SPCM 201 1st Edition Final Exam Study GuideSTUDY TOPICS:  Why do Colonists/Americans embrace the study/practice of rhetoric in the “New World”?  Small communities who had to make practical decisions about how to live and govern (like the Greek polis)- DIY decision-making in Town Halls  Freedom of speech guaranteed by distance from a powerful monarch Religious zeal that prompted a missionary cause Borrowed from a British education system that still taught Rhetoric  Who is John Quincy Adams? Why might we consider him a rhetorical thinker?  1767-1848 A.D. 6th President of the United States - Son of 2nd President  Congressmen, Senator, and Secretary of State Lawyer Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at Harvard University  He had government chair—highest position in rhetoric for the United States  The Boylston Chair of Rhetoric and Oratory at Harvard University  Inaugurated June 12, 1806 at Harvard University An endowed lecturing position for a distinguished practitioner of rhetoric Gave yearly lectures to students  Still exists today; but there is no rhetoric class at Harvard Adams’s defense(s) of rhetoric (vs. “pedantic,” “frivolous”, and/or “pernicious”)  Rhetoric is a “pedantic science” that is “never applicable to any valuable purpose inthe business of the world”  Rhetoric is a “frivolous science” that is “childish” and appeals to “festivals” more than sober concerns of real life Rhetoric is a “pernicious science” that “misleads judgment by the imagination”  The relationship between Liberty and Rhetoric (Eloquence)  Like rhetoric, liberty allows us the freedom to present what we want, however liberty still limits you somewhat. To gain a sense of eloquence one must use the aspect of liberty to there advantage. Rhetoric and its relationship to the “Free State”  “The only birthplace of eloquence therefore must be a free state.” Under a deposit: “eloquence can never arise…for eloquence is the child of liberty andcan descend from no other stock.” By contrast, in a free state: “eloquence will spring to light; will flourish, will rise to highest perfection, of which will rise to human art”  Who is Sarah Grimké?  1792-1873 A.D. Daughter of a South Carolina Slave owner  Wealthy  Every family member has their own slave Quaker Educated by private tutors Art, needle work (appropriate at the time) With her sister, she became a strong anti-slavery advocate, particularly as speaker and advocate Quickly realized women’s rights were equally as important  Advocate and speaker, Grimke was quickly attacked  Fire was set off in new at which she spoke in Not only by pro-slavery advocates Also by men who rejected women’s right to speak in public- Especially in Church  Grimké’s letters: her audiences, reasons for writing, etc.  Female character is at risk, but it is the fault of male “usurpers” who seek to deny women “the sphere which God created us to move in”  Women “hardly dare to speak their sentiments” In fact, men try to use the Bible to silence women (incorrectly) Consider: Language in the bible is gender neutral Directions are given to men and women both, not just men The minister go so far ad to claim that women should not speak to potential converts, but should send them to men instead  Letters Letter III: Why does the General Assembly of Congregationalist Ministers reject women as speakers?  Letter III RESOLVED- “Whatever is right for man to do, is right for women” - Including public speaking  Letter IV: The Social Intercourses of the Sexes - How should men and women converse and spend time together?- Of particular concern to Grimke who spoke to “promiscuous audiences” and kept mixed company- Grimke: rules for this are “derogatory to man and woman, as moral and intellectual begins” Letter XIV. The Ministry of Women - Should women be permitted to preach the word of God? Grimke: If it is morally right for women to do everything that a man can do, then it is the duty of women to also preach Without doing so, women are not meeting the proper station afforded them by their creator  The result is great evil  Style: how words were used practically as well as evidenceChurch uses language and source of knowledge against the men who use it otherwise Being commanded to speak or preach by God: issues among women, men, and God Men, not God, put women in these limited speaking roles Therefore, women often face a difficult decision  Women must defy God to please men when they should defy men to please God Should women be permitted to preach the word of God? Grimke: If it is morally right for women to do everything that a man can do, then it is the duty of women to also preach Without doing so, women are not meeting the proper station afforded them by their creator - The result is great evil  Who is Frederick Douglass? Why must he balance authenticity and persuasion?  1818-1895 A.D. Born into slavery and escaped into freedom A lifelong activist against the institution of slavery and for civil rights  Perpetually faces challenges to his ability to speak  Perhaps the greatest speaker in American history  Tricky balancing act his entire life… 1. Acquiring knowledge and using white people’s values against them  2. Documenting his own life story  3. A complex rhetorical style Who is Friedrich Nietzsche  1844-1900 A.D. German philosopher, thinker, and poet  Focused on ideas related to power, doubt, questioning Truth and religion Highly influential on postmodernism Often labeled a nihilist Probably wrongly  Debby downer  Nietzsche on Truth and Language Knowing (or the belief in Knowing) is a “blinding fog over the eyes and sense of men, thus deceiving them concerning the value of existence.” Blinds us from the reality of what is around is  Human being don’t KNOW anything; in fact we are, by nature, DECIEVERS and LIARS  What is the function of the Truth for Nietzsche?  There is real, authentic TRUTH, only a Truth function “Uniformly valid and binding designation is invented for things” We, as a community, get together and decide we will call something true to serve a social function, not because we know it to be