Over the course of the semester, I have realized how prominent and powerful rhetoric is, how there are many unique themes throughout civic life, and how rhetoric and civic life go hand in hand with each other.

As demonstrated in Unit One, rhetoric is incorporated into advertisements and other forms of media that affect where we shop, what we believe, and much more.  Specifically, I came to understand how powerful and symbolic the icons and color choices of the slogan “America Runs on Dunkin’” are. The rhetoric contained in this slogan appeals to consumers’ values and commonplaces, and before this class, I would not have realized that the rhetoric in this slogan and design inherently appeals to consumers in a subconscious way through symbolism and color choice.  Through this analysis and through the presentations of my peers, I came to realize that the effective use of rhetoric is a significant asset when appealing to society.

In Unit Two, I became familiar with the concept of a paradigm shift.  Before this class, I was aware that culture shifts occurred over time, but through Unit Two, I became able to understand and pinpoint how these shifts reflect cultural values.

Through Unit Three, I have gained experience with using rhetoric to address an issue in the practice of civic life.  With the video project, I have seen how incorporating rhetoric into a discussion on an issue can make the issue very vivid and resonate with people in a very powerful way.  Depicting an issue in society/culture with images and videos that convey significant meaning while describing the issue strengthens the case of the issue at hand.

As the semester comes to a close, I will be able to use my conception of rhetoric and civic life to have more comprehensive viewpoints on different aspects of society/culture.  I will also be motivated to become more engaged in civic life and understand how rhetoric can be a powerful tool for my future engagements.