We now come to what might be considered the heart of rhetoric, which is how to use our speech and writing to convince others of things we would like them to think, feel, or do. I hope that by now I’ve made clear why we didn’t jump straight into persuasion, as central as it may be. If we aren’t clear on our values and ethics, persuasion becomes a matter of mere expediency, twisting and turning to whatever shape suits our self-interest. Even with values nailed down, though, if we can’t think through how set goals and pursue them effectively, then we will not know when or how to deploy our…
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This site is called Rhetoric for the Renaissance Man, so in letting you know what we’ll be doing here, I thought it might help to start with what I mean by that title, then explain a bit about who this site might appeal to (and might not), who I am and what has driven me to put this together, and lastly, a brief overview of the kinds of things we’ll dive into as we go. Who Is the Renaissance Man? The Renaissance Man is both a figure of history, describing multi-talented figures like Leonardo Da Vinci, Giordano Bruno, John Dee, and others, but also an aspirational, iconic figure of today.…