Wednesday, October 2, 2019
The Art of Fitting In
The book "Thank You for Arguing," refers to the art of fitting in as rhetorical decorum. The word decorum is latin for "fit." The ancients wrote on decorum by covering voice control, gestures, clothing, timing, and even manners. It is a concept that will match the audiences expectations to be agreeable. This is a tool used when using ethos. Ethos is the argument by character and portrays the writer's personality, reputation, and values.
When going out in public with your friends vs your family, do you catch yourself acting different? This is because we feel a need to act a certain way in order to fit in. This results in acting "cool" around friends and "tolerable" around family, but there is a certain way to act in certain situations. Decorum also applies to the way you dress. Dressing the way everyone would want you to is like wearing camouflage. For example don't let your clothes make a statement unless the majority agree upon it. These concepts apply to the readers or audience. The next step is learning how to determine your character.
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I like how you used the example of being with friend versus family to show how a person adapts to a situation to fit in. It shows that each person can fit into multiple different environments and that each person will change their behavior to fit into an environment.
ReplyDeleteI recognize how I act this way, along with everyone I know. Depending on the setting, how I feel, and who I am talking to, my mannerisms change. I have never related this to rhetoric. That is so interesting! The first thing I think when reading this is how I act and talk to family versus how I talk to friends. The conversation and dialogue you will have to get your way always depends on your approach and use of rhetoric.
ReplyDeleteOh! I've heard of something like this before - It's called Code-Switching. We think we're taking on different personalities when we're with a certain group of people but in actuality we are just adopting different sides of our own personalities. It's completely normal! It's how we learn to deal with different groups/types of people and how we handle it and it isn't something we have that much control over but when we actually think about it then it makes sense. I always thought that was an interesting part of the human psyche. If we really had different personalities then we would have a Split/Multiple Personality Disorder that turns those who have it into drastically different people because of those multiple personalities. Code-Switching is a very interesting read and I really think it's something you should definitely look up!
ReplyDeleteI can tell when I'm acting different around my friends v.s. when I'm with people I've only met recently. My personality might be a little different depending on what I'm comfortable with
ReplyDeleteThis is the example I thought of when I was reading! I think that we switch the way that we act around certain people because of the change in environment. This example has also been talked about in my Psychology class.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what your saying about how people act different when they are in different situations or in a different crowd. I often find myself doing the same thing. When I am out with my friends at a party on the weekend I act a lot different than I would when I'm at a party with my family over the holidays. I find decorum to be a very useful tool for rhetoricians because different situations and circumstances call for different forms of behavior.
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