I never realized how many times a day I use rhetoric in my conversations because it comes naturally in our way of speaking. I especially use rhetoric with my mother when I want her to buy me something. The most recent rhetoric event happened only a few weeks before I left to come to Penn State University. I needed a laptop for my school work but I did not want to pay for one, nor could I afford to buy one now that I was a “broke-college-student.” To convince my mother to buy me a new laptop, I had to surprise her with some facts and research. I started to research the best laptop brands and found some statistics and quick facts that would be sure to convince her I needed this extraordinary laptop. I also began researching the best prices among different electronic stores so we wouldn’t be paying a fortune. When I presented my mother with this information, I also added a few facts that weren’t exactly truthful, but they made the laptop seem great! I also used my emotions to describe how I would be the only student without a laptop and others would make fun of me if she did not buy this laptop for me. Overall, my use of Aristotle’s proofs of pathos and logos helped me to convince my mother to buy me the laptop!

I have also been on the opposite side of the use of rhetoric. One summer day at Kennywood a few years ago, my friends were trying to get me to ride the Phantom, one of the biggest and scariest rides at this amusement park. They told me how much they loved the ride, how exhilarating it was, and how I would be a “loser” if I did not go on this ride with them. The “pathos” aspect of my friends’ argument led me to make the decision to ride the roller-coaster!