Rhetoric and BS.

Below find my response to a student's post on the outcome "Know how to respond to a variety of rhetorical situations." He brings up an important point about rhetoric, namely, when does rhetoric end and BS begin.

His response is in green. My response to him is in red.

Steve

I always get confused with the word rhetoric. to me this means having a significant amount of knowledge about a situation and responding in the most straightforward manner. bull shit is a pet peive of mine, so that def. cuts bs-ing out.

Don't think of rhetoric as BS. Sometimes the best way to get something accomplished is BS, but those situations are few and far between. In order to write successful documents, that is, texts which do what you want them to do, you have to adapt yourself to the needs of your audience. If, for instance, you're talking to your boss about getting a raise, this is a very specific rhetorical situation where the stakes are high for you. To respond appropriately, as you've noted, you have to have knowledge of the situation, such as, how your company is doing, what mood your boss is in, how he views your work, etc. Once armed with this knowledge, you can get your raise--if there are raises being had--by presenting your case in a manner which will persuade your boss; so, you should also have some idea of the kinds of arguments which your boss has bought in the past. As you can see, rhetoric isn't about BSing. It's about, as you say, learning enough about your rhetorical situation that you can accomplish your purpose, but sometimes this means not doing so in the most straightforward manner; instead, you do what works. Knowing what works and what doesn't in each situation is what rhetoric is all about.