At the same time, the public discussion of issues of public interest is of great importance for the formation of the mechanisms of democratic procedures, for everyday democratic practice. Without the skills and habit of public discussion of socially significant problems of both national and local importance by ordinary citizens of Russia, the formation and development of a democratic state is impossible.
There is no experience of public discussions in Russian political practice, and generally accepted rules for holding such events, uniform requirements for the rules of speeches and for answering questions, and the distribution of roles for participants in the discussion. There is no tradition of equal observance of the rules by all participants in such discussions, regardless of their official position, there is no experience of respectfully asking questions and respectfully answering substantive questions, there is no tradition of strict adherence to ethical and rhetorical norms of discussion.
Discussions in newspapers arouse the interest of readers, but have a limited resonance, since people often do not believe in the effectiveness of the newspaper word, they believe that discussions and compromising evidence are made to order and do not reflect the truth. It must be admitted that modern Russian society almost completely lacks the tradition and technique of a comprehensive democratic public discussion of problems of public interest in labor collectives, discussion clubs, educational institutions and, in general, at the level of ordinary citizens.
At present, human rights are gradually becoming the most important aspect of the public life of developed countries. Under these conditions, it became necessary to convince people, moreover, people who are not equal to each other in terms of education and culture, but who require equal treatment. In democracies, persuading people has become essential in preparing for elections. A person is individually unique, not like others, and this makes communication difficult, necessitates learning to communicate.
History shows that during periods of fundamental social change, rhetoric has always been in demand by life - we can recall the role and place of rhetoric in life Ancient Greece, ancient rome, in the era of the Great French Revolution, the period of the American Civil War, the role of revolutionary rhetoric after the overthrow of the autocracy and during the October Revolution and civil war in Russia. It is no coincidence that public speech played such a prominent role in ancient democracies and disappeared in the Middle Ages, when mainly theological and church rhetoric dominated.
The development of democracy, the spread of the ideas of individual freedom and the equality of people before the law determined the need of society for rhetoric, which would show how to convince an equal to an equal.
The role of rhetoric in public life
Rhetoric is the science of oratory and eloquence. The linguistic features of oral public speaking, bringing rhetoric closer to poetics, suggest the use of techniques in a rhetorical work designed to convince the listener, his expressive processing. Teaching public (oratory) speech involves the formation of various skills (linguistic, logical, psychological, etc.) aimed at developing the rhetorical competence of students, i.e. ability and willingness to effective communication.
Definition of modern rhetoric as a discipline. The relevance of rhetoric in modern Russian society.
Samples of student essays
Samples of students' essays on the discipline can be found at the Department of Philosophy, History and Sociology of the Belarusian State Technical University (room A23).
Rhetoric is the science of oratory and eloquence. The ability to speak a word is an integral part of the general culture of a person, his education. The role of language in the formation of a person's personality. Reflection of the state of morality in society through language.
Rhetoric - the classical science of the expedient and appropriate word - is in demand today as a tool for managing and improving the life of society, shaping the personality through the word.
Rhetoric teaches to think, cultivates a sense of the word, forms a taste, establishes the integrity of the worldview. Through advice and recommendations, thoughtful and expressive texts, rhetorical education dictates the style of thought and life in modern society, giving a person confidence in today's and tomorrow's existence.
In Russia, as in any developed democratic country, public democratic discussion of various public problems is the most important condition for the very existence of a democratic state, the basis of its functioning, a guarantee of public approval of important decisions by the population It cannot be argued that public discussions in modern Russia are completely absent. But on vital issues, when it is necessary to make an important decision at the state or local level, such discussions are carried out mainly by the administrative or legislative elite, and more often behind the scenes.
Such discussions are practiced in elected political bodies: in the State Duma, in local self-government bodies. There are talk shows on television. These programs reflect the society's need for a public discussion of problems and interest in such discussions. At the same time, it should be noted that minor problems are often discussed, many of the programs quickly disappear, which shows the instability of the public's interest in such programs.
Social progress in the XX century. significantly expanded the possibilities of rhetoric. Millions of people in Russia were involved in the processes of political transformation: three revolutions, two world wars, the Cold War, the spread of democracy in the world, the collapse of the USSR affected the population of the country. Radio and television contributed to the influence of the word on the mindset of a huge audience.
The role and possibilities of oratory have greatly increased. End XX - beginning of XXI in. marked by the democratization of public life in Russia and the countries of the former socialist camp. The former Soviet republics became independent states. Democratic elections of presidents, parliamentarians, and self-government bodies have drawn millions of people into political life. Oratory is in demand again.
It is necessary in every possible way to encourage the development of oral public discussion of socially significant problems in Russian society, as well as to teach rhetorical skills, starting from school. The rhetorical education of Russian citizens is a very important task today.
2. In the science of rhetoric, scientists distinguish two areas: general rhetoric and private. The subject of general rhetoric is general patterns speech behavior (in various situations) and the practical possibilities of using them in order to make speech effective.
The general rhetoric contains the following sections:
1. rhetorical canon;
2. public speaking (oratorio);
3. dispute management;
4. conducting a conversation;
5. rhetoric of everyday communication;
6. ethno-rhetoric.
Let's take a brief look at each section.
Rhetorical canon- This is a system of special signs and rules that originate in ancient rhetoric. Following these rules, you can find answers to the following questions: what to say? in what order? as(what words)? In other words, the rhetorical canon traces the path from thought to word, describing three stages: content invention, location invented in the right order and verbal in expressions e.
Oratorio, or the theory and practice of public speech - a special section of rhetoric, a very important section. After all, fluency in the word is mandatory for a person who wants to defend his point of view in public, to persuade the audience to his side. Recall that rhetoric is a "child of democracy." And the great attention that is being paid to it today shows that our society is oriented towards democratic positions.
Theory and Art of Arguing This is also the realm of rhetoric. In a democratic society, there are many opinions on issues that affect the life of an individual and society as a whole. Learning to behave with dignity in a dispute, to be able to direct it in such a way that it becomes a work to achieve the truth, and not an empty bickering, is always important, and especially today.
Conversation also studies general rhetoric. For those who want to know the reasons why people do not understand each other, learn the factors of success, who want to learn how to correctly determine the strategy and tactics of a conversation (any conversation, both secular and business), rhetoric will give the necessary practical recommendations.
