Rhetorical Activities

The following are my answers to the rhetorical activities, numbers 2 and 4, on pages 29 and 30 of the book Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students:

1. (being number 2) In a particular sketch of the comedian Jon Stewart, he made a "point about the state of argument in America today". What Stewart said was that argument is not really argument. I have encountered this on numerous occasions. I'll overhear two people discussing the exact same point, with little difference, but each will say the other is wrong, thus completely missing the fact that they are both on the same side. To me, this is an argument-that's-not-really-an-argument. A theatrical sort of argument, I believe, is set apart from the rhetorically engaged argument because it seems either staged or put on. It's only for show, whereas a rhetorically engaged argument is one where the people actually care about making a point--they aren't just doing it for show.
2. (being number 4) Persuasion in my community--this is rather difficult to answer. I would say, or type, rather, that persuasion in my community is when a friend begins talking to me on a topic that I share the opposite view. If he or she poses the point in an easily-understood way, I will most likely agree with the way the friend is thinking. When this occurs, I find myself being swayed because I have been thinking of the topic in a new way. If I can see both sides of the issue, I can understand how people come upon that assumption, and I can argue for both sides.

The following is a list of arguments that seem convincing in certain cases:

1. The people I know changing their minds--this normally happens, I think, the way I outlined above. Once they hear the other side of the issue, it is normally easier to understand why someone believes a certain way. Other cases, though, it's easy to see the faults in a person's argument. When this occurs, the people I know take it upon themselves to correct the person. Depending on how this is handled, the person being corrected might listen and could very well change his or her views.
2. Religious conversion--this happens when one person asks another person about his or her beliefs. I've had many conversations with people just to discuss what the other person believes. If the person has no real belief system (?) then it is normally pretty easy for them to hear what I'm saying. If the person does have adamant beliefs on certain issues, though, the person is generally very caught up in believing only what he or she already believes. The opposite can be true in both cases, too. I fault myself in being easily swayed. Not everyone is like me. Yes, I can take a stand on a few things, but if I completely understand the arguments, I'm swayed because I think it's a fault in my thinking. This gets rather frustrating.
3. Convincing people to stop smoking or go on a diet--two very different things. The people I know who have gone on diets for health reasons are very similar to those who stop smoking because of health reasons--they are stopping because it will benefit them, or they are eating less or eating better because they will benefit from the decision. These happen many different ways. Some may be swayed by a doctor, others are swayed by friends. Sometimes, though, one person may convince him or herself that the decision is better.
4. Racists--I think that this either happens or doesn't solely based on the people one hangs around with. (Ah! Preposition!) The more and more one stays around people that believe in racism (can one believe "in" it?), the more that person is going to be seeing things from a racist perspective. The opposite is also true.
5. Presidents and wars--presidents are, by very nature, persuasive...how do you think they became president? Presidents can convince their people that a war is right based on several things. The number one way is to show the people that their own safety is threatened. The number two would be to show them that other places they have strong feelings about are threatened. The list can be endless for how presidents persuade their people. If there is a president, he or she is persuasive and will either tell the truth or not.

I've been trying to go back through the previous post and make it understandable. It was done in class on the computer, so I took notes quickly and didn't look too closely for mistakes or complete sentences. I will try to change this soon.