Prior to the start of this class, my knowledge of rhetoric was limited. I knew it simply as a form of discourse. However, as the course progressed I learnt about the complexity of rhetoric. Rhetoric is not only a form of discourse. It is an art of persuasion that can be effective with the use of a skill that is acquired with the study of rhetoric. When I read this sentence over, I recognize its entanglement, but that is exactly what rhetoric is meant to be. It is not meant to be simple, and its – for lack of a better word – twistedness is what allowed it to be a topic of study for years.

With this understanding, I was able to apply it to the remainder of my semester which included the involvement of civic life. I repeatedly asked myself what is ‘civics’ whenever I had to complete an assignment. Of course, Mr Young’s emphasis on how complex the majority of our work that we would be doing did not help simplify the matter. Initially, I came into the class understanding the dictionary definition of civics: the study of the rights and duties of citizenship. However, with further discussion, I began to realize the civics encompasses a multitude of things. It includes the requirements of citizens and their powers of being a citizen. Civics also describes the desire for unity of a society; one should see it like a functioning body – where each organ works together for the benefit of a greater society. This is a prime example of where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts – a concept that is extremely important to keep in mind whilst being in this class.

Altogether, my understanding of both rhetoric and civics have changed over the course of this particular class. Whether or not I have the ‘right’ understanding of what rhetoric or civics is, in the eyes of Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, and of course Mr Young, I will never know.