TransformingRhetoric into Eloquence
Eloquencerefers to persuasive or fluent speech or writing. Rhetoric, on theother hand, refers to the art of effective or persuasive speech orwriting. Rhetoric language often has an impressive or persuasiveeffect but lacks meaningful content or sincerity. Combined, rhetoricand eloquence form crucial base for communication. However, turningrhetoric language into an eloquent language is not a thing thateveryone is capable of doing. Effective communication is afundamental skill which humans should learn, where one should notonly know what to say but also how to say it. Therefore, rhetoricspeakers who displayeloquencein their speeches are more likely to be listened to than those whoonly offer either of the two. An efective speaker transforms rhetoricinto eloquence.
Useof Rhetoric & Eloquence in Speech
Therole of rhetoric is for a speaker to use various methods to, convinceor please a given audience. To achieve this, rhetoric employs the useof ethos, pathos, and logos. Ethos refers to the fundamental set ofbeliefs which a given society lives by. Pathos refers to the qualityof speech which evokes sadness or pity, while logos refers to aliteral device in a speech which is used to persuade an audience byemploying reason or logic. Thebook of Job, which is often referred as a classic in worldliterature, is about a man (Job) who suffers immensely though beingrighteous. Job, therefore, seeks to understand why innocent peoplesuffer, yet the wicked evade suffering. The book involves heatedconversation between Job’s wife and friends. In the conversation,Job’s wife urges him to “curse God and die” to gain relief fromhis suffering (KingJames Bible,Job.2.9).Thisstatement achieves a dramatic effect on Job. His wife tries topersuade him into dying, due to the suffering he has. Job’s wifecan be referred to as a rhetorician. A rhetorician finds an agenda,searches for possibilities then uses reason, based on facts, to findsolutions to the problems identified by bringing together twocontrasting ideas to make them work together. A rhetorician thenarranges his given solution in a manner that is expressible toresolve the problem. The issue of eloquence comes with the mode ofdelivery. While seeking to offer a solution, Job’s wife hardlyprovides any. Rhetorical thinking involves the capability to developarguments. Little of that is observed in the book of Job. The qualityof artistry in Job’s wife’s speech is poor (Puchner121).
Inthe book Sonny Blues, Baldwin employs the use of argumentative, yetcombative use of intelligence to engage Sonny in a conversation andget to change his mind. Sonny wants to be a musician, a thing thatBaldwin doesn’t seem to be comfortable with. To give Sonny his sideof reason Baldwin selectively chooses his language while trying topersuade Sonny. Rhetoriclanguage often has an impressive or persuasive effect but lacksmeaningful content or sincerity. This can be seen in Baldwin’ssays, “I’m ignorant, I’m sorry. I’ll go out and buy all thecat’s records right away, all right?” (Baldwin 1705) While tryingto make his communication effective, Baldwin further says, “I wasthinking this would probably turn out to be one of these things kidsgo through and that I shouldn’t make it seem important by pushingtoo hard.” (Baldwin 1705). Baldwin’s talk with Sonny is not justmere talk. He seeks to connect with Sonny and convince him otherwise.It is important that Sonny gets to see his logic, which employs theuse of logos. Baldwin falters and uses gentle language to soundreasonable to Sonny by showing him how important it is to makecrucial decisions wisely. Baldwin shows logic of how time is ebbingaway, and that Sonny should look at life more seriously. This art ofpersuasion show’s Baldwin’s eloquence, as a skill incommunication
Conclusion
Effectivecommunication is a critical skill which is needed for one to havesuccess in life or any given field. The conversations seen in thebook of Job shows how lack of eloquence can make communicationdifficult. In addition, the conversations do not come to a purposefulend, since Job eventually does away with the advice that his wife andfriends give. Lack of eloquence makes communication difficult. On theother hand, Baldwin shows how the use of eloquence results in anengaging conversation. Sonny does listen to him, and it is this artof persuasion that makes successful communication possible. Theseexamples shows how talking is different from speaking. Speakingcreates a connection between people engaging in a conversation, whilespeaking can simply to likened to just saying words without little orno impact. The aim of conversations is to pass information. That willonly be successful if one employs eloquence.
WorksCited
Baldwin,James. Sonny`sblues.Ernst Klett Sprachen, 2009.
Puchner,Martin. The Norton Anthology World Literature. Volume 1.The Book ofJob. Publisher: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
TheHoly Bible, King James Version. Cambridge Edition: 1769 King JamesBible Online, 2016. www.kingjamesbibleonline.org.
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