RHETORIC AND

MEANING
ENG 211: RHETORIC
T U E S D AY F E B R U A R Y 9 2 0 1 6

TEACHING DEMOS
BY FACULTY CANDIDATES
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REMINDER/UPDATE:
RHETORICAL ANALYSIS 1
Due THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11
(THIS WEEK)
BUT, I am going to offer a pre-emptive,
general extension to TUESDAY,
FEBRUARY 16 (NEXT WEEK)

TWENTIETH CENTURY CONTEXTS

The Industrial Revolution brought wealth and
prosperity to some and alienation to others.
World War I and World War II caused many in
the West to question the basic values of
western culture and philosophy.
New communication media influenced,
demanded, new ways of conceptualizing
rhetoric.

LINGUISTIC
REFLEXIVIT Y
THE INTELLECTUAL REFLECTION ON
THE FORCES OF LANGUAGE IN HUMAN
R E L AT I O N S

WHAT IS BEING REJECTED, REPLACED

Plato does not understand language as a system of usage, and hence he
does not understand language as having its own independent force
(Condit, quoted in Borchers 115).
Plato thus presumed that language was pure and misuse of language or
miscommunication was caused by evil people, not the inadequacies of
language itself.
Aristotle maintains an attitude that sees language as tied to some
objective, external set of meanings, an hence not as the locus of its own
force a process with its own distinctive characteristics (ibid).
Epistemologists wanted to put aside language and rhetoric and let the
truths of science speak through the rhetor. Of course, science is like
language and rhetoric and is not pure or true.

LINGUISTIC REFLEXIVITY : THREE IDEAS.

Language has its own distinct structure: we have parts of speech

(types of words) and grammar (the rules of how things go
together) and these are used to suggest meaning, enable
communication.
The structure of language influences how we see and understand
the world: for example, English is marked by the tenses it has
and does not have and its fundamental basis in dichotomies.
In some situations, it is useful to use language in different ways
than its structure suggests: political and social commentary
often requires or benefits from using language in new, different
ways (he/she or ze/zir/they)

THE MEANING OF SYMBOLS AND THE

SEMANTIC TRIANGLE
The Semantic Triangle
outlines the relationships
between symbols,
thoughts, and referents.
Context plans a key role
in how people determine
the meaning of symbols.

HOW THE TRIANGLE WORKS

CORRECT: Causal relationship
between thought & symbols (words,
images, etc)
Some thoughts bring to mind specific
symbols.
Some symbols make us think certain
thoughts.

ADEQUATE: A causal relationship

between thought and referents
(actual objects or things)
The object itself can lead us to think of
the idea.
An idea can cause of thing of the object
itself.

The Treachery of Images, Rene

Magritte
1928-1929 (often called This is not a
pipe)

CONTEXT AND MEANING

Interpretation is deeply influenced by the
audiences social, cultural, and personal
background.
Temporality has evolved over time, from the
constant present of Classical Greeks to our
often multivalent, blended temporality.
Examples of Context and Multiple Meanings:
Native Americans and Sports Mascots
Whiteface and Blackface

GENERAL SEMANTICISTS
Their work was influential but isnt actively kept alive.
Sought to remove misunderstanding from rhetoric.
General Semantics explains that words are not the
objects they represent.
Words can be abstract, or multiordinal.
Words structure our experience, but they are not the
same as experiences.

GENERAL SEMANTICISTS:
EXTENSIONAL DEVICES
Recommended using extensional devices can help avoid
misunderstanding.
Indexing is the use of subscript numerals to indicate the uniqueness of
two words.
Chain-indexing is used to indicate different states of the same word.
Dating shows how the meaning of a word changes over time.
Using etc. indicates that we can never say all there is to say about a
topic.
Quotes are used to indicate the specific meaning of a term.
Hyphens should be used when two ideas have previously been thought
to be different, but may, in fact, refer to the same idea.

EXTENSIONAL DEVICES WE STILL USE

Etc. is a very common appendage to indicate the inexpressible depth
or complexity of a topic.
Similar phrases used in English: such like, and so forth, yada, yada, yada,
etc.

Quotation marks: extremely common in academic and vernacular

English. But, it is often used ironically and/or sarcastically.
For example, I might say: Martin Luther Kings approach to rhetoric was to blend
ethos, pathos, and logos in an attempt to create a anguished rhetoric of love
Or, I might say: Steve and Judy left the party to go the store to buy some
party supplies but got delayed. They seemed pretty worn out when they
got back to the party.

Hyphens: again, extremely common in academic English. And, in

vernacular English we use hyphens in a less formal or structured way.
For example, a music critic could refer to the approximately 576 subgenres of
heavy metal using hyphens: nu-metal, black-metal, death-metal, Viking-metal,
Christian-metal, funk-metal, stoner-metal, etc.

GEORGE HERBERT MEAD AND

SYMBOLIC INTERACTION
Humans have a mind, or the capability of using symbols.
The self refers to our ability to respond to ourselves as objects.
We form ideas about who we are based on the generalized other and significant
others.
Our self has two components.
The I is the impulsive part of the self.
The me is the part that responds to social rules and norms that are learned through
rhetoric.

Society refers to the collection of people who share common

meanings for symbols.

SIGNIFICANT
SYMBOLS: SIGNS
T H AT A R O U S E
MEANING IN SELF
AND OTHERS
W H AT S Y M B O L S A R E S H U S P E C I F I C
A N D S E N S I B L E O N LY T O U S ?

SUSANNE LANGER AND EXPERIENCES

THAT ESCAPE SYMBOLIZATION
Discursive rhetoric is the
linear display of
grammatical words and
symbols.
Presentational rhetoric is
not reducible to symbols
and includes art, music,
and visual imagery.

I am so overwhelmed that I just need to scream!

SYMBOLS CAN BE USED TO MANAGE

POWER RELATIONS
Muted group theory notes that women are
forced to experience the world and
communicate through the language of men.
Women who experience childbirth have
developed new ways of using symbols to
accurately reflect their experiences.
Sexual harassment is a linguistic form of
violence.

RICHARD WEAVER: THE RELATIONSHIP

AMONG SYMBOLS, MEANING, AND TRUTH
Dialectic is used to find truth while rhetoric moves
people to take action.
Dialectic and rhetoric are used to determine what is
right and wrong.
The most ethical argument form is from principle
while the least ethical is from circumstance.
Certain types of words have great power to move
people to action or accept ideas about what is right or
wrong.

ROBERT SCOTT:
RHETORIC IS
EPISTEMIC
IF RHETORIC IS EPISTEMIC, THEN IT
R E Q U I R E S T H AT U S E R S B E E T H I C A L .