The Art of Rhetoric
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Rhetoric is the use of speech for persuasion. Different theorists of rhetoric have differing views of the nature of persuasive argument. Aristotle had a particular view of the art of rhetoric which he espoused in his Rhetoric, and it involves a differentiation in the types of argument offered, the purpose of that argument, and how effective the argument may be given its nature and the elements that constitute it. Aristotle's approach to the rhetorical situation and to the nature of rhetoric can be applied to a particular text, in this case the advertising campaign set into motion by and centering on Magic Johnson, the athlete who announced that he had contracted the AIDS virus and who then appeared in television spots and other advertising media in commercials which tried to educate and make the public aware of the problem of AIDS, the means for controlling the disease, and the importance of accepting those who have AIDS as human beings. The Rhetoric of Aristotle has been highly influential through the ages. It is predominantly a manual to a practical art, but it also has an interesting philosophical orientation, in effect answering the call in Plato's Phaedrus for a truly philosophical rhetoric to replace the shallow sophistical doctrines that characterized existing schools of rhetoric. Aristotle affirmed that rhetoric is a subject to be studied systematically and not a random collection of common sense rules. It is an art of general scope tha
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n the problem is one that should have been lighted by George Bush. The general tone of the article seems to make the writer of it a liberal, though it is not clear that support for better efforts to halt the spread of AIDS is really an exclusively liberal position. The writer concludes that the conservative belief that answering teenagers questions about sex might appear to condone teenage sex is shortsighted, and he or she praises Magic Johnson for bringing the issue into the public consciousness ("Magic Johnson, as President" 24).
Richard Rodriguez challenges America, noting that the people have ignored the AIDS problem until a celebrity like Magic Johnson brings the issue home in a dramatic way. He says he knows many men with AIDS who also show dignity and value, but they have been ignored while a celebrity is not. He cites evidence from those who have the disease and who have died from the disease that it has been a problem for some time and that it has been increasing as a concern, but he further notes that the public at large has continued to think of AIDS as a disease happening to someone else until Magic Johnson showed that this was not the case. The tone is regret and even anger that so many have died while the publ
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Magic Johnson, Bizzell Herzberg, Plato's Phaedrus, HIV Infection, Krishman Victory, George Bush, INTRODUCTION Rhetoric, AIDS AIDS, AIDS Bias's, Wisconsin Studies, magic johnson, times november, york times, hiv infection, november 9, november 9 1991, george bush, 9 1991, times november 9, york times november, bizzell herzberg, celebrity status, ethical pathetical, magic johnson president, disclosure celebrity hiv,
Approximate Word count = 2498
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)
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