Interpretation of Presidential Crisis Rhetoric

 

1. Introduction

Rhetoric is one of the first sciences of humanity, dating back more than 2,500 years. Until now, it has been building a structure of its own through numerous changes. It is surprising to note that the structure has been based upon the theory established in the ancient Roman era. The reason why this ancient theory is still relevant these days is, above all, that it is a science dealing with human speech. Speech is one of the intrinsic qualities of mankind and it has naturally been cherished throughout the ages.
Philosophers of ancient science and 19th-Century writers neglected rhetoric. Scientists, constructing absolute value structures, incessantly attacked sophists who valued relativism. The writers valued concise and simple style, rather than flowery blabla eloquence of sophists. For example, Paul Verlaine even said, "Take eloquence and twist its neck!"
Nevertheless, thanks to their criticism, rhetoric has taken ethical aspects into account and developed a simple style, surviving the times like a phoenix. Rhetoric has survived also because speech has been inseparable from our daily life and we have never been able to divert our attention from that science dealing with linguistic signs.

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