What is rhetoric?

I need support with this English question so I can learn better.

1. When you hear the word “rhetoric” used in everyday life, what do you imagine that it is? How is rhetoric defined in these more academic ways? How does rhetoric seem to be different from “English” or “Literature” (the English classes you took in high school or maybe community college?)

2. Make a list of the 5 elements of the rhetorical situation. Keep these in your notes. What is the rhetorical situation, and why do you think it is called it a “situation?” What are the things about it that make it a situation? In the video, how does Dr. Cruz Medina define rhetorical situation? In the ThoughtCo piece, Richard Nordquist defines the rhetorical situation has having five parts. Are there differences in the way they discuss the rhetorical situation? With these two discussions, what are the key takeaways that we need to remember about the rhetorical situation of a text?

3. For this question,”I Have a Dream: The Rhetorical Situation of a Famous Speech” and watch the video there. In the ThoughtCo piece, Nordquist adds an image of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivering his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, during the March on Washington on August 28, 1963. On January 20, 2020 (just this year), the CBS News morning show “This Morning” produced a piece where Dr. King’s adult children and his granddaughter read parts of that speech. Use the rhetorical situation questions to analyze the rhetorical situation of this speech–and compare these two different moments in time. What was going on at the time in 1963? Why was this location so important? Who was the audience? Who was the broader audience of the American public? What is the new rhetorical situation that CBS news creates? Where was this broadcast? Who is the audience in 2020? What is the occasion for this reading? What has happened in the years since 1963 that give these words more power and maybe even irony? (You will probably write more than 150 words for this answer).

4. List the five canons of rhetoric and briefly describe how each one is part of the writing process (including presenting to an audience). How can you use the five canons of rhetoric to help develop a more organized process for your writing?