Blog 1

In the book “Contemporary Perspectives on Rhetoric”, authors Sonja K. Foss, Karen A. Foss and Robert Trapp describe rhetoric as, “the human use of symbols to communicate”(1). I think they are saying rhetoric is the use of words by humans to communicate a message.

First, Foss, Foss, and Trapp describe humans as the only animals capable of communication by arbitrary symbols. The arbitrary symbols humans use are words. Although not all words are arbitrary, many are. One of the examples the book uses to describe arbitrary words is the word kitchen.  In our culture we have learned the word “kitchen’ is where we cook our food. In other cultures a different word is used to communicate kitchen, making the word arbitrary.

Next, Foss et al., explain the difference between signs and symbols.  They describe when signs and symbols are used as rhetoric. The example that clarified the differences for me is the tree.  A tree is not a symbol; however, a Christmas tree is a symbol to Christians around the world.  An important part of the readings is that the symbol does not have the same meaning to everyone. Miscommunication occurs because everyone has their own ideas of what certain symbols represent.

 One digital culture I participate in is Facebook. Just about everything about my Facebook page is rhetorical. I choose who my friends are, what each friend can see, and what ways I want myself represented on the page. Within the Facebook realm “Colette” is different (more reserved and abbreviated). An important reason for this is the ability for others to access my information. I do not want the wrong message to be communicated about me, so I control all aspects of my digital persona.

Within the culture of Facebook, the word “friend” is jargon used to describe people that are allowed to view ones page, most of these viewers are not friends at all. For example, on my Facebook page I have more family than friends, but all are considered to be my Facebook friends. To some, the pre-Facebook meaning of the word, “friend” creates a need to accumulate as many Facebook friends as possible in order to communicate they are popular and accepted.  This idea is false in that anyone can accept people to be friends even when one does not know the other person.

Works Cited: 

"Digital Cultures - Digital Diversity | Cultural Politics." Cultural Politics | Cultural Politics. 2011. Web. 04 Jan. 2011. <http://culturalpolitics.net/digital_cultures>.

Foss, Sonja K., Karen A. Foss, and Robert Trapp. "Chapter 1." Contemporary Perspectives on Rhetoric. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland, 1991. 1-15. Print.