Wednesday, September 10, 2014

"Brothers and Sisters"

Perhaps as members of the Church, we all too often overlook or take for granted the audience we become a part of when someone begins their talk.  So it is with Elder Bednar's "To Sweep the Earth as with a Flood."  Opening with "Brothers and sisters," the simple three-word phrase immediately kindles a sense of belonging and familiarity among members while simultaneously creating that familial bond with those not of the faith.  This is both an excellent and effective means of demonstrating ethos—and even pathos somewhat—as this phrasing not only shows equal standing among the speaker and audience, but also connects the two. 

Through this opening establishment, Elder Bednar then goes on to talk about the overwhelmingly positive potential contained within social media, namely all of the many networking services available (Facebook, Pinterest, etc.) and their corresponding utility.  In a matter of seconds, information can travel from point A to point B through Z, regardless of geographical location.  By this, Elder Bednar focuses on the virtue of modern technology and media in this epideictic oratory. 


Still, as in the case of Socrates, to show that his laud is not blindly given, Elder Bednar addresses some of the weaknesses and flaws in the system he so praises.  With Socrates, he initially opts to be friendly and visibly interested in what wisdom Gorgias has to offer, ensuring that best intentions are meant before cautioning and questioning the "perfect" validity and coherence of the wisdom for which the rhetorician is so widely acclaimed.  With this gentle reproval, both Elder Bednar and Socrates humanize with their audience by acknowledging fault, both in themselves and in their subjects.  By using communication and going into the mechanics behind it, both speakers adequately convey their messages in a way that listeners can follow without naiveté.  

3 comments:

  1. I completely agree Thomas. Both Elder Bednar and Socrates open their arguments toward the audience in a show of equality and friendliness. However, Socrates does this as a means to eventually get into the heads of Gorgias, Callicles, and Polus whereas Elder Bednar increases his ethos further by actually believing us to be brothers and sisters. Socrates definitely finds more fault with others than himself though.

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  2. Great observation. I think one of the most powerful ways build ethos is doing exactly what Elder Bednar and Socrates did and admitting to the imperfection of an idea, especially their own. Not only does this show that the speaker thinks his/her own philosophy above reproach but it also, as you pointed it out, helps make the argument more transparent so the audience can more easily follow. Again, this builds tremendous ethos.

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  3. I think it is interesting that, in the ways you pointed out, Bednar and Socrates used very similar rhetorical devices, but Bednar's was a kind, sincere friendship while Socrates used the rhetoric to get inside his audiences' heads, like how Katie pointed out. What makes up the difference? I'd say the intent of the speaker and the scope of the audience. But someone else might have a more insightful idea that I would love to hear.

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