TEACH RHETORIC IN SCHOOLS!!!!!!

One of the supposed benefits of a Democratic or Republican form of government is that arguments, logic, and reason help us decide which actions to take as opposed to force being the deciding factor like in other forms of government. This is something I was taught from elementary school and all throughout college. One issue I could not help but notice when reflecting on my scholastic career is that, at least public schools teach very little philosophy, logic, reasoning, and rhetoric. It was only when I sought out those types of classes in college that I began to learn about them. Yes, in high school we were taught about people like Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero, but we were really only taught summaries of what they thought, and we never did much actual reading and analysis of their own writings. Why in a system of government that is supposedly ruled through words, persuasion or more simply, rhetoric are we not taught how to properly analyze it?

Maybe because today the word rhetoric almost has a negative connotation. It is almost always associated with a negative concept in media. A headline from Salon reads “A Field Guide to Trump’s Dangerous Rhetoric.” A headline from Fox News reads “Will Democratic Leaders Address Violent Rhetoric?” On both left-wing and right-wing media, rhetoric is frequently proceeded by a negative word, which causes readers to subconsciously link the word “rhetoric” with objectionable notions. I am not sure exactly when rhetoric became so consistently linked to nasty perceptions, but rhetoric in of itself is not a bad thing. The only people who should fear rhetoric are those who do not understand it, which is one of the reasons why we should teach it in schools.

Rhetoric defined simply is the study and practice of utilizing language to persuade others. Now obviously rhetoric, like all other tools can be used to harm or hurt others. For example, rhetoric can be used to convince someone to donate to charity or join a gang. If one does not understand rhetoric and rhetorical devices, then they are more prone to be persuaded by faulty logic and people who use rhetoric to manipulate others like oily snake-like used-car salesmen. If they are taught rhetoric, then they will be less likely to be persuaded by faulty logic. Additionally, rhetoric is present in many areas of society, perhaps most noticeably and importantly in politics. What are political campaigns other than barrages of visual, verbal, and written rhetoric at voters? If every voter better understood rhetoric than our politicians would all be masterful persuaders, whose speeches would be eloquent. If all our politicians were master persuaders, then debates would be more entertaining, persuasive, and informative. If voters and politicians all had an improved grasp on rhetoric, they would be able to also understand their opponents better and where they come from. Perhaps this would lead to more bipartisanship among voters and politicians. Additionally, if all our politicians were master persuaders then it would also follow that they would be more intelligent than the politicians who represent now. Why would there be any reason we would not want more intelligent politicians? If our politicians were more intelligent then would not the laws, they pass be better crafted? And would better crafted laws not serve all our citizens better? Clearly if every voter and politician better understood rhetoric our republic would only be improved.

If the prospect of a healthier republic is not appealing than perhaps a more pragmatic view can be more persuasive. Being able to understand and utilize rhetoric is a practical skill. Sales is essentially just a subset of rhetoric. Sales can be an extremely lucrative career choice. By having our students study rhetoric more, we could prepare them to be successful in a rewarding and high-paying career. Why would we not want to prepare our students to be successful at a profitable career? Additionally, even if our students do not want to go into sales, rhetoric can serve them in other areas of their professional and personal lives. Rhetoric can be employed by young professionals to negotiate for higher wages regardless of what industry one is in. Even if all the previous reasons do not persuade you as to why rhetoric should be taught in schools then perhaps my next point will.

A better knowledge of rhetoric and how to use would result in happier and healthier relationships for everyone. One of the most common reasons for breakups and disputes in interpersonal relationships is due to a lack of or inadequate communication. We can help alleviate this by educating our students to communicate more effectively and directly by teaching them rhetoric. If people understand rhetoric well, then they will be able to communicate with their friends, family, spouses, and love-interests more clearly and directly. This will lead to our students having improved interpersonal relationships. Why would we not want our students to have healthier interpersonal relationships?  

Teaching students about rhetoric and how to use it should be a priority in the American education system. Americans having a better understanding of rhetoric would consequently produce a more engaged voter base along with more intelligent politicians and potentially more bipartisanship. Those would all lead to us having a healthier republic. Additionally, it could set them up to be more successful in sales and getting higher salaries regardless of the industry they enter in to. Furthermore, it could result in Americans having improved interpersonal relationships. In this article I have proven that rhetoric should be taught more in schools.