Many people do not understand how rhetorical techniques work. All they know is that if you are able to force your ideas into someone else’s mind then you have successfully accomplished your goal. But there is more to it than just forcing your idea into someone's mind, for example there is many rhetorical techniques that can be use to be more efficient at persuading people to share the same beliefs you believe on. One example would be in “The Allegory of the Cave” by Plato, Plato uses two successful rhetorical techniques one of them being the allegory and the second technique plato uses is the dialogue, both of them being successful techniques in this allegory to persuade the readers about his points of view.
Plato is a very talented writer,
In society it is a person’s duty to teach others what they do not know. People do not need to tell others of their knowledge, but in order for society to function together people must all be taught the basics of reality. In the parable “Allegory of the Cave” the author and philosopher, Plato, uses hypothetical situation, rhetorical questions, and diction to tell his audience that a person’s reality depends on the environment they are raised in, and how it is the responsibility of the ones knowledgeable to teach others so society can thrive with most of the same beliefs.
The Allegory of the Cave by Plato, shows the contrast between sense experience and rationalism. The story explains that in the cave where some people have known nothing of the outside world and can only comprehend what they see based on what little they do know of their cave. The people have come to the conclusion what the shapes represent and what causes them and believe it to be correct and thus believe it as the reality of the world. However what they don’t know is that this is not the world and what they will soon find out is that the things they once saw with their eyes what they smelt, what they heard, what they felt were just shadows of real images and objects cast on the wall by fire. What this does is show that sense experience can be at fault because the one perceiving is at times is ignorant of the fact that they know nothing of the true reality of the world and its workings. One must be showed how things are in order to learn and thus no longer be ignorant but have now begun taking steps towards wisdom.
Authors use rhetorical strategies to express themes in their writing. Different rhetorical strategies help convey different themes with varying degrees of effectiveness. One way to measure the effectiveness is to rhetorical analyze two pieces of writing to each other and see which is best.
In the time of ancient Greece, there were a category of teachers called the sophists who believed that wisdom and Rhetoric could and should be used for profit and personal gain. Aristotle, a well-known teacher, disagreed with this completely and believed that while Rhetoric is persuasive, it should be used morally and with good intentions. He stressed the idea of using moral standards along with emotion, logic and truth to persuade any audience. Almost 1000 years later, Augustine took this step even further with the use of rhetoric within religion practice. He emphasized the idea that rhetoric is a means by which to promote good will and spread truth. Today, modern rhetorician Dubinsky would take this step even further, by stating that Rhetoric isn’t just a means to an end. Rhetoric improves our very lives and unites people under a common good with the proper ethics. While it is unfortunate that they are from different time periods, Aristotle, St Augustine, and Dubinsky would surely all agree that Rhetoric is a means by which regular people can be persuasive with their ideals. All while using the right morals, good intentions, and correct ethics to do so, so that any regular person can influence and change their world, from the simplest of arguments to the greatest of debates. That is why I believe we should study these famous rhetoricians, because their teachings teach us how to become better people and better writers. Aristotle, St. Augustine, and Dubinsky believed in Ethos, Pathos, and Logos, which means studying and working with your audience to persuade them in such way that you’re collaborating for the benefit of both the writer and the reader.
James Baldwin once said “It is only when a man is able, without bitterness or self-pity, to surrender a dream he has long cherished...that he is set free, that he has set himself free - for higher dreams, for greater privileges.” This quote displays the abundance of courage that is needed to leave everything an individual has in order to move forward. The bravest thing he can do once he has lost his identity, is to surrender who he was and open his mind to the possibility of wo he is going to be.
The "Allegory of the cave "is broken down into four levels. The cave itself representing the tunnel we as humans have dug for ourselves away from the world of learning and knowledge to a world of safe answers where nothing is ever questioned . The cave represents the human's subconscious struggle to be safe and hide from the unknown. Beginning with Level one . The shadow watchers(the mystified )Illusion the figures and shadows reflection on the cave wall.This level is best described as such because the prisoners are not seeing what is real .They are seeing a copy or illusion of what is the real.They are seeing what they want to see.Level two The shadow casters .I believe the shadow casters area people who realize that the world is not as it
Rhetoric is the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, and its uses the figures of speech and other compositional techniques. It’s designed to have a persuasive or impressive effect on its audience.
American’s education system has been entering crisis mode for a long time. Throughout the past few years, the overwhelming question “Is college needed or worth it?” While it is an opinion, there are facts that back up each answer. Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” mentions that the enlightened must help the unenlightened and further their knowledge. The problem with America today is that high school students are given the option of college and that makes for less enlightened people. While it is possible to learn in the work force or Army, college is a better option. Mary Daly wrote the article “Is It Still Worth Going to College?” which talks about the statistical value of attending. Michelle Adam wrote the article “Is College Worth It?” which mentions the struggle young people are going through to even get into college. Caroline Bird wrote the chapter “Where College Fails Us” in her book The Case Against College where she
The Matrix, when compared to Plato’s The Republic (“The Allegory of a Cave”), and Descartes’s Meditations on First Philosophy has numerous similarities and a few differences. It would seem that the creators of The Matrix were inspired, to an extent, by these writing of Plato and Descartes. Although each of these display it in a different way, the root of each of them is the desire of knowledge and truth rather than being deceived.
In his essay entitled “The Rhetorical Stance,” Wayne Booth describes how rhetorical stance is imperative for good writing. I agree with Booth that by using rhetoric stance in our writing we can produce and powerful and well-written argument. How then do we know if we are using the art of rhetoric in our writing? According to Booth, “Rhetoric is the art of finding and employing the most effective means of persuasion on any subject, considered independently of intellectual mastery of that subject" (199). In making this comment Booth urges us to be knowledgeable on the subject we are writing about and use passion and emotional appeals to strengthen our argument. Booth gives his readers a good explanation of what the word means and how it is portrayed in essays.
The “Allegory of the Cave” was drafted over a century ago by the philosopher Plato yet, the main themes and concepts of the story are still used in the modern film “The Matrix”. Plato’s allegory tells a tale of a group of men held in captivity and are having their minds controlled based upon a false version of reality. In comparison, the storyline of “The Matrix”, directed by Andy Wachowski, is based upon a falsified alter reality where humans are enslaved inside simulations created by machines thus controlling their minds. The “Allegory of the Cave” and “The Matrix” both question a universal truth and how one version of realism can contradict the very foundation of reality. Though Plato’s story is simpler and creates a more relative perspective
Plato’s Allegory of “The Cave”: Are we living a lie and can we truly know true forms after the fact?
Plato's “The Allegory of The Cave” states the objects we see are merely shadows of the real world. In the story, he explains how the prisoners can not see anything but the shadows on the walls and they are “chained” in life. Their only perception of the world is what they believe they see and hear in the shadows. The “chains” restrict them from the truth. People who perceive the world like this have a false idea on realism and never show their full potential in life.
Rhetoric is the art of effective speaking or writing, and persuasion. Most people use rhetoric numerous of times in their everyday life without their concern or knowing.
In book seven of ‘The Republic’, Plato presents possibly one of the most prominent metaphors in Western philosophy to date titled ‘Allegory of the Cave’.