Rhetoric in Civic
Life
Student’s
Name
Instructor
Course
Institution
Date
Terministic
Screens:
1. King's
presence in Montgomery was viewed as a threat to the development of the newly
elected city government by the Alabama clergymen until his death in 1995. King
was addressing racial issues and an immediate need for social justice in a way
that created social tension between the whites and the black people in their
struggle for social justice. Just after the election of a new city government,
King had started to mobilize people for demonstrations and marches against
racial inequality and these actions were considered risky for the progression
of the newly elected government.
2. King
explains his presence as being driven by the need to fight for social change in
terms of racial equality and thus the need for tremendous tension in the South
to free the Negros from the passive unjust plight (Palczewski et al. 2012).
King also declared to advocate for positive peace which he visualized as
respect for human dignity and personality by eliminating the hidden tension
that the Negros had already lived.
3. Some
realities are selected while others are deflected in view of King’s presence in
Montgomery. Realities that are selected include the risk of political
development in Montgomery due to the fact that King was mobilizing the masses
to demonstrate against social injustice. The clergymen deflect the reality that
King’s effort would help improve the way white people treated racial minorities
thus improving social awareness in Montgomery.
Resignification:
1. King
resignifies the meaning of breaking an “unjust law” by analyzing human motives
and relations through symbolic actions. Through these, he is able to identify
the underlying social injustices that people had been living and would continue
to live despite the election of a new city government. Breaking an “unjust law”
is, therefore, a set of actions and purposes that highlights oppressive hidden
concepts.
2. King
resignifies the demonstrations that were so deplored by the Alabama Clergy by
writing to the Alabama Clergy to explain the importance of the tension as part
of crucial phases that would eliminate the negative peace that had set the
Negros in unjust plight. King also describes the demonstrations as non-violent
compared to the hidden violence that the Negros already lived with (Palczewski
et al. 2012). Resignification can be identified as King bringing out the issues
of social justice in the open where it was clearly visible so that it would be
dealt with.
3. King
uses resignification to embrace his characterization as an extremist when he
leads people in demonstrations and marches against connotations of justice and
exposing how the clergy viewed the demonstrators as violent as a mere construct
to change the connotation of justice for the Negros. Even after his arrest, King continues to
write to the clergy about the pressing social issues and this shows how he uses
resignification to embrace his characterization as an extremist.
Uses
& Misuses of Language
1.
Language
symbols have different meanings for different people since people are
influenced by their society, culture, past experiences, and so forth. It is for
this reason that rhetoric cannot be treated as an exact science. The second major term of this definition is
"social reality," which can be described as the "reality as
understood through symbols humans use to represent it” (Palczewski et al. 2012).
This almost explicitly means that reality is subjective and that a person's
reality is defined, inescapably, by their culture, their past experience, and
essentially everything that makes them who they are. A philosophical debate
aside, the effect of rhetoric is reliant in part on personal identity, because
it is the filter through which every symbol employed by rhetoricians is
understood.
2.
With
these basic explanations of the terms of the definition of rhetoric, one can
begin to fully understand its impact and purpose in society. Rhetoric allows
human interaction to be effective, purposeful, and meaningful. The use of rhetoric
flourishes in societies where human interaction is encouraged and welcome and
does not fare so well in societies in which human interaction is censored. It
specifically flourishes in democratic societies because democratic societies
require it if they are to consider themselves to truly be a
"well-functioning civic community" (Palczewski et al. 2012).
Obviously, rhetoric can only be influential if people are open to different
ideas.
There are different levels of persuasion, as
laid out in the chapter: the rhetoric can attempt to create a virtual
experience for the audience, alter their perception, explain his argument,
formulate a belief for the audience, initiate action for the audience, and
hopefully spur maintained actions for the audience.
3
b “When rights are consistently denied, a cause should be pressed in the courts
and in negotiations . . .”
Since
that time there had been some proof of expanded self-control and an ability to confront
actualities. Capable residents had attempted to deal with different issues
which cause racial contact and agitation. In Birmingham, late public
demonstrations had given a sign that we as a whole had an open opportunity for
another useful and practical way to deal with racial issues.
References
Palczewski, C. H.,
Ice, R., & Fritch, J. (2012). Rhetoric in civic life. Strata Publishing.
