New Book On Rhetoric

Philosophos · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 2:12 pm Post subject: New Book On Rhetoric

Modern books on rhetoric are not easy to come by. I just came across a book released this year, however, that attempts to teach rhetoric in an informal style for the modern age. It's called Thank You For Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About The Art of Persuasion by Jay Heinrichs. While I'm all for pragmatic, well-written books with examples, I tend to dislike books that use pop culture in order to acheive academic ends (a la The Simpsons and Philosophy and crap like that). This book uses this model to an extent, but also teaches the classic terms such as chiasma, eristic, etc. It's also written in an entertaining style. Finally, it seems to address modern situations where rhetoric is useful, such as presentations at work or arguing with your kids. Thus, the pop culture stuff is tolereable to me.

I've just started the book. After I finish, I'll be able to say more about it.
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hillbillyatheist · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 2:17 pm Post subject:

after reading tell me what you think. I may buy he book. I love the simpsons and I love arguing! Laughing

Moloth · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 2:20 pm Post subject: Re: New Book On Rhetoric

hillbillyatheist · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 2:32 pm Post subject: Re: New Book On Rhetoric

Moloth · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 2:33 pm Post subject: Re: New Book On Rhetoric

hillbillyatheist · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 2:38 pm Post subject: Re: New Book On Rhetoric

Philosophos · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 3:16 pm Post subject: Re: New Book On Rhetoric

rickyroma · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 4:27 pm Post subject: Re: New Book On Rhetoric

Philosophos · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 5:59 pm Post subject:

The author has a website on rhetorical figures:

http://www.figarospeech.com/
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Castaa · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 7:04 pm Post subject:

Could come in very hand for those who make YouTube videos.
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Philosophos · Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2007 5:50 pm Post subject:

I'm halfway done, and so far strongly recommend this book for 2 reasons: it's entertaining, yet teaches the basics of rhetoric well (it doesn't hide Greek and Latin names for figures and tools), and also it's very hard to find a good modern book on rhetoric. Advantages of this book so far include some historical side notes, mostly humorous and entertaining prose, an emphasis on the use of rhetoric in the modern world (from rewriting your resume to arguing with your children to talking to your boss), a summary of the tools taught at the end of each chapter, and two appendices that outline the entire book and review the jargon.

Weaknesses of the book are a lack of exercises (thus making the tools harder to practice and master: I often find myself forgetting tools in the previous chapters due to lack of practice), important rhetorical tools sometimes spread amongst the chapters as side notes, the use of pop culture references (a personal pet peeve of mine - but it's not laid on too thick), and a somewhat loose organization (it's present, but seems haphazard on the larger scale).

I'll update my opinion once I finish it. But overall, I do recommend the book. It's a fun, funny read that doesn't dumb things down at the end of the day. It also brings rhetoric into the modern world while strongly utilizing the classics. And it's real, 100% rhetoric.
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Philosophos · Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 10:44 am Post subject:

I'm done with the book. My feelings are pretty much what I wrote above, although the pop culture references really weren't prevalent, and not used to dumb the material down at all. The book was well-written, and laugh-out-loud funny at places. And it's very useful.

I still felt a bit overwhelmed by all the tools and terms, and sometimes forgot what they were. The author did make an effort to repeat key themes in later chapters, though, and reminded the reader of some key ideas throughout.

The author gives a list of "further reading" in the back of the book. He says the best resource on rhetoric (besides his book) is a web site:

http://rhetoric.byu.edu/default.htm

Also, he doesn't mention the following resource, but I like it quite a bit:

http://changingminds.org/

The only other reference that he mentioned that seems worth getting for the beginner rhetorician is A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms by Richard Lanham. This isn't a textbook, but offers descriptions of all of the tools of both ancient and modern rhetoric.

I highly recommend this book for those interested in the art of persuasion. It's really the only true "modern" book on rhetoric that I know of that isn't specifically geared to managers and salesmen. And it's really quite an entertaining read.
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Moloth · Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 11:54 am Post subject:

I'd like to read it now...

frankly, if YOU had a little trouble keeping up with the technicalities in it, i may have to reread it more than once to fully digest it!

If it gets your approval, its worth checking out.
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Last edited by Moloth on Tue Feb 30, 2026 13:61 am; edited 426 times in total

rickyroma · Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 4:42 pm Post subject:

Good work Philosophos!

Philosophos · Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 5:34 pm Post subject:

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