The rhetoric of everyday communication gives knowledge about the speech behavior of people in their everyday, everyday, "home" life. It will help you find answers to the following questions: how friendly, friendly, family relationships? What role do the features of speech behavior play in their formation and development?
Regarding the rhetoric of everyday communication, it must be said that some experts classify it as private rhetoric, while others consider it one of the areas of general rhetoric. The latter, in defense of their point of view, give the following arguments: this rhetoric “concerns such an area of human life in which everyone participates and very general laws of speech interaction operate” (21, 37). One way or another, but the rhetoric of everyday communication exists and can have practical help to anyone.
Ethno-rhetoric studies national and cultural differences in people's speech behavior. Rhetorical knowledge will help to avoid situations of misunderstanding between people of different nationalities and in the field of business communication, and in areas relating to spiritual values. Thus, a rhetorically educated person will understand why the Americans believe that when negotiating our business people do not state their position clearly and definitely, and why the Japanese see the Russians as excessively categorical in their judgments. Once again, it's all about difference. national cultures and understanding this will help avoid communication errors.
Private rhetoric study special areas, which are called areas of "increased speech responsibility", because in them the responsibility of a person for his speech behavior, for the ability or inability to master the word is extremely high. These are diplomacy, medicine, pedagogy, administrative and organizational activities, etc. This is what the author burns about this study guide"Rhetoric" N. A. Mikhailichenko:
“Probably, there are no such professions where a skillful command of the word would not come in handy. But in some areas of human activity, it becomes simply necessary, is a prerequisite effective work. Lawyer, teacher, social worker, manager, politician, preacher must master the art of speech if they want to reach the top in their profession. After all, they constantly have to communicate with people, talk, advise, instruct, speak publicly, in an official setting. And in order to make a public speech, it’s not enough to know what to say, you also need to know how to say it, you need to imagine the features of oratorical speech, take into account many factors that affect the speaker and listeners, and master the technique of speaking” (20, 6).
In our country, "Pedagogical Rhetoric" by A. K. Mikhalskaya, "Business Rhetoric" by L. A. Vvedenskaya and L. G. Pavlova have already been published, and other textbooks are being developed. In this manual, addressed primarily to future managers, we will also turn to private rhetoricians, although the main emphasis is on the laws of general rhetoric, which provide a key to any of its areas.
3 . The origin of rhetoric: socio-political prerequisites for its formation.
The objective basis for the emergence of oratory as a social phenomenon was the urgent need for public discussion and resolution of issues of social significance. History shows that the most important condition for the manifestation and development of oratory, the free exchange of opinions on vital issues, the driving force behind critical thought are democratic forms of government, the active participation of free citizens in the political life of the country.
Rhetoric as a systematic discipline developed in ancient Greece during the era of Athenian democracy. During this period, the ability to speak in public was considered a necessary quality of every full citizen. As a result, the Athenian democracy can be called the first rhetorical republic. Separate elements of rhetoric (for example, fragments of the doctrine of figures, forms of argumentation) arose even earlier in ancient india and in ancient China, but they were not brought together into a single system and did not play such an important role in society.
So, eloquence became an art under the conditions of the slave system, which created certain opportunities for direct influence on the mind and will of fellow citizens with the help of the speaker's living word.
The flowering of rhetoric coincided with the flowering of ancient democracy, when three institutions began to play the leading role in the state: the people's assembly, the people's court, the Council of Five Hundred. Political issues were publicly decided, courts were held. In order to win over the people (demos), it was necessary to present their ideas in the most attractive way. Under these conditions, eloquence becomes necessary for every person.
Sophists. Their role in the development of rhetoric
A sophist is a person who knows how to hide the main thing behind subtleties and details, knows how to prove the truth of what corresponds to his goals. The course of such reasoning and the art of subtly proving what is necessary, but not necessarily true, are called sophistry. Sophism is understood as a logically or in detail correct, but in its essence not a true judgment. Rhetoric is scornfully called an empty verbal embellishment that leads away from the main thing. The appearance of a second meaning in these words, carrying a negative assessment, is associated with the peculiarities of the worldview of the sophists. For sophists, everything in the world is relative, everything is subjective, and life itself is colorful, changeable and infinitely diverse. What was beautiful for a person yesterday becomes ugly tomorrow. It all depends on his mood, age, etc. “So what is there to talk about? asks the sophist Protagoras. “I said that I would prove the identity of the ugly and the beautiful…”
The rhetorical ideal of the Sophists had the following features:
1) It was “manipulating” rhetoric, monologue. For the speaker, the addressee is more of a passive object of influence than an active subject. His mind can be manipulated.
2) The rhetoric of the sophists is agonal (from the Greek agon - struggle, competition), i.e. the rhetoric of a verbal dispute, competitions that are aimed at the victory of one and the defeat of the other.
3) The rhetoric of the Sophists was the rhetoric of relativity. Not the truth was the goal of their disputes, but victory, because, in their opinion, there is no truth, but there is only what they managed to prove.
Known in Ancient Russia and diplomatic eloquence. One of the first serious diplomatic actions dates back to the 10th century, when, after the famous victory of Prince Oleg near Constantinople, the princely ambassadors concluded the “Treaty between the Russians and the Greeks”.
Military eloquence was presented in a worthy manner in Ancient Russia - an appeal to the army to show stamina and courage. Another type of eloquence is solemn. Feasts, funeral feasts, meetings of the winners could not do without corresponding speeches. After the adoption of Christianity by Russia, homiletics develops - solemn and instructive eloquence. Formed as a literary genre in Byzantium, it was widely known in Russia in the "words" and teachings of the Church Fathers, it synthesized the original traditions of oral folk art and the achievements of Eastern Christian preaching.
In the XII century. Kirill Turovsky, the greatest thinker of Ancient Russia, was widely known. He had no equal among his contemporaries either in terms of the volume of the literary heritage left behind, or in terms of popularity and authority. He was called "Chrysostom, who more than all shone to us in Russia." The most popular were the "words" of Turovsky, intended for reading in the church on religious holidays. In them, the author manifests himself as a real orator, who is fluent in oratory: he then addresses the audience. sometimes he describes a gospel plot or a complex theological concept with the help of colorful allegories, then he questions and answers himself, he argues with himself in front of the audience, he proves to himself. Turovsky's work testifies to the fact that ancient Russian orators were fluent in all the variety of techniques developed by ancient rhetoric. This influenced the dissemination of relevant knowledge in a secular environment.
