Do I think that all of life is about persuasion?

I am sitting here, at my computer desk, pondering the idea the idea that language is persuasion as rhetoric suggests. This idea is complex and thought-provoking all at the same time. First off, in the scholarly definitions of rhetoric that we read prior to class, I especially enjoy two of them: “The duty and office of rhetoric is to apply reason to imagination for the better moving of the will” Francis Bacon. Secondly, “Rhetoric is the art, practice, and study of human communication” Andrea Lunsford. I find those definitions interesting and I believe they both apply to our class discussion this morning.

First off, do I think that all of life is about persuasion? The more I ponder this question I believe that life is about persuasion. Even persuasion in the smallest sense, for example: the water bottle Mr. Garrison always has in class. Well I see the water bottle and think: 1. He recycles and/or (he is cautious about the environment and wants to make a change) and by using that water bottle it makes me think about recycling. He might have the water bottle to save money, to show the water bottle brand, to evince people to save on plastic and reuse a bottle. There are many different reasons why he uses that water bottle and why he might subconsciously want us (“the world”) to see him with that water bottle.

Now, We have and are currently being persuaded with everything we see, do, hear, think. I also agree with this statement. The reason we wear things, do things, say things, is because the “world” told us. The “world” tells us when things are socially accepted and we are then persuaded to “be” like others. Even people who think, “I’m different from everyone else, I’m not like society” well in trying to be different this is also a persuasion. Everything can relate back to something else as a form of persuasion which is all a part of rhetoric and language being connected.