ā€œVery simply, language shapes our world and puts names to objects and behaviors so we can talk about them, and rhetoric is the study of how language shapes behaviors and beliefs,ā€ says Martha Brenckle, professor of writing and rhetoric at the College of Arts and Humanities.

In fifth-century Athens, the study of rhetoric developed alongside democracy and played a central role in the development of Western politics and education. Today, it continues to be taught at universities to train future lawyers, teachers, creative writers, politicians, marketers and effective communicators of all kinds. But even beyond the podium or the courtroom, rhetoric is something we both use and consume every day.

Below, weā€™ll discuss some basic models of rhetoric and how you can use them to effectively express your ideas in everyday situations.

The Rhetorical Situation

To be effective, a message cannot exist in a vacuum. The rhetorical situation maps out the situational context, genre, purpose and intended audience of your message. This model is also known as kairos, which is ancient Greek for ā€œthe right time.ā€ It means choosing the opportune moment to deliver a particular message, or even creating that moment.

Taking the holistic context of a situation into account is essential to create a message that resonates. For example, the way you explain a concept to your boss will be different than how you explain that same concept to your younger nephew.

ā€œWe need to use rhetoric to succeed in everyday situations,ā€ says Brenckle. ā€œUnderstanding the rhetorical situation (when and where you are and whatā€™s at stake), your audience (the attributes of people you want to persuade) and the rhetor (thinking about what you want to happen) can help you call members to action at a club meeting or persuade admissions counselors to give you a scholarship.ā€

Below are the parts of a rhetorical situation:

• Audience: The intended readers or listeners of a message.
• Purpose: What the writer or speaker wants the message to accomplish, such as influencing an audienceā€™s actions, thoughts or feelings on a subject.
• Genre: What category does your message belong to? Examples include an academic essay, a commencement speech, a cover letter or a social media post. Each category calls for adjustments to style, content and the conventions of the genre.
• Exigency: This answers the question: why is what youā€™re saying important to say now? Does it address a current issue? What situation sprung you to begin crafting your message?
• Context: This includes factors that affect the creation of the text, such as timing, news or current events.

Rhetorical Appeals

In 350 B.C., Aristotle wrote On Rhetoric: A Theory of Civic Discourse, where he outlined the three rhetorical appeals that can be used to shape your words into an effective message. Each appeal engages with a different aspect of the human mind. A single message can use all three appeals, or just one or two, depending on the rhetorical situation.

1. Logos: This argument speaks to the logical and reasonable side of the brain, building on facts and data to support its message.
2. Ethos: This appeal emphasizes the credibility and trustworthiness of the person delivering the argument.
3. Pathos: This element relates to your audience using emotion, whether itā€™s tugging at the heartstrings with an inspiring story or creating a humorous atmosphere.

Five Examples of Rhetoric in Everyday Life

Rhetoric is used in every field of employment, from communicating professionally with coworkers and customers to writing reports. But aside from specific job titles, below are a few examples of situations where anyone can use rhetoric to achieve a goal.

1. Politics and Civic Engagement

Since its ancient inception, the idea of rhetoric has been associated with politics. Thatā€™s because, in a democratic society, itā€™s crucial for politicians to craft timely messages made to complement a deep understanding of their audienceā€™s wants and needs to advance their goal of being elected. As a citizen, analyzing the rhetorical situation and appeals being used in political discourse can help you objectively see the intentions of the speaker and whether you choose to ascribe to their argument.

ā€œWhen then-Senator Obama gave his ā€˜Red and Blueā€™ speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention, he thoroughly understood the rhetorical situation; he seized a rhetorical moment (kairos) and his powers of persuasion (logos, ethos and pathos) and gave a compelling speech,ā€ Brenckle says. ā€œObama used rhetoric and persuaded his audience to think in a certain way. Many historians believe this speech began his ascent to the presidency.ā€

Rhetorical tools are also necessary for effective civic engagement work. If thereā€™s an issue in your community you feel passionate about, speaking at city council meetings, writing letters to local government or constructing dissent materials are all situations where rhetoric must be carefully taken into consideration. Using each rhetorical appeal is needed to rally individuals, groups and local politicians toward your cause.

2. Job interviews

When preparing for a job interview, you are essentially making an argument to your potential employer about why youā€™re the perfect fit for the job. To effectively argue this, itā€™s crucial to consider the genre, context, audience, exigency and purpose.

ā€œUnderstanding rhetoric comes in handy when you start having job interviews,ā€ Brenckle says. ā€œThe rhetorical situation is the company you want to work for (what is the mission statement, what do they do and how do they do it, how successful is the company), the audience would be your supervisor, and you as the rhetor know this is a formal situation, so you dress in a suit and donā€™t chew gum.ā€

3. Parenting and Family

Using careful language can encourage good behavior and discourage rudeness and tantrums. It is also essential when negotiating with people youā€™re close with, to avoid misunderstandings and arguments.

ā€œParents use rhetoric when they try to shape their childrenā€™s behavior and uphold certain values,ā€ Brenckle says. ā€œWe all know that when a parent calls you by your full legal name instead of your nickname, you are in a world of trouble. Family members use rhetoric when deciding what movie to [watch]; logically laying out an argument for Avengers over Avatar is using rhetoric.ā€

4. Friendships

Knowing how rhetoric works can keep someone from using it against you and allow you to fall under the spell of persuasion. On the other hand, wielding rhetorical appeals effectively can help you convince your friends or loved ones from doing something that might hurt them.