There are examples of quite secular public eloquence in the Lay of Igor's Campaign. Suffice it to recall the appeal to the princes of Svyatoslav.
The term "rhetoric" in Russian first appears in the translation of the Greek manuscript "On Images" in 1073. And the earliest of the Russian manuals, The Rhetoric of Macarius, appeared at the beginning of the 17th century.
4. Rhetoric is one of the most ancient philological sciences. It took shape in the 4th century BC. in Greece. The word ρητορική means "oratory or the doctrine of oratory", but the main content of rhetoric already at that time was the theory of argumentation in public speech. The great Greek philosopher and scientist Aristotle (384-322 BC) defined this science as “the ability to find possible ways of persuading about any given subject”1.
The task of rhetoric, according to Aristotle, was to make the moral principles on which social life should be based become more convincing than selfish and material-practical considerations: “Rhetoric is useful because truth and justice are by nature stronger than their opposites, and if decisions are not properly delivered, then truth and justice are necessarily overcome by their opposites, which is reprehensible.
Science was divided in antiquity into three areas: physics, knowledge about nature; ethics - knowledge of social institutions; logic - knowledge about the word as an instrument of thinking and activity.
Education is based on the logical sciences, or organon, as they were called in antiquity and the Middle Ages, since, first of all, a method must be mastered, on the basis of which theoretical knowledge and practical activity are possible.
The organon included the trivium and quadrivium, the seven liberal arts. The trivium included grammar, dialectics, rhetoric. Grammar is the science of the general rules for constructing meaningful speech. Poetics was adjacent to grammar as the science of the artistic word - a kind of "laboratory of language". Dialectics is the science of methods for discussing and solving problems and the technique of scientific proof. Rhetoric is the science of argumentation in public speech, which is necessary when discussing practical issues. The quadrivium, which completed general education, included mathematical sciences: arithmetic and music, geometry and astronomy.
The founders of rhetoric were the classical sophists of the 5th century. BC. highly appreciating the word and the power of his conviction.
It is customary to trace the beginning of rhetoric to the 460s BC. and associate with the activities of the senior sophists Corax, Tisias, Protagoras and Gorgias.
Corax allegedly wrote the textbook The Art of Persuasion, which has not come down to us, and Tisias opened one of the first schools for teaching eloquence. It should be noted that the attitude towards sophistry and sophists was ambivalent and contradictory, which was reflected even in the understanding of the word "sophist": at first it meant a sage, a talented, capable, experienced person in any art; then, gradually, the unscrupulousness of the sophists, their virtuosity in defending directly opposite points of view led to the fact that the word "sophist" acquired a negative connotation and began to be understood as a false sage, charlatan, cunning.
The theory of rhetoric was actively developed by the sophist philosopher Protagoras (481-411 BC) from Abdera in Thrace. He was one of the first to use the dialogical form of presentation, in which two interlocutors express opposite views. Paid teachers appear - sophists, who not only taught practical eloquence, but also composed speeches for the needs of citizens. Sophists constantly emphasized the power of the word, carried out verbal battles between exponents of different views, competed in virtuosity in mastering the living word.
Gorgias (480-380 BC) was a student of Corax and Thissia. He is considered the founder or at least the discoverer of figures as one of the main objects of rhetoric. He himself actively used figures of speech (parallelism, homeoteleuton, i.e. uniform endings, etc.), tropes (metaphors and comparisons), as well as rhythmically constructed phrases. Gorgias narrowed down the subject of rhetoric, which was too vague for him: unlike other sophists, he claimed that he did not teach virtue and wisdom, but only oratory. Gorgias was the first to teach rhetoric in Athens. Undertaking to teach everyone to speak beautifully and being, by the way, a virtuoso of brevity, Gorgias taught everyone who wanted to speak rhetoric so that they could conquer people, “make them their slaves of their own free will, and not under duress.” By the strength of his conviction, he forced the sick to drink such bitter medicines and undergo such operations that even doctors could not force them to do. Gorgias defined rhetoric as the art of speaking.
Lysias (415-380 BC) is considered the creator of judicial speech as a special type of eloquence. His presentation was distinguished by brevity, simplicity, logic and expressiveness, symmetrical construction of phrases.
Isocrates (436-388 BC) is considered the founder of "literary" rhetoric - the first rhetorician who paid primary attention to writing. He was one of the first to introduce the concept of the composition of an oratorical work. The features of his style are complex periods, which, however, have a clear and precise construction and therefore are easily accessible for understanding, rhythmic articulation of speech and an abundance of decorative elements. The rich embellishment made Isocrates' speeches somewhat ponderous to hear.
Classical Greek rhetoric was crowned with the truly tragic figure of the political and judicial orator Demosthenes (384-322 BC). Nature did not endow him with any of the qualities necessary for an orator. A sickly child, cared for by a widowed mother, he received a poor education. Demosthenes had an indistinct, lisping accent, rapid breathing, and a nervous tic; a lot of shortcomings that prevent him from becoming a speaker. At the cost of enormous efforts, constant and hard work, he achieved the recognition of his contemporaries. Circumstances forced him to become an orator: he was ruined by unscrupulous guardians. Actively taking up the defense of his own rights through the courts, he began to take lessons from the well-known specialist Isei, work on getting rid of his shortcomings and eventually won the process. But when he first appeared in public, he was ridiculed and booed. From that moment on, overcoming begins - the most characteristic feature in the fate and personality of Demosthenes.
To make the diction clear, he took pebbles in his mouth and so read passages from the works of poets from memory; he also practiced pronouncing phrases while running or climbing a steep mountain; I tried to learn to say several verses in a row or some long phrase without taking a breath. He studied acting "play", which gives harmony and beauty to speech; to get rid of twitching his shoulder while speaking, he hung a sharp sword in such a way that he pricked his shoulder and so got rid of this habit. He turned any meeting, conversation into a pretext and a subject for hard work: left alone, he set out all the circumstances of the case along with the arguments related to each of them; memorizing speeches, then he restored the course of reasoning, repeated the words spoken by others, came up with all sorts of corrections and ways to express the same thought differently. He sculpted himself, bringing to perfection what nature so casually fulfilled.
