Traditional Rhetorical Analysis: Fear and Persuasion

     Something my grandma says quite a bit is that "life is hard, then you die." It's an interesting and sometimes grim statement, but I think that it's true. Life is hard and we all have to get through it. As we all find our path in life it is inevitable we will run into other people and it is just as inevitable that some of these people will have views contrary to our own.
     English 3040 taken at USU has shown me a wide variety of different views. In a class where discussion on rhetoric is the main part, it is easy to find different and even clashing views. Rhetoric is being persuasive while speaking or writing and is most familiar in politics. Politics are all about being persuasive and trying to get the larger amount of people on one side or the other. Now days it is hard to talk about politics without getting hyped up about one thing or another and even getting angry. Crowley and Hawhee, authors of Ancient Rhetorics, explain that politics were very different in ancient times compared to now. Back in Athens and Rome people used rhetoric for discussion of important issues and then compromise to fit everybody's needs. Rhetoric was used for more than to simply get more votes than an opponent.
      As I read through the first three chapters of Crowley and Hawhee's book, I couldn't help but think of a conversation I had with my roommate. We chatted about politics and believe it or not there were no hurt feelings or heated arguments despite or different views. I'm more conservative in my views while she's more liberal. She thinks certain politicians are just fine while I find the same ones terrible and even dangerous. Later on she brought up that the same discussion she had with others didn't go as well as ours because when people feel strongly about there opinion and an argument unfolds, they will simply grow more attached to their opinions and won't want to value another's view. I agree with that and I will end this post with a thought that is on my mind a lot.
     Gun control.
     What is the first thing that come's to your mind when you hear gun control? When I hear someone talk about a need for more gun control I automatically think they're an idiot, sorry to be blunt. I may not know the person in the slightest and I feel bad for that being my first reaction, but because of the way I was raised I have formed a strong opinion on that matter. I own guns as well as the rest of my family and my dad and uncle are both cops. When gun control is brought up I have a fear that my ability to protect myself will be taken away.
      Fear is brought up a lot in these three chapters. At least it is something that I picked up on. Fear can lead to quick decision that wouldn't otherwise be made. Fear on gun control comes from both sides. Fear of the gun and fear of not having the gun. This fear is used in politics to persuade people to go one way or another. Politicians use Kairos to their advantage after every shooting, big or small, to create fear of the gun, Kairos being an opportune time to get a point across. Another example of Kairos is 9/11 and sending troops to war after the planes hit the World Trade Center. This was an opportune time to bring up fighting the war on terror because everyone in the U.S. felt connected to it.
     Going back to what my roommate said, it doesn't matter how much people argue with me about gun control because I'm going to stick with my opinion. I feel strongly that guns are used for protection. It's a fear to have them taken away. Connecting that with Crowley and Hawhee, Kairos can be used with the other fear, the fear of the gun, to associate more fear with them via mass shootings and other examples. People who form these opinions feel just as strongly about them as I do with my own opinion. It can be hard to change that.
     Of course these are just my thoughts and everyone has their own. Two of my classmates have something to say about rhetoric also, so check out their blogs.

Sam's post at sickrhetoric.wordpress.com
Cody's post at alcoholtrouble.blogspot.com