Rhetoric

It was about half way through the Foss Foss and Trapp reading, when I realized I really did not know what the exact meaning of the word rhetoric meant. In the dictionary, it was simply put: "using language effectively to please or persuade" This article had a very interesting argument, which really made me think about how we all go about living our lives. Rhetoric has always been used a form of communication, and according the Foss Foss and Trapp "rhetoric is the human use of symbols to communicate". This statement is quite true in my opinion. We always are using symbols to define who we are, or what sports teams we support. In fact most of the things we interact with on a daily basis is a symbol.
We all love visuals and multimedia. Who doesn't love using that new gadget or computer, fresh out of the box. But what led us to buy it? Was it because of the design of the box, or the flashy ads for the product? This is why visuals are rhetoric. We use them as a very effective tool of communication, where we basically allow visuals to convey any sort of message. Marketing can be used as an example of using rhetoric for visual use.