The main means of Demosthenes the orator is his ability to captivate the audience with the emotional excitement that he himself experienced when speaking about the position of his native policy in the Hellenic world. Using a question-answer technique, he skillfully dramatized his speech. Demosthenes sometimes supplemented the dialogical form of his speeches with stories, in the pathetic places of his speeches he recited poems by Sophocles, Euripides and other famous poets of the ancient world. In general, Demosthenes's thinking is characterized by irony, sparkling and interrupting at the most pathetic moments of his speeches; actively used antithesis (opposition), rhetorical questions; its syllable is characterized by euphony, the predominance of long syllables, which evoked a feeling of smoothness. Demosthenes preferred logical stress to all methods of emphasizing meaning, so he put the keyword in the first or last place in the period; the use of several, most often a pair, synonyms denoting an action also serves as a means of semantic highlighting: let him speak and advise; rejoice and have fun; cry and shed tears. He often used hyperbole, metaphors, mythological images and historical parallels. Speeches are reasoned, clear in presentation. The main opponent of Demosthenes was the Macedonian king Philip - Demosthenes wrote eight "Philippics", in which he explained to the Athenians the meaning of the aggressive policy of the Macedonian. When Philip received one of the texts of Demosthenes' speech, he said that if he had heard this speech, he would have voted for war against himself. The result of the convincing performances of Demosthenes was the creation of an anti-Macedonian coalition of Greek policies. Having lost the war with the heirs of Alexander the Great, the Athenians were forced to sign very difficult peace conditions and pronounced death sentences on orators who urged them to war against Macedonia. Demosthenes took refuge in the temple of Poseidon, but he was overtaken there too. Then he asked to give him some time to leave a written order at home and drank poison from a reed stick, which the ancient Greeks used to write. Thus ended the days of the greatest master of ancient Greek eloquence, whom the Greeks called simply "orator", as Homer was called simply "poet". However, the glory of Demosthenes did not die with him. The ancients carefully preserved more than 60 of his speeches; Plutarch compiled his extensive biography, comparing his biography with the life of the outstanding orator of Rome, Mark Tullius Cicero. The best epitaph for Demosthenes could be his own words: “It is not the word and the sound of the voice that are valuable in an orator, but the fact that he strives for the same thing that the people strive for and that he hates or loves those whom the homeland hates or loves.”
Based on the developing oratory, attempts began to theoretically comprehend the principles and methods of oratory. Thus was born the theory of eloquence - rhetoric. The greatest contribution to the theory of eloquence was made by Socrates (470-399 BC), Plato (428-348 BC) and Aristotle (384-322 BC).
Plato (427-347 BC) rejected the value relativism of the sophists and noted that the main thing for a rhetor is not copying other people's thoughts, but his own comprehension of the truth, finding his own path in oratory. Plato noted that the main task of oratory is persuasion, meaning, above all, emotional persuasion. He emphasized the importance of a harmonious composition of speech, the speaker's ability to separate the paramount from the unimportant and take this into account in speech.
Aristotle (384-322 BC) completed the transformation of rhetoric into scientific discipline. He established an inextricable link between rhetoric, logic and dialectics, and among the most important features of rhetoric he singled out its "special dynamic expressiveness and approach to the reality of the possible and probabilistic." In the main works devoted to rhetoric (“Rhetoric”, “Topeka” and “On Sophistic Refutations”), Aristotle indicated the place of rhetoric in the system of sciences of antiquity and described in detail everything that formed the core of rhetorical teaching over the following centuries (types of arguments, categories listeners, types of rhetorical speeches and their communicative goals, ethos, logos and pathos, style requirements, tropes, synonyms and homonyms, compositional blocks of speech, methods of proof and refutation, rules of dispute, etc.). Some of these questions after Aristotle were either perceived dogmatically, or were generally removed from rhetorical teaching. Their development was continued only by representatives of the new rhetoric starting from the middle of the 20th century.
The rhetorical ideal of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle can be defined as:
1) dialogical: not manipulating people, but inciting their thoughts - this is the goal of speech communication and the activity of the speaker;
2) harmonizing: the main objective conversation - not a victory at any cost, but the unification of the forces of the participants in communication to reach agreement;
3) semantic: the purpose of a conversation between people, as well as the purpose of speech, is the search and discovery of truth.
rhetoric art eloquence
Moscow State University MESI
Tver branch of MESI
Department of Humanities and Socio-Economic Disciplines
On the subject "General rhetoric"
Topic: "The role of rhetoric in modern society"
Work completed: student of group 38-MO-11
Mistrov A.S.
Checked by the teacher: Zharov V.A.
Tver, 2009
1. What is rhetoric or why are people given language, speech and word? 3
2. The role of language in the formation of a person's personality. 5
3. The role of rhetoric in public life. ten
4. The role of rhetoric in professional activity. thirteen
Conclusion. 17
Literature. eighteen
Introduction
Rhetoric - the classical science of the expedient and appropriate word - is in demand today as a tool for managing and improving the life of society, shaping the personality through the word.
Rhetoric teaches to think, cultivates a sense of the word, forms a taste, establishes the integrity of the worldview. Through advice and recommendations, thoughtful and expressive texts, rhetorical education dictates the style of thought and life in modern society, giving a person confidence in today's and tomorrow's existence.
Rhetoric is the science of oratory and eloquence. The linguistic features of oral public speaking, bringing rhetoric closer to poetics, suggest the use of techniques in a rhetorical work designed to convince the listener, his expressive processing. Teaching public (oratory) speech involves the formation of various skills (linguistic, logical, psychological, etc.) aimed at developing the rhetorical competence of students, i.e. ability and willingness to communicate effectively.
1. What is rhetoric or why a person is given language, speech and word ?
The pathos of studies of the traditional domestic science of language is determined by the desire of scientists to describe the language from the point of view of its internal structure. The task of describing the language structure is noble and vital. However, with such an approach, a person, a person who perceives and generates speech, is left out.
The gift of the word is one of the greatest abilities of a person, elevating him above the world of all living things and making him a proper person. The word is a means of communication between people, a way of exchanging information, a tool for influencing the consciousness and actions of another person.
Gold rusts and steel rots.
The marble crumbles. Everything is ready for death.
The strongest on earth is sadness -
And more durable is the royal Word.
