion is to feed the audience compliments and reinforce their decision to support their argument by sidetracking them from the focus of the argument and just focusing on the individual and how “wonderful and intelligent” they are for their choice to support. This type of propaganda can be both textual and visual. For example, phrases such as, “hard working tax payers,” or “without your generosity…,” are textual whereas an image of a successful individual with a BMW is visual.

Both of these examples support the audience’s choice to reinforce their product or viewpoint.

In Argumentum Ad Hominem, the propagandist focuses on attacking an individual or symbol that has meaning to the audience instead of referring to the topic at hand. For example, an individual claims that an apple is a vegetable. Another person, instead of providing evidence against his claim, argues that the individual is stupid so he is wrong. Propagandist’s who utilize

Argumentum Ad Hominem attack not the subject but the individual supporting the subject. The reason as to why these two types of propaganda stuck out to me is because I can observe this in my everyday life. I see it in the news when americans are called the “forefront of world decisions,” and when people who dislike Obama feel that Obamacare is a horrible thing that should never have happened yet turn right around and support the Affordable Care Act. These Pacudan 3 two types of propaganda stuck out to me because I find it interesting how people use them to deceive and manipulate the viewpoints and opinions of large groups of people pertaining to topics that they never even discuss. Without explaining whatever the topic is, they are able to gain support for their cause though false means and no one bats an eye even when they know they are being deceived. I find these two types of propaganda interesting because I know both the good and the bad effects they can have, yet the more prevalent of the two is the type that swindles and victimizes rather than the kind that has legitimacy and genuineness. I find that extremely thought-provoking.

Another literary work that I read this semester was, “The World of ,” by

William Lutz. In his article, Lutz explains the evasive and/or manipulative language that is

“Doublespeak.” Doublespeak is the usage of language to make something or someone seem better than they really are or worse than they appear to be. Doublespeak misleads, distorts, deceives, inflates, circumvents, obfuscates, etc. In short, doublespeak is lying by telling the truth. People, including myself, experience this trend almost daily but fail to see how it is affect us or even recognize that it is doublespeak. This deliberately euphemistic language is used in advertisement, media, arguments, etc. to make the bad seem “less bad.” Not necessarily good, but “sounds” better. In a formal setting, one does not go to the bathroom, they “use the facilities.” A business does not tell its workers that they is firing a significant amount of employees, they are simply “downsizing.” Your baby is not fat, it’s is just “chubby.” Instead of referring to an elderly as an old person, you call them a “senior citizen.” You do not tell a child Pacudan 4 that a loved one has died, you tell them they have “gone on to greener pastures,” or they “have gone to the lord.” The list goes on and on but the purpose is more or less the same in every example; to be respectful, politically correct, seem better than it really is, or for the sake of business. Despite all the fancy language people generally know what it is that the doublespeak is referring to. We still know it is a toothbrush even if the advertisement refers to it as a “plaque removal device,” or that it is a used car when they refer to it as “pre-owned.” The people still know what the subject is, they just feel a little differently about it. The complications arise when doublespeak is used to soften information to the point that people are misinformed or mislead. The examples I have provided thus far seem harmless enough in the sense that they don’t really hurt or cause any problems, but what happens when tax dollars are being used to fund a neutron bomb but to the peoples knowledge, it is an “enhanced radiation device” (Lutz

250). This is just one of the numerous consequences to doublespeak. Another example would be when “The U.S. Navy didn’t pay $2,043 a piece for steel nuts; it paid all that money for

“hexiform rotatable surface compression units,” which, by the way, “underwent catastrophic stress-related shaft detachment.””(Luz 251). This is an example of how organizations or people use doublespeak to their advantage by convincing others that what they are doing is not wrong or ridiculous. The sumptuous and elaborate language deceives people into believing whatever the user wants them to believe. In this case, they didn’t buy really expensive steel nuts, they bought “hexiform rotatable surface compression units,” and they didn’t break off or fail, they

“underwent catastrophic stress-related shaft detachment.” After reading Lutz’s article, I feel as if I am better equipped to recognize, handle, and even utilize double speak in my own life. I Pacudan 5 plan to use it to figure out what people are really saying and what is really going on in the world. I believe, in the right hands, doublespeak can be used to gain an advantage in life by seeing the world a little differently.

