Aristotle - Boors and Buffoons!

In the first sentence of the required reading, we get what Aristotle believes about comedy, "comedy...is an imitation of people who are worse than average" (14).

Aristotle also wrote about what he called "buffoons" and "boors". Buffoons are those that "cannot resist any temptation to be funny, and spares neither himself nor others if he can get a laugh" (15). *this, to a point, is definitely me* The Boor "contributes nothing and takes offense at everything" (16). I don't even know how many people I know who fit these two categories. Although, I would argue that in society today, the "buffoons" are more conscientious about others' feelings than perhaps they were in his time.

Aristotle also addresses different types of humor from different types of people; educated and uneducated from well-bred and vulgar people.

First Entry: Working Definition of "Rhetoric"

In order to fully understand this blog, readers will have to have a basic understanding of what Rhetoric actually means. Prior to taking this class (and, heck, even a little today) I had no clue what Rhetoric was. And the average reader (anyone outside this class) may be in a similar boat. So to provide a background, this first post will be a basic definition for an understanding of what is to come.

Rhetoric, through history, has been defined as the art of persuasion. Arguably the most well-known name in the study of Rhetoric (although many may not know he wrote about it) is Aristotle. Aristotle, however, is not the end-all-be-all of the study of Rhetoric. Lloyd Bitzer and Richard Vatz (among others of course) have also studied (at length) Rhetoric.