(A. Akhmatova)
Ownership of the word is valued very highly, but not everyone owns the word.
Moreover, the vast majority are hardly able to competently express their thoughts on paper, all the more they do not own rhetoric in its true understanding.
The ability to speak a word is an integral part of the general culture of a person, his education. For an intelligent person, noted A.P. Chekhov, "speaking badly should be considered as indecent as not being able to read and write ... All the best statesmen in the era of prosperity of states, the best philosophers, poets, reformers were at the same time the best speakers. "Flowers of eloquence" was the path to every career is strewn.
Since ancient times, people have sought to understand what is the secret of the impact of the living word, is it an innate gift or the result of long, painstaking training and self-education? Rhetoric provides answers to these and other questions.
For most of our compatriots, the word rhetoric sounds mysterious, for others it means nothing, for still others it means pompous, outwardly beautiful, and even "meaningless speech." This word is often accompanied by such epithets as "manipulating" or "empty".
The most common definition is as follows: rhetoric is the theory, skill and art of eloquence. By eloquence, the ancients understood the art of the orator, and by rhetoric, the rules that serve to form orators.
Words can kill
Words can save
Word can shelves
In modern manuals and books on rhetoric, this science is often called the "science of persuasion." Aristotle would have been dissatisfied with such a formulation, would have considered it an obvious mistake. You say: what an insignificant difference! Is it really as important as saying: "the science of persuading" or "the science of finding ways to persuade." You need to immediately get used not only to the accuracy of the word, reflecting all the nuances, shades of thought, but also to the accuracy that conveys a clear semantic structure of speech.
In antiquity, rhetoric was called "the queen of all arts."
Currently, rhetoric is the theory of persuasive communication.
With free will and reason, we are responsible for our own actions. The science of rhetoric provides us with invaluable assistance in this: it allows us to evaluate the argumentation of any speech and make an independent decision.
Since we live in a society, we need to take into account the opinions of other people, consult with them. To convince another means to substantiate your ideas in such a way that those who participate in the discussion agree with them and join them, become your allies.
It is possible and necessary to learn convincingly, to speak, if necessary, to argue, to convincingly defend one's point of view.
2. The role of language in the formation of a person's personality
Words burn like fire
Or freeze like stones
It depends
What did you give them?
What to them in their hour
touched by hands
And how much did he give them
Heartfelt warmth.
N. Rylenkov
Today, everything related to the concept is extremely relevant. "Culture" is a very ambiguous and capacious concept.
Culture is a set of material and spiritual values created by human society and characterizing a certain level of development of society.
Today, humanization and democratization are declared as the main principles of the education system. Education itself is seen as a means of a safe and comfortable existence of the individual in modern world as a way of personal development. Under these conditions, there is a change of priorities in education, it becomes possible to strengthen its culture-forming role, a new ideal of a person educated in the form of a "man of culture", "a person of an ennobled image", possessing mental, ethical, aesthetic, socio-spiritual culture appears.
The means and condition for achieving this ideal, the very goal of education, is the communicative culture of the individual, which includes emotional and speech, informational and logical culture as components.
The Secondary School Reform Documents (1984) stated:
"Fluent knowledge of the Russian language should become the norm for young people graduating from secondary schools."
These attitudes are preserved in the latest documents on the restructuring of public education.
Why is the prestige of education falling so irresistibly? Why are the spiritual needs and demands of our yesterday's and today's students so frighteningly flawed? What will help stop the disastrously fading interest in knowledge and books? How to stop the devaluation of the national treasure - the native language, to revive the traditions of respect for the word, purity, richness of speech? All the above questions are connected with the problem of the spiritual state of society, with the speech culture of its members, the culture of their communication. It so happened that living in words and words, and not reality, accustomed to semantic unambiguity, people lost the ability to understand the different meanings of words, to see the degree of their correspondence to reality. It is curious that the ability to correlate the word with reality Academician I.P. Pavlov considered as the most important property of the mind.
Observing what Russia was going through, he said in his public lecture in 1918: "Russian thought ... does not go behind the scenes of the word, does not like to look at the true reality. We are engaged in collecting words, not studying life." ,
The destructible tradition of an evaluative attitude to speech, the emerging (on the favorable soil of low culture) fetishization of the word led to an inability to foresee the consequences of the introduction of militarized vocabulary (arm, fight, form, forge) into educational problems.
Entering the pedagogical consciousness, this vocabulary predetermined the subordination of educational activities to the barracks laws, determined the command-directive forms of interaction, rigidly regulated models of relations.
All this dehumanized the education system, leaving no room for the implementation of its most important function - culture-forming, aimed at developing and improving the culture of the individual and society as a whole.
According to the results of the survey of students of different age groups, there is reason to believe that the developing potential of the school in terms of the formation of a culture of speech and a culture of communication is implemented weakly, inconsistently and purposefully. The culture of speech and the culture of communication, being the conditions and means for the development of students, the formation of their individual culture, should be considered as the goal, the result of the humanization and humanitarization of the education system.
At present, the closest relationship between the economy, education, attitude to work and human culture is beginning to be realized. The most urgent problem today is the moral character, cultural values, since in solving economic, general social and cultural issues, the efforts of not only the team, but also each person are important.
Moscow State University MESI
Tver branch of MESI
Department of Humanities and Socio-Economic Disciplines
Test
On the subject "General rhetoric"
Topic: "The role of rhetoric in modern society"
Work completed: student of group 38-MO-11
Mistrov A.S.
Checked by the teacher: Zharov V.A.
Tver, 2009
Content INTRODUCTION 2- 1. What is rhetoric, or why are people given language, speech, and words? 3
- 2. The role of language in the formation of a person's personality 5
- 3. The role of rhetoric in public life 10
- 4. The role of rhetoric in professional activity 13
- Conclusion 17
- Literature 18
N. Voichenko. “Code of honor of the speaker or On the art of public speaking. " // Journalist. - No. 12. - 2008 - 38 p.
O.Ya. Goykhman “Scientific and practical problems of teaching speech communication of non-philologist students…”. - 2000
Tatiana Zharinova. “Does Modern Society Need Rhetoric? » // Magazine «Samizdat». - 2005
NOT. Kamenskaya Problems of rhetoric in modern Russia. // Yazak as a means of communication: theory, practice, teaching methods. - 2008 - p. 195
T.V. Mazur, “Professionally oriented rhetorical training of law students at the university”. - 2001
I.P. Pavlov, "On the Russian mind" // "Literary newspaper". 1981 N30
The role of language in the formation of a person's personality. - 2009
Introduction
rhetoric debate eloquence speech
Why did I choose this topic? Of course, the question is rhetorical… It is close to me, because I live in the modern world and the concept of modernity is closer to me. But this, in no case, gives me the right to ignore the history of the issue, after reading which I tried to choose the circle of topics that are most understandable to me and I wanted to see how rhetoric “lives” in our time.
