Lauren Painter

9/4/12 REFLECTION
The history of rhetoric was much more interesting than I previously assumed. In class today we discussed many things and the entire class participated in an activity relevant to what we learned. I took many notes from the slides, but I was surprised to find that I did not know most of what was stated. For example, I was not aware of how the Sophists were apart of the evolution of rhetoric. They were teachers, logographers (who wrote speeches for those who were not as educated in the practice), and claimed to teach arte. I also wrote down dissoi logoi, kairos, epidexis, and topoi, which were all very important parts of the Sophist Method. After we were clarified on the history and upcoming of rhetoric and how it pertained to the Greek society, we were split up into groups. Our task was to write like the Athenians did. At first, I thought we had to write in Greek linguistics or something along those lines. But the professor meant that we had to write on what they wrote on in times when computers, phones, paper, and pens did not exist. The activity was much more difficult than I expected. My group was given a block of clay and it was very hard to flatten onto the wax paper, even with the roller. The clay chose to conveniently stick to the roller when we made our attempts at flattening and widening the clay surface. It made me appreciate how good we have these days. Our first task was to write our names. It was unusual for all of us since, obviously, it is not what any of us are used to. To erase was quite the energy-stealer. I am still unsure as to how they took notes so fast and erased so fast when or if they ever needed to. The second time with the clay paper was more of a challenge: we had to write directions. This task was difficult because I felt the need to be more concise with my words and use symbols to explain certain words I did not have enough space for. This is where the rhetoric came into play: writing constraints. Obviously it is going to be a constraint to write on something you are not accustomed to. It also changed the style of how I would previously write it, and how it is arranged. All these play a huge part in how the text on our clay paper was interpreted and perceived. By the third task, writing with the stylist and on the clay was feasible. Our group had to summarize a Sophist on the clay. Like I stated in the previous paragraph, it had to be more concise. It definitely changed the way we wrote it and how it came out. It was not as easy to read and was more of a challenge to be specific, since we are all used to having generous space on our papers, in our computers, and phones. This exercise was very effective in conveying how rhetoric can change just by time periods and how there are constraints. It showed how it was arranged differently as well as stylized, interpreted, and perceived.