Writing Prompt #1

The comic uses the ideas of rhetoric argument to show how different perceptions influence human’s reactions to different rhetorical strategies. The comic uses an example of President George Washington’s dentures to show how certain claims seem to be accepted more readily than other claims. The comic claims that the backfire effect causes this acceptance disparity. Our brains react to some verbal challenges the same as it would a physical attack. The comic seems motivated to introduce the audience to the tools of rhetoric by showing how claims and arguments are interpreted. This reception by the audience of certain claims is essential to understanding the tools used to persuade an audience. The creator of the comic assumes that the audience is having certain reactions to the claims it is making. This assumption is related to the evidence required to qualify certain claims and the type of evidence used. The Crowley and Hawhee chapter discusses the ancient understanding of evidence. This is an important supplement to the reactions of claims. The history and nature of evidence is important to an audiences expectations of a claim’s qualification. The ethical appeal of the comic is that it is claiming that the knee jerk reactions to claims can be tamed and argument can be used to benefit our societies. The most surprising information in the media for this prompt is the infatuation with factual evidence in modern history. What developed that changed the established rhetorical practices of ancient Greece and Rome?