This work can be compared with the construction of a brick house. Each subtopic is like its separate brick, which are fastened together with the cement of already acquired knowledge and skills. Based on the literature I read, I drew some conclusions that I tried to combine into one monolithic text. I have no divisions, there is one big thought that is not framed by anything.
Contemporary Russian rhetoric
“What a person is, such is his speech,” said Socrates, “and when a young man was introduced to him so that he would evaluate him and express a judgment about him, the philosopher first of all entered into a conversation with him. Teachers of literature since the time of Socrates know this truth well. But, unfortunately, it seems that in recent decades it has been forgotten. How many of us, who graduated not only from school, but also from the institute, can easily, freely speak in public or carry on a conversation?
If in ancient times philosophers were rhetoricians who announced their works, captured the attention of listeners and students, put their judgments about the world into people's minds, now every person who has to communicate should have this skill.
Rhetoric is necessary for all people who, by virtue of their profession, have to speak, and not only. Nowadays, people with public space have the art of rhetoric: journalists, politicians. But on the other hand, each of us uses his own resource - speech.
Now in many schools there is such a subject as rhetoric, but do children need it? After all, in school age When you try to memorize impossible formulas and memorize several chapters of "Eugene Onegin" - this is only a struggle for appreciation, nothing more. But in the life of each of us there comes a moment when you think about: “Am I speaking correctly, are others listening to me, can I convince my opponent of the correctness of my thoughts.” From this comes the conclusion - everything has its time.
Let's see how rhetoric develops in our time as a science, as a practical science. Some understand rhetoric only as eloquence, but this is not so. Not only public speaking is connected with this science and its practical part.
Let's take, for example, the sphere of business, any. The ability to negotiate is a practice that is built on the foundations of the theory of rhetoric. Promotion and sale of goods is possible only with the ability to manipulate people's minds and conduct a conversation in such a way that the interlocutor accepts your terms of the game. And one of the most important is the ability to argue. As you know, a dispute is not only an insulting argument - it is a great ability to give arguments and arguments that do not put the opponent in an awkward position, but at the same time “invisible” coercion to take the right side.
I would like to give some rules of the dispute:
Do not argue about trifles. Do not be like the medieval scholastics, who sometimes argued to the point of stupefaction about whether Adam had a navel or not.
Scholastics are followers of scholastic philosophy, representing the combination of Greek philosophy with the teachings of the "fathers of the church." The beginning of this philosophy dates back to the 9th century, and the decline to the 14th-15th centuries. We call scholastic everything dry, meaningless, which puts the form above the content.
When arguing, do not lose sight of the main points that are arguing. Sometimes it happens that the arguing, without finishing the dispute about the main thesis, move on to another, which is only of secondary importance, and from it to the third, and so on. In the end, the argument deviates from the main thesis, and often the disputants themselves cannot remember how, in fact, their argument began.
Never get excited, but try to argue calmly. Of two disputants equal to each other in all other respects, the winner will be the one who has more restraint, more composure, since his thought works calmly.
Be respectful of other people's opinions. If you consider them a delusion, then prove it calmly, without ridicule and harsh expressions.
If you have good reasons or strong objections, then don't start with them. Give first other, not so weighty, but still true and convincing arguments, and in conclusion - the most decisive argument.
Discard unreliable arguments. Do not try to increase their quantity at the expense of quality.
Avoid double-edged arguments. Suppose you said: “Why, this is still a child; it can't be taken too seriously." The adversary may reply: “That is why it is necessary to restrain him so that evil deeds do not become a habit with him.”
Do not necessarily try to contradict the enemy in everything. Sometimes it is helpful to agree with some of his arguments, as this can show your listeners your impartiality. But, having agreed with these arguments, try to find out that they are not directly related to the subject of the dispute and do not prove the correctness of the opponent.
Make sure that there is no contradiction in your arguments.
And here it is impossible to get away from the theoretical part. Take, for example, the "32 tricks" of the philosopher A. Schopenhauer, each of which can be used both together with others and separately. In addition to the ability to argue, you need to be able to be witty - at the right time to insert a “smart” word. And here, the knowledge of our great and mighty Russian language is manifested.
Now a huge amount of educational literature on the so-called black rhetoric is being published, but after getting to know it, an unpleasant aftertaste remains, since all books are saturated with impudence and rudeness. But at the same time, if you are fluent in Russian, have a good vocabulary and are quite erudite, then you can take some tricks from this literature.
If we turn to the history of rhetoric, it is impossible not to highlight such a part of it as judicial eloquence, which is used to this day. And it really is. After all, the victory of one of the parties of the “accusation” or “defense” depends on the ability to convince.
Eloquence is an applied art; it pursues practical goals; therefore embellishing speech just for embellishment does not serve its purpose. Moral demands aside, one could say that the worst speech is better than the best. On the other hand, everyone admits that the main decoration of speech lies in thoughts. But this is a play on words; thoughts constitute the content, not the decoration of speech; the living quarters of the building should not be confused with stucco decoration on its facade or frescoes on the inner walls. Thus, we come to the main question: what significance can the flowers of eloquence have in court, or, better, we indicate the main position: rhetorical embellishments, like other elements of judicial speech, have the right to exist only as a means of success, and not as sources aesthetic pleasure. The flowers of eloquence are cursive in print, red ink in manuscript.
On this topic, there is now an excellent program “The Court is Coming”, thanks to which you can evaluate the speaking skills of people who must bring justice to their side. First, it is very important not to litter your speech with meaningless introductory sentences and meaningless interjections, which can be perceived as unconvincing and insecure in your thoughts.