Another article I have read this semester is William Lutz’s “Weasel Words: The art of

Saying Nothing at All.” A weasel word is a word that is used to avoid saying something forthrightly or directly. In other words, weasel words are words that claim to stand for something when in actuality; they mean something else or even nothing at all. These words are amazing at and are found regularly in everyday situations. These words are usually so generalized to the point that one meaning can be skewed away from another meaning.

Examples of these words are “help, virtually, fast, acts, etc.” The word “help,” is the most commonly used weasel word. Lutz states that “”Help” only means to aid or assist, nothing more. It does not mean to conquer, stop, eliminate, end, solve, heal, cure, or anything else.”(416). Despite this, many people, including myself, immediately relate the word help as a means to an end rather than a tool used to meet an end. For example, when searching for medicine for a headache, cold, flu, or other illness, many pharmaceuticals have the label “help” plastered across the label. While people believe that the product will cause immediate relief, the product never actually claims that it can but gains the of the claim. It never claims that it will eradicate the discomfort, only alleviate or assist and even then, it never claims how much it will help. Some products attach words such as extra strength, fast relief, or new and improved but we, the audience, never know how much extra strength, how fast, or how it’s Pacudan 6 new and improved. What could be considered “strong” or “fast acting” to one person, may be weak and slow to another. Same thing with new and improved because we, the audience, don’t know how new the product is or how improved its become. For all we know, it could be the same product with a different look and it would still be considered “new and improved.” The words claim to have meaning but the meanings are so broad and undefined that they might as well say nothing at all. Another weasel word is “virtually;” This word suggests an image of certainty and accuracy or at least something close to it when in reality, “It does not mean

“almost” or “just about the same as," or anything else.”(Lutz 418). This means that products that utilize the word “virtually” don’t have to be anywhere near the perfect image that they present because the word virtually does not mean what we think it means. For example, dish soaps that advertise “virtually spotless” on their products do not have to be completely spotless but it still gains the popularity and attention that a “completely spotless” product gains due to the fancy wordplay. This article has taught me how to differentiate between words that have meaning and those that seem to have meaning. This knowledge will help me improve my literary capabilities as well as assist me distinguish situations that are taking advantage of weasel words to fool or mislead me. I may also be able to utilize weasel words in circumstances later in life but for now, it is a tool for learning.

Throughout my first semester I have been utilizing various rhetoric devices in my life. I had already been using and been influenced by various rhetoric devices but I had not noticed

Pacudan 7 until I was made aware. I have been able to identify and strengthen my abilities in the literary art and hope to utilize it to the best of my abilities. I plan to use the language of discourse to advance my life objectives such as my education, career, and personal goals. In short, I have learned how to use the art of discourse to better my life.

Works Cited

Cross, Donna Woolfolk. Propaganda: How Not to Be Bamboozled. Eschholz, Paul, Alfred F. Rosa,

and Virginia Clark, eds. Language awareness. Eleventh ed. New York: St. Martin's Press,

2013. 209-219. Print.

Eschholz, Paul, Alfred F. Rosa, and Virginia Clark, eds. Language awareness. Eleventh ed. New

York: St. Martin's Press, 2013. Print.

Lutz, Williams. Weasel Words: The Art of Saying Nothing at All. Eschholz, Paul, Alfred F. Rosa,

and Virginia Clark, eds. Language awareness. Eleventh ed. New York: St. Martin's Press,

2013. 415-427. Print.

Lutz, Williams. The World of Doublespeak. Eschholz, Paul, Alfred F. Rosa, and Virginia Clark,

eds. Language awareness. Eleventh ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2013. 248-258.

Print.