by Mr. Ron Hoch
Aristotle famously defined rhetoric as the skill of “discovering in any particular case all of the available means of persuasion.” In other words, rhetoric is the ability to see what will be the most convincing argument in a given situation and how best to communicate it. In logic students learn how to think critically, clearly, and consistently. They also study how to identify the gaps and errors in their thinking and that of others. Rhetoric takes this knowledge one step further. During rhetoric classes, our students gain an understanding of how to share their critical thinking with others in a way that is both winsome and effective. They practice their rhetoric skills in both speaking and in writing.
Another way to explain it: rhetoric is the application of the skills of logic within a particular context for a particular people. Logic, in and of itself, can be cold and unfeeling. An argument is either logical or illogical whether we agree with it or not, and whether we like it or not. As such, the logician doesn’t particularly care how their audience feels about an idea or a proposition, so long as it follows the rules of deduction in an airtight way. The rhetorician, on the other hand, cares deeply about how their audience feels about an idea, and how they will receive what is being said. While the rules of logic do not change depending on to whom you’re speaking, the particular rhetorical devices used to communicate that logical argument almost certainly will change with the audience.
At first glance, it might seem like rhetoric is a purely pragmatic undertaking with the ends justifying the means (i.e. so long as you persuade your audience, then it doesn’t matter how you get there). While the ancient Sophists would have agreed with that assessment (a topic for a different time), we disagree. First, because the truth doesn’t change, even though the way of communicating it does. Second, because we believe that there are morally responsible and morally repugnant ways of communicating the truth. Therefore our goal is not merely to teach students to be persuasive at all costs, but to be persuasive in a way that is good. We agree with the authors of Wisdom and Eloquence when they assert that “rhetoric provides the greatest opportunity for educating morally aware students and for using the classroom to propagate character.” ( p.132).
The Bible teaches that how we communicate the truth matters a great deal (Eph. 4:15). It’s not enough for our arguments to be well thought out and logical — they must also be communicated in a way that is good, true, and beautiful. And so, in order to train our students to do just that, we teach formal rhetoric in grades 9-12 and informally throughout the curriculum.