partly

This is mostly directed at

amilyn (but is interesting in any case):

Knowing that you are a teacher of how rhetoric is in conveying messages, I thought that this link may be of interest to you: Why It Worked: A Rhetorical Analysis of Obama's Speech on Race.

What I find most interesting is that the term "rhetoric" is considered neutral – just another way of conveying a message. Most times rhetoric is seen as negative -- as a way to manipulate people into believing something that is not true or not in their best interests.

Of course, my interest in rhetorical conventions is one of a fiction writer, where such conventions allow me to more easily convey my theme and emotional atmosphere to the reader. But then, any good form of communication can be termed “manipulation” because you are intending to create in a person an emotion that did not originate from experiences that they personally experienced.

I was just interested in what you thought of it.