Derek Brown

ENC -3331

Rhetoric and Citizenship

Aristotle - The ability to discover the available means of persuasion in a given situation.

John Poulakos – art which seeks to capture in opportune moments that which is appropriate and

attempts to suggest that which is possible

The idea of rhetorical citizenship is derived from the connotations behind what it means to be a

citizen and how a citizen uses rhetoric and is influenced by it. In an attempt to understand rhetorical

citizenship both rhetoric and citizenship will be defined and analyzed then look at how their definitions

and meanings correlate to ultimately define the idea of rhetorical citizenship.

RhetoricRhetoric is an interesting topic. The idea behind it at its core is using communication effectively.

But as a means to use rhetoric rhetorically its definition is changed to meet the needs of the situation.

Each rhetorician defines rhetoric differently to meet their needs and essentially rhetoric is subjected to

rhetoric. Therefore, rhetoric for my purpose needs a solid definition and to do so I will analyze

professional opinions on rhetoric to discover my own rhetorically defined idea of rhetoric.

As stated, rhetoric at its core is communicating effectively. Any type of communication consists

of or has the potential to consist of rhetoric. Aristotle clarifies his this idea of rhetoric saying it is “the

ability to discover the available means of persuasion in a given situation.” As Aristotle proposed, rhetoric

is a skill; it is called upon to be used for a purpose. But it seems his definition is almost passive by is

nature. One only calls upon the rhetoric skill for a necessary means. But in fact rhetoric is not a skill that

is employed when necessary but an active idea many use everyday unknowingly. John Poulakos idea of

rhetoric states “the art which seeks to capture in opportune moments that which is appropriate and

attempts to suggest that which is possible”. Poulakos suggests a more aggressive and active idea of

rhetoric. He uses the word ‘seeks’ meaning the user of rhetoric is active in their pursuit of it. Both

definitions seem to define rhetoric as a dual sided idea. Whether you can use can employ it through a

learned ability or it is an almost unconscious pursuit toward all that is possible in a situation.

Citizenship

The best way citizenship is described comes from a movie from 1997 called “Starship Troopers”.

The movie has an undertone of this dilemma of a civilian versus a citizen. A civilian is essential any one

person strictly born into society; the person is granted civilian status through birth. However, citizenship

is an earned title. The best example is stated in the movie “a citizen accepts personal responsibility for

the safety of the body politic, defending it with his life, a civilian does not”. A civilian becomes a citizen

through devotion to what is called the Federation in the movie. The idea behind civilian and citizenship

in the movie is to give society a respect toward those that devote themselves to bettering the

community through duty to someone or something else.

Citizenship is something that is earned. A person must “[have] the courage to make the safety

of the human race their personal responsibility”. One cannot force citizenship on to another. But using

resources granted to each civilian, each member of society has an opportunity to earn this unofficial title

in their community. For example, education is a largely granted to every United States civilian. No

matter what income or where you live, public education is available. The idea of education being

available in the United States is very clear because the country is ruled for the people, by the people.

This means that every individual has a say in the governing body through democracy; therefore, an

educated mass is essential so that the people can make informed decisions on who should run the

country. And by one can participate in their citizenship status by accepting this personal responsibility of

their part in government to elect a worthy leader.

Rhetorical Citizenship

Examining both rhetoric and citizenship shows that one can express their citizenship through

rhetoric. As Aristotle described rhetoric as a persuasive stance, a citizen can use writing, verbal

communication, affiliation with clubs and organizations, clothing worn, places to live, places to visit, and

really any action that you choose has an a rhetorical motive. A person can choose to support a political

candidate or take a stance on an issue and use their power of rhetoric to express this. Once a person

accepts their responsibility toward the body politic, they can then employ the means at which to use

their available resources to express their responsibility. For example, an eighteen year old male decides

after high school to enter in the armed services. He chooses this as a personal choice and is willing to

service his country through such an act. By doing so he is expressing a rhetorical choice. He is of age to

join the military, is not bound by schooling or other obligations, and has the available means to join the

military. Therefore, he has taken a silence form of communication toward society. He is serving his

country as a citizen and expressing to people a higher calling of duty and honor. And he had done so

because he was given the available choices and took the opportunity to make it. Therefore, he

expressed his rhetorical citizenship through his available choices, his expression toward society, and

serving his community through serving his country.

Sponsorship through Rhetorical Citizenship

Every person has the capacity to learn and develop skills to be used through in their community.

Finding these talents and putting them to good use is an inherent duty each person has toward one

another. Serving each other in this manner is what it means to be a rhetorical citizen. But discovering

these talents is half the battle. Not everyone is born knowing what to do or how to service. Getting

proper education is one means of obtaining an idea of one’s skills but really it comes down to certain

events or people that show us who we are and what we are good for. Deborah Brandt defines theses

events or people as sponsors saying they are “any agent, local or distant, concrete or abstract, who

enable, support, teach, model, as well as recruit…” (166). Clarifying on the meaning on these sponsors, I

will look toward myself as an example on how sponsors have helped me discover my rhetorical

citizenship.

I received my first real teachings of citizenship in junior high school in 2005 on the cross country

team. In 2005, I was a part of the Tuslaw Mustang’s Cross Country team on the outskirts of Massillon,

Ohio. During this time, I was about fourteen years old and still very immature in ideals and on life in

general. But my time on the cross country team taught me many forms of self discipline and to always

pursueing the best you can do, not what others expect of you. Life is about pursuing your excellence not

matter what that may be. My cross country coach, Mr. Brightman, told one day during cross country

practice that “I see a lot of potential in you, Derek. You have so much drive and determination. Use that

to push yourself further.” This phrase sticks with me still today. I use it for more than just running

practice but as a general life lesson, as I am sure Brightman meant it as much. This phrase has guided me

to always pursue my best in everything I do, and each day I should look to do better than I did yesterday.

I found that my citizenship to be the same way. One should take it as a personal goal to achieve more

today than yesterday and tomorrow more than today. As long as we as people push ourselves we will

service each through inspiration.

Though cross country taught me drive and gave me motivation, I still had yet to discover how to

use it. Where was I going to use my passion? With what? What was I good at that I could? These are

several questions I ask myself all the up until very recently in 2011 and 2012 through several classes I

took. I first began to discover that I had a passion for writing in my English Composition II class but later

it evolved from writing into a more of a passion for rhetoric, using communication effectively. I began to

discover what I liked but I still had yet to discover what to do with that passion. So I decided to take a

career planning at UCF that allowed me to discover that legal studies and technical communication were

several things I enjoyed doing. So I figured out that I could use my rhetorical citizenship toward writing

and serving my community that way.

Derek,

I like all of the specific, real world examples you use here. When you go back and edit your paper pay attention to your sentence structure. Most of your errors seem like you were just rushed. You have good ideas but some are jumbled in run on sentences. Your conclusion needs to be tied in with the rest of your paper. A suggestion would be creating a heading for the conclusion so you can make sure it is more focused. Check the Purdue OWL link included in the assignment sheet as a reference for formatting or visit the UWC. Your paper actually has a bit more cohesion than you might think, it is a good start, but you do need to spend time analyzing each section as it relates directly to our topic. I think the one thing I would focus on in regards to content is your introduction and conclusion.