Post 06: Boyd's Use of Rhetoric

    Boyd uses many rhetorical strategies in their essay, "Murder! (Rhetorically Speaking)" in order to convey the idea that using rhetoric when making points is incredibly effective. In this way, they provide examples on top of providing examples. One that I noticed was the use of a hypophora, where the writer asks a question to the reader, only to immediately follow up with the answer. For example, Boyd uses this when they say, "Did you notice all of the things that these reports do similarly? Mere coincidence? I think not." They use this to point their reader towards the point that writers can make assumptions while still being objective. Boyd goes on to use euphemisms in their writing. That is to say, they use more pleasant words to convey less pleasant ones. They do this by using the works of their students. "Notice, though, that she doesn’t say that Mark Smith “died” or “croaked” or was “offed”;" Thus, the audience is given many examples of what exactly a euphemism is. By using these strategies, Boyd has convinced me of their persuasiveness, and I would absolutely recommend this essay to anyone that needs a little help with rhetoric. 

Comments

  1. Bradley FlorenceJuly 2, 2022 at 2:45 PM

    Boyd's use of her example that you pointed out is excellent. When writing or speaking to a person, you would most certainly not want to use the words that a person "croaked" or "offed" this would certainly give some funny looks from the audience in a setting where funny looks are not a good thing.

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  2. Malik ThomasJuly 2, 2022 at 11:51 PM

    Great work, addressing your audience properly can and the terminology you use has a significant effect on the person perceiving the information. You can have a great point and argument, but if no one wants to use it effectively, it is useless.

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