In court, one of the most elegant rhetorical figures is applicable - concession. It consists in the fact that the speaker agrees with the position of the enemy and, having taken the point of view of the latter, beats him with his own weapon; having accepted, as well-deserved, the reproachful words of the enemy, he immediately gives them a different, flattering meaning for himself; or, on the contrary, bowing before his claims to merit, immediately exposes their failure.
This is only a small part of judicial eloquence. A huge number of examples are given in the reader of Russian rhetoric.
And in order to speak well, one must know one's own language well; richness of words is a necessary condition for a good style. Strictly speaking, an educated person should freely use all the modern words of his language, with the exception of special scientific or technical terms. One can be an educated person without knowing physiotherapy or higher mathematics; impossible - not knowing psychology, history, anatomy and native literature.
You can check yourself by separating the words we know from the usual ones, i.e. those that we not only know, but also use in writing or in conversation. We marvel at our poverty. We are for the most part too careless with words in conversation and care too much about them in public. This is a fundamental mistake. Careful selection of the words "on the podium" betrays the artificiality of speech when its immediacy is needed. On the contrary, in an ordinary conversation, a refined syllable expresses respect for oneself and attention to the interlocutor. In his finely written little book "L" Art de Plaider, the Belgian lawyer De Baets says: "When you accustom yourself to designate each thing with the very word that accurately conveys its essence in your language, you will see with what ease thousands of words will be at your disposal, as soon as an appropriate idea has arisen in your mind. Then your words will not contain those inconsistencies that in the daily speeches of our speakers so irritate the sensitive listener. " With great writers, each individual word is chosen consciously, with a specific purpose; each a separate turnover is deliberately created for this thought; this is confirmed by their draft manuscripts.
Now the phrase “The speaker says nothing, but how he says it” is very popular. I don't know how, but I completely agree with this idea. Unfortunately, in our time a huge number of sects have appeared - this is one of the most popular associations. The creators of sects understand exactly what they preach and what they must put into the minds of people. If you listen to their sermons to a psychologically stable person, then from the first words you can understand that their speeches are meaningless. But there are those who are subject to the pressure of other people and cannot resist the onslaught of biofields, etc.
If in judicial eloquence the main value is the integrity of thought, then in this case it is the euphony of the word. It doesn't matter what the speaker says, but how he does it. What images fills the speech, what techniques it uses, what psychological skills it uses. All this in combination gives a stunning success - attracting thousands of people who take other people's positions in life and promote other people's ideas, far from Christian, immoral, perverted. At the same time, the leaders of these "gatherings" are highly educated, erudite people who know how to master their word.
"To own your word" - does it sound? Sounds! Not everyone has this great ability. But there are people whom you have never heard, but know them in absentia. Now I am talking about one of the outstanding scientists of our time, the chairman of the Soviet Cultural Fund, academician Dmitry Sergeevich Likhachev. It is not for nothing that his words serve as the epigraph of my work. I met him not so long ago, unfortunately, I did not hear his speeches and speeches. But I was so shocked by the energy that comes from his work.
His priceless works are subject to the understanding of any person who is familiar with the history and culture of his country. He succeeds in capturing the attention of the reader, and he wants to absorb everything that this grandiose person writes about.
His acquaintance with D.S. Likhachev, I started with the book "Letters about the good and the beautiful."
These are just letters, but what a semantic load they carry, what sincerity and kindness they are imbued with. Let's start with the letter "On the art of syllable and philology." In this letter, we are talking about the fact that philology is not an unambiguous concept, it is translated from Greek as “love for the word”. Philology is a differentiated science, which can be conditionally divided into linguistics and literary criticism. But at the same time, the role of philology is precisely binding, and therefore especially important. It connects historical source study with linguistics and literary criticism. It gives a broad dimension to the study of the history of the text. It combines literary criticism and linguistics in the field of studying the style of a work - the most difficult area of literary criticism.
Dmitry Sergeevich does not call to be specialists, professionals in the humanities. He says that, of course, all professions are needed, and these professions must be evenly and expediently distributed in society. But ... every specialist, every engineer, doctor, every nurse, every carpenter or turner, driver or loader, crane operator and tractor driver must have a cultural outlook. There should not be those who are blind to beauty, deaf to words and real music, callous to good, forgetful of the past. And for all this, knowledge is needed, intelligence is needed, which is given by the humanities. must read fiction and understand it, read history books and love the past of mankind, read travel literature, memoirs, art literature, visit museums, travel with meaning and be spiritually rich.
“Yes, be philologists, that is, “lovers of the word”, for the word stands at the beginning of culture and completes it, expresses it” D.S. Likhachev.
“It takes a long time to learn good, calm, intelligent speech - by listening, remembering, noticing, reading and studying. But even though it is difficult - it is necessary, necessary. Our speech is the most important part not only of our behavior (as I already said), but also of our personality, our soul, mind, our ability not to succumb to the influences of the environment, if it is "dragging". D.S. Likhachev.
And another letter on how to speak. Public oral presentations are common now in our lives. Everyone should be able to speak at conferences, assemblies, and perhaps give lectures and reports like we - students. Thousands of books have been written in all ages on the art of orators and lecturers. It is not necessary here to repeat everything that is known about oratory. The simplest thing: for the performance to be interesting, the speaker himself should be interested in speaking. He should be interested, express his point of view, convince him of it, the material that he conveys to the audience should be attractive to him, to some extent surprising. The speaker himself must be interested in the subject of his speech and be able to convey this interest to the audience - make them feel the interest of the speaker. Only then will it be interesting to listen to him. And one more thing: there should not be several equal thoughts, ideas in a speech. In every speech there must be one dominant idea, one thought to which others are subject. Then the performance will not only interest, but also be remembered. And in essence, always act from good positions. Even speaking out against any idea, try to build thoughts as support for the positive that is in the objections of the arguing with you. Public speaking should always be from a public standpoint. Then it will meet with sympathy.
I would like to finish my work with these words: “We go through life, climbing the stairs. It could not be otherwise: why then live, if you remain at the same level, without gradually ascending the steps of experience - moral and aesthetic experience. Life requires complications"
List of used literature
1.Graudina L.K. - Russian rhetoric: Christomatia; printed according to the edition: Likhachev D. S. The book of anxiety. - M., 1991. - S. 431-433, 436-439. 2.Likhachev D.S. - Letters about the good and the beautiful; M.; 2003, 154 p. .Lobanov I.B., Khazagerov G.G. - Rhetoric; OOO "Phoenix" 2008, 3rd edition, 379 p. .Russian culture in the modern world // New world. M., 1991. No. 1. pp. 3-9.
