I enjoyed reading about the five canons of rhetoric. It was interesting to see communication theory itemized, categorized and illustrated in such a minute but meaningful manner. The idea of invention leading towards a sound conclusive logical position from which one can speak clearly, coherently and intelligently upon. I greatly identified with the concept of first needing to find arguments that will “allow others to understand it”. I myself endeavor to find some common ground of understanding between the speaker and the listener to facilitate understanding.
The second canon is just as important, if not more so. This concept augments the first canon quite nicely. If we speak are striving to have an intellectual conversation while sounding inept in our wording or delivery, then our message wouldn’t be taken for very much would it?
The third canon, that of arrangement, initially seemed to me to be leaning more towards intending to building a persuasive speech than one of logical ordering of words. After reading a bit more about this concept, I came to the conclusion that they are related, for in order to be persuasive you need to first establish the tone, scene, or emotional context of your perspective. This is accomplished through a linear progression in your dialog.
The fourth canon was and still is the most difficult for me to identify with. Rote memorization of a speech disagrees with my personal desire to maintain a flair for spontaneity and engaging my audience. I instead choose to memorize the core concepts, along with the supporting ideas, and also ideally identify the core group of my audience so as to better customize my message to them for greatest impact.
The fifth canon that of delivery also is something I tend to struggle with. I often do not keep in mind how my body language is being perceived as I oftentimes get swept up into my speeches. I lose myself in trying to convey my message rather than how I’m being perceived. The feedback I get from speeches in positive though as my passion, and interest in what I’m speaking about resounds quite nicely with my audience.
In reference to the second canon, I do find that if I am talking to someone and they use a lot of slang or poor grammar it can influence me to take them less seriously. This is in context based conversation. When talking to friends and family, it is a much more relaxed style with slang and lots of humor. When I am in a more professional setting it is more formal with more attention paid to my wording. I often find people, who in a professional setting, still revert to slang.
ReplyDeleteIt is something that I don’t think gets explained to people in their youth that you can be you but in certain context, like job interviews, using proper English will get you a better result.