For SWT1, you should choose a topic that is personally relevant, either because it relates to a

discipline in your degree or because you have a significant interest in it.

• You will identify at least one of the contested aspects of that topic, and present
at least two of the views that are in opposition to each other.
• You will critique those two opposing views based on what you have learned
about rhetorical analysis so far.

Rhetoric essay topics:

Review on a speech of some kind?

I'd like to look at music

-Music in therapy?

-Music AS rhetoric??? that could be an interesting challenge

Analyse a modern ethical debate

Task 1

https://elearning.sydney.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-4822675-dt-content-rid-
20505452_1/courses/2017_S2C_WRIT1001_ND/SWT1%20Semester%202%202017%281%29.pdf

Task 2

https://elearning.sydney.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-4822716-dt-content-rid-
20505451_1/courses/2017_S2C_WRIT1001_ND/SWT2%20S2%202017%282%29.pdf

The essay is not argumentative, but you still have a stance

Music is a form of Modern Rhetoric

Modern rhetoric is far removed from the rhetoric of Ancient Greece. Where once rhetoric was
"...defined as the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion."
(Aristotle - On Rhetoric 1.2.1), in modern times rhetoric is a term used to define any
transmission that affects the way an audience thinks. Where once Plato would say "Arts... do
not come within the province of rhetorc" (Gorgias, Plato, cited in Richie), in modern culture,
music is such a fundamental expression of rhetoric that the two can not be separated.
Music has been defined as "Vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) combined in such a way as to
produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion" ("Music", 2017). This clearly
demonstrates the use of music as a form of rhetoric, as one of its many purposes is to elicit
emotional responses in its audience. However, it can also be argued that Music is whatever the
composer or audience perceives as music - whether the silent work of John Cage's '4:33' or the
natural roars of a rushing waterfall. Hence, many of the sounds we hear in day-to-day life can be
intrepeted as a form of rhetoric, influencing our emotions and how we intrepet the world
around us.

The use of music as an expression of rhetoric is wide-spread. Some of the most well known
works of the past are compositions that convey great emotions or messages to their audience. A
ubiquitous form of rhetoric in music are national anthems - compositions that to many represent
the ideal tennants of their country, their home. Karl H. Eschman states that "Contemporary
composers likely to be earliest forgotten, are those who are interested only in the magic
legerdemain of the new musical vocabulary and who neglect the construction of a real message"
(Eschman, 1921, p. 159), and this is clear when you review the 'staying power' of modern music -
songs that are consistently popular tend to elicit greater responses in their audience or present
an integralistic message through either their stylistic or lyrical representation , i.e. carols.
Eschman's article, "The Rhetoric of Modern Music" presents a clear and logical argument, that,
despite having been written almost a century ago, remains completely relevant in contemporary
discussions. He relies mostly on logical appeals using both inartistic and artistic invention to
inform his audience, whislt using ethical and pathetic appeals, that although they rely upon
disparaging remarks, in order to convince them that what he writes is not influenced by the
stances of others on music but solely upon music itself. Having published through a reputable
Music Journal of his times, and indeed the continuation of this journal "cited as the premier
scholarly musical journal" (Oxford Academic) into the present day, lends significant credence to
Eschman's scholarly representation.

The contrasting view of Aristotle and Plato, that arts have no place in rhetoric, is clearly
outdated. Amongst their contemporaries, and through to modern days, their works are
remarkable compositions that form the baseline of rhetoric, a legacy continued through the
teaching of modern individuals. However, with the progress of time changing defintions of what
rhetoric is, whether through reinterpretation or adaptation of its presentation, it is now "less
helpful to try and define [rhetoric] once and for all than to look at the many definitions it has
accumulated" (Bizzell and Herzberg 1), and accept the inclusion of music into this broader
rhetoric category that works cohesively to move an audience. The very concept of music being a
means to express emotion reduces it at its simplest level to an appeal to pathos, and thus leads
one to interpret Plato's comment that arts do not fall within the realm of rhetoric to be itself a
rehtorical fallacy, a disparaging remark that music was not an available means with which to
persuade an audience.
Aristotle, G. A. K. (2007). On rhetoric: a theory of civic discourse (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford
University Press

Bizzell, Patricia, and Bruce Herzberg. (1990) “Introduction.” The Rhetorical Tradition: Readings
from Classical Times to the Present. Eds. Patricia Bizzell and Bruce Herzberg. (p. 1-15) Boston:
Bedford Books

Eschman, K. (1921). The Rhetoric of Modern Music. The Musical Quarterly, 7(2), 157-166.
Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/738204

Music. (2017). In Oxford Dictionary. Retrieved from

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/music

Oxford Academic; The Musical Quarterly - About the Journal (2017). Retrieved from
https://academic.oup.com/mq/pages/About

Richie, Benjamin L. (2015, September 24). Music's Relation to Rhetoric. Retrieved from
http://sites.vmi.edu/richiebl17/2015/09/24/musics-relation-to-rhetoric/