Rhetoric, in the most general sense, is the energy in emotion and thought, transmitted through a system of signs, including language, to others to influence their decisions or actions.
George Kennedy, “Introduction,” Aristotle On Rhetoric
Your time has come, your second skin.
You climb so high and gain so low.
Walk through the valley.
The written word is a lie.May the road rise with you. (4x)
I could be wrong. I could be right. (3x)
I could be black, I could be white,
I could be right, I could be wrong,
I could be black, I could be white.They put a hotwire to my head
‘cuz of the things I did and said.
They made these feelings go away,
but those feelings get in every way.May the road rise with you. (4x)
Anger is an energy. (4x)
There was a time that I would have agreed with Kennedy that rhetoric is systematic and symbolic (semiotic). I am not so sure any more. But I wish I knew where he was drawing (in the classical world) the idea that rhetoric is an energy, and that this energy is inherent in thought and emotion.
