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1 Jim Hunnicutt ENC 3331 The Effect of Sponsors on Rhetorical Citizenship Although the concept of rhetoric goes back

to philosophers in Ancient Greece, such as Aristotle and Isocrates, the term is continually redefined up until today. At the core of rhetoric is the way people interact, using symbols, including language. According to Hauser, the interest in rhetoric comes from what happens when at least one person engages at least one other person in the act of shared meaning and interpretation (2). Because everyone has a unique viewpoint based on individual experiences, thoughts and ideas, the exchange of these ideas is necessary in order for mutual understanding. Even disagreement can be positive rhetoric, if both sides remain open to this exchange. It is this interaction that drives society forward. Rhetoric is, by nature, planned through thought, even if the debate is extemporaneous. Thus, rhetoric also becomes the study of how we organize our thinking. The process of this thinking is improved by education, which in turn creates a sense of citizenship within the individual. The incorporation of education with rhetoric is essential in creating a citizen that is valuable to the society in which the individual resides. Citizenship should not be confused with merely ones legal status. True citizenship involves action in the community; it is not passive, but changes through work and desire. It is possible and even preferred to activate the civic behavior of citizenship through the activation of critical literacy (Wan 41). Education and literacy in thought therefore is an integral part of improving oneself as a citizen. Without literacy and knowledge, the individual remains unable to communicate and act in a proper and efficient manner. This is the point where rhetoric and citizenship merge into the single concept of rhetorical citizenship. The individuals burden of education, when undertook,

2 assists the community he or she resides in, once action is engaged. Although voting is the most obvious civic duty most individual undertake, true citizenship involves taking an active part in the betterment of the community, through actions such as the rhetorical oration of ideas and volunteer work to help those in the community who cannot help themselves. The mentorship of these citizenship concepts often occurs in the individuals formative years through the positive, or negative, influences of sponsors. I was first introduced to the power educated oration has in the formation of rhetorical exchange when I began competing in extemporaneous public speaking through my membership in the Future Farmers of America organization. As I began speaking public on a variety of agriculturally related subjects, my audience was small and uninformed. I relied on tone and inflection in my speeches to persuade my listeners to my opinion, as opposed to proper knowledge of the subject. Although, in my first speech, this technique worked, I was reprimanded by my FFA adviser and, therefore, direct sponsor at the time, Mr. Odom, that the correct information would be essential if I was to continue to speak at an ever-higher level. I took this advice to heart and began to concentrate myself in the process of learning all I could about the common topics in agriculture during that time, which was centered upon the qualities of the North America Free Trade Zone Agreement, or NAFTA. Not only did the process of becoming literate on this subject improve my ability to speech knowledgably upon it, it also created in me a sense of civic duty to inform others. As I progressed in the extemporaneous competition, I strove to learn more and more. Outside of the rhetorical competitions, I found myself engaged in community debates concerning agriculture taxes and where government funds should be allocated in order to assist the rural economy of South Lake County, where I lived at the time. Being young, many overlooked my

3 comments at first, but I quickly discovered that my personal desire to learn in order to win speech competitions carried over to community forums. My age and inexperience became a nonfactor due to this education. I was able to present what I learned through diligent study to a wider audience and ever helped the city council approve laws that helped farmers in my community. I ended this part of my rhetorical career at the FFA National Convention, where I placed fourth national in the competition. At this level, my rhetorical speech was being judged by national agricultural board members, whose sole job it was to help the agriculture economy across the nation. In talking with these individuals, it was impressed upon me even further that education and the acquisition of knowledge was absolutely necessary in the process of becoming a true citizen. Rhetoric and citizenship became interlocked and inseparable. The judges of this FFA competition impressed upon me, through the competition, the power of oral rhetoric in the presentation of concepts and ideas that better the community, and therefore the nation, as a whole. I took the lessons I learned in FFA and continued to expand upon them by learning and educating myself, although in an informal manner. I found that I possessed the knowledge to benefit my society, but I lacked the action. Without action, my education was ineffective and my worth as a citizen lessened. Fortunately, it was at this time that I encountered a sponsor that would drive me out of my passive state. I began working for Universal Studios in the capacity of a character entertainer. Part of my jobs opportunities was the chance to volunteer at the Give Kids The World center in Kissimmee. Give Kids The World, or GKTW, is an organization that assists terminally ill children in fulfilling their wishes, one that was often to come to the areas theme parks and enjoy what they have to offer. My rhetorical ability was tempered in this work, forcing me to distill my

4 thoughts into concepts that small, unadvantaged children could understand and enjoy. I was no longer speaking at a high level of complexity; the nature of the volunteer work was to entertain rather to inform. Many of the children I encountered were, due to birth defects or illness, unable to speak for themselves. They were, however, able to still communicate through facial expression and gestures. They taught me, without the benefit of books or writings, that rhetoric existed beyond the spoken word; a method I had up to this time relied on solely. By helping these children through civic volunteering, I learned more on what it truly meant to communicate and express oneself in a social environment. Their expressions showcased desire for social engagement that became for me the core of rhetorical citizenship- to use communication for the betterment of society, in whatever capacity an individual is placed into. Through these children and the overall sponsor identity GKTW, I found that true citizenship comes from helping those around you, using personal skills to better others lives and, by doing this, better the community. These experiences created in me the belief that the quality of a healthy society comes from the way the given society treats those that cannot help or improve themselves by their own means. Improving oneself, if possible, must be undertaken and education must be an ongoing process for those that have to capacity to do so. To not undertake this responsibility negatively affect the community and disqualifies one as a true citizen. It is education in conjuncture with rhetorical expression of knowledge that creates a true citizen that is of value to the community and, extrapolated, valuable to the entire world. Without civic literacy, the desire to assist suffers and can be destroyed. If one does not know how to help civically, one cannot be a quality citizen and, therefore, cannot achieve true citizenship above beyond simply being born into a society. By educating oneself, the individual gains full access to the opportunities that allow them to

5 become productive workers, learners and through this process, true citizens engaged in the betterment of society in general.

6 Works Cited Hauser, Gerald. Introduction to Rhetorical Theory, 2nd ed. Long Grove, IL: Waveland P, 2002. (excerpt) Herrick, James A. The History and Theory of Rhetoric: An Introduction. 4th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2009. (excerpt) Wan, Amy J. In the Name of Citizenship: The Writing Classroom and the Promise of Citizenship. College English 74.1 (2011): 28-49.

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