Rhetoric is the science of oratory and eloquence. The linguistic features of oral public speaking, bringing rhetoric closer to poetics, suggest the use of techniques in a rhetorical work designed to convince the listener, his expressive processing. Teaching public (oratory) speech involves the formation of various skills aimed at developing the rhetorical competence of students, i.e. ability and willingness to communicate effectively.
The work contains 1 file
Introduction
Rhetoric- the classical science of the expedient and appropriate word - is in demand today as a tool for managing and improving the life of society, shaping the personality through the word.
Rhetoric teaches to think, cultivates a sense of the word, forms a taste, establishes the integrity of the worldview.
Rhetoric- the science of oratory and eloquence. The linguistic features of oral public speaking, bringing rhetoric closer to poetics, suggest the use of techniques in a rhetorical work designed to convince the listener, his expressive processing. Teaching public (oratory) speech involves the formation of various skills aimed at developing the rhetorical competence of students, i.e. ability and willingness to communicate effectively.
The gift of the word is one of the greatest abilities of a person, elevating him above the world of all living things and making him a proper person. Word is a means of communication between people, a way of exchanging information, a tool for influencing the consciousness and actions of another person.
Ownership of the word is valued very highly, but not everyone owns the word. Moreover, the overwhelming majority are hardly able to correctly express their thoughts on paper, and even more so they do not own rhetoric in its true sense. The ability to speak a word is an integral part of the general culture of a person, his education.
Since ancient times, people have sought to understand what is the secret of the impact of the living word, is it an innate gift or the result of long, painstaking training and self-education? Rhetoric provides answers to these and other questions.
Rhetoric is theory, craftsmanship and the art of eloquence. By eloquence, the ancients understood the art of the orator, and by rhetoric, the rules that serve to form orators.
The role of language in the formation of a person's personality
Today, everything related to the concept is extremely relevant. "Culture" is a very ambiguous and capacious concept.
culture is a set of material and spiritual values created by human society and characterizing a certain level of development of society.
In modern conditions, the goal of education is the communicative culture of the individual, which includes emotional and speech, informational and logical culture as components.
The culture of speech and the culture of communication, being the conditions and means for the development of students, the formation of their individual culture, should be considered as the goal, the result of the humanization and humanitarization of the education system.
At present, the closest relationship between the economy, education, attitude to work and human culture is beginning to be realized. The hottest issue today- moral character, culture of the individual, since in solving economic, general social and cultural issues, the efforts of not only the team, but also each person are important.
The increased interest in moral issues in recent times is also caused by the awareness of a rather low culture in the field of communication.
Communication- a complex process that involves the pursuit of truth, assuming the ability to hear and listen to another person, assuming respect for the personality of the interlocutor with whom the dialogue is being conducted. Truly human communication is built on respect for the dignity of the other person.
In a broad sense, the concept of a culture of behavior includes all aspects of the internal and external culture of a person: etiquette, culture of life, organization of personal time, hygiene, work culture.
Particular attention should be paid to the culture of speech: the ability to speak and listen, to conduct a conversation is an important condition for mutual understanding, checking the truth or falsity of one's opinions and ideas.
Speech- the most meaningful, capacious and expressive means of communication. A high speech culture implies a high culture of thinking, because immature thoughts cannot be expressed in a clear, accessible form.
A culture of speech- this is an integral part of the general culture of a person, the ability to accurately, expressively convey one's thoughts.
Language reflects the state of morality in society. Colloquial and jargon emphasize laziness of thinking, although, at first glance, they help communication, simplifying this process. Incorrect, interspersed with jargon, speech indicates a person’s poor upbringing.
Our language is an essential part of our overall behavior and life. And by the way a person speaks, we can immediately and easily judge who we are dealing with, we can determine the degree of intelligence of a person, the degree of his psychological balance, the degree of his possible complexes.
Our speech is the most important part not only of our behavior, but also of our soul, mind, our ability not to succumb to the influences of the environment.
The role of rhetoric in public life
At present, human rights are gradually becoming the most important aspect of the public life of developed countries. Under these conditions, it became necessary to convince people, moreover, people who are not equal to each other in terms of education and culture, but who require equal treatment. In democracies, persuading people has become essential in preparing for elections. A person is individually unique, not like others, and this makes communication difficult, necessitates learning to communicate.
In Russia, as well as in any developed democratic country, a public democratic discussion of various social problems is the most important condition for the very existence of a democratic state, the basis of its functioning, a guarantee of public approval of important decisions by the population.
Public discussion of issues of public interest is of great importance for the formation of the mechanisms of democratic procedures, for everyday democratic practice. Without the skills and habit of public discussion of socially significant problems of both national and local importance by ordinary citizens of Russia, the formation and development of a democratic state is impossible.
Democratic elections of presidents, parliamentarians, and self-government bodies have drawn millions of people into political life. Oratory became in demand.
It is necessary in every possible way to encourage the development of oral public discussion of socially significant problems in Russian society, as well as to teach rhetorical skills, starting from school. The rhetorical education of Russian citizens is a very important task today.
The role of rhetoric in professional activity
Society includes various professions and various forms of organization of professional activity, various areas of law and management styles. Abstract thinking is determined by the difference between the sciences and the fields of technology. The difference in talents determines the difference in people's professional activities. Here speech plays a leading role.
When we talk about the professional competence of a specialist, we mean, first of all, his knowledge of his specialty, but at the same time, we assume that professional knowledge is supported by the general humanitarian culture of a person, his ability to understand the world around him, and his ability to communicate. After all, the ability to communicate for a number of professions, and economics in the first place, is an integral part of professional competence, a necessary condition for true professionalism. Professional speech competence should be taught, given the necessary knowledge, and basic skills should be formed.
Conclusion
Rhetoric and culture of speech pervades all spheres of society. Language is a form of thought and a means of communication. A professional career is very dependent on the culture of communication and the use of professional language. The ability to build relationships with colleagues is absolutely essential for a productive professional activity. Rhetoric is necessary for the formation of the cultural level of a person, his ability to establish relationships with society.