ā€œUnderstanding rhetoric can help you from succumbing to peer pressure and maybe talk your friends out of doing something dangerous, like skateboarding in the parking garage,ā€ Brenckle says.

Why is Rhetoric Important?

When youā€™re writing a college essay, negotiating with a significant other or interviewing for your dream job, the rhetoric you use has the power to shape the course of your life. Language constructs the reality we all operate in ā€” knowing how to use it can help us achieve goals in classrooms, careers and relationships while deconstructing messages used by others.

Learning rhetoric builds a foundation for strong communication skills that are highly desired in almost every field. Graduates of Ā鶹Ō­““ā€™s Department of Writing and Rhetoric programs receive a comprehensive education that enables them to communicate effectively, persuasively, and ethically across a range of civic, professional, and educational contexts. Ā鶹Ō­““ā€™s Department of Writing and Rhetoric offers bachelorā€™s and masterā€™s degrees, as well as a minor and certificates, in online and in-person.

From reflecting on my own experience and asking other students, professionals and educators, here are 10 things I wish I knew before starting college.

1. Itā€™s important to get involved.

I first came to Ā鶹Ō­““ in the spring of 2016 after receiving my associate degree at Valencia College. As an Orlando native, I always knew about Ā鶹Ō­““ but didnā€™t realize just how big the university is. I worried that since I was a junior upon arrival and didnā€™t live on campus, I wouldnā€™t be able to get involved in school without feeling like an outsider. Being a first-generation college student, I didnā€™t have a clue where to start. How was I supposed to find any friends if I couldnā€™t even find my classes?

Getting involved will be something that defines your college experience.

Luckily, the major I chose turned out to be a great fit for me. The classes I took in the allowed me to interact with my peers on a personal level and it only took a few weeks of stressing out over papers together to realize a lot of us were in the same situation and looking for ways to get involved. I joined the student ambassador program for my department and started getting to know and hang out with the people who were in my major. Itā€™s amazing what a few events with free pizza can do to develop lifelong friendships.

Ā鶹Ō­““ is full of incredible resources, but itā€™s up to you to find them. Whether itā€™s finding a yoga meetup, taking care of your mental health, joining a campus club, or attending a resume workshopĢżwith career services, getting involved will be something that defines your college experience.

2. Seek out scholarships and apply. No seriously, just apply.

Millions of dollars of scholarship money goes unclaimed each year, even as student loan debt has reached a collective $1.5 trillion in the United States. In other words, thereā€™s no reason to not apply for free money. Even though Ā鶹Ō­““ is a best-value university with [more than 60%] of students graduating debt-free, there are a multitude of scholarships available to students depending on your degree programs, academic record and future goals.

Millions of dollars of scholarship money goes unclaimed each year.

Spending my first two years at a state college saved me a lot of money on tuition, but so did the decision to live at home until graduation. To help with car and travel expenses to campus, I held a part-time job or paid internship during each semester. It was hard working throughout all four years of college, but it taught me how to balance multiple responsibilities and be aware of my financial decisions.

In that balance, Iā€™ve found that grades really do matter if you want to curb college expenses. Financial aid has been available to me every semester, but doing well in my classes has increased the amount of additional grant money available to me. Even if you donā€™t think you qualify, it never hurts to fill out an application for Federal Student Aid. You can also fill out a general application and see your matched scholarships through .

3. Focus on your plan instead of worrying about how you compare to others.

When I graduated from high school, I never pictured myself getting a four-year degree. My plan was to get a vocational degree in theatre tech so I could string some lights up at one of the theme parks in Orlando. After realizing the Ģżwas a good fit for me, I ended up at Ā鶹Ō­““ without any regret for the journey that got me here.

One the most important things about college is that you will interact with people from all walks of life ā€”different cultures, abilities, races, nationalities, aspirations and socio-economic backgrounds. Remember that every person has their own path, including you. While it will be tempting to think about the internship or job offers someone in your class has already gotten or the schools theyā€™ve been accepted to, the important thing to remember is that you are doing things the way they best fit your learning experience. The world wonā€™t stop revolving if you arenā€™t elected president of a club, change your major or stay an extra semester.

What matters is being prepared for the future you choose to create.

4. Take advantage of tutoring, advising and office hours.

Sometimes the semester comes at you fast. It can be tough to ask for help, but youā€™re never alone in the asking. Everyone has that one subject or class thatā€™s a struggle. For me, it was statistical methods. It took going to tutoring every day after my class had ended to sit down and attempt to piece together what I had just learned. Even though math was never my strong suit, with tutoring I ended up passing my statistical methods course with one of the highest class averages.

Everyone has that one subject or class thatā€™s a struggle.

There are reasons Ā鶹Ō­““ has resources such as Ģżthat help you with assignments ranging from introductory composition assignments to full-length dissertations. Even if youā€™re a pro at viewing your degree audit and figuring out what classes to sign up for, advisors are here to make sure youā€™re taking the steps that will most benefit you. If a professor invites you to tutoring or open office hours, consider stopping by. Not only can you gain assistance or advice, but youā€™ll build rapport with them that will be memorable for future help and recommendation letters.

5. Explore your city.

Thereā€™s hardly ever been a better time to be in Orlando as a college student. The city is one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the United States and is quickly becoming a destination city beyond the lure of theme parks. One of my favorite weekend things to do in Central Florida is to spend a day out at Wekiva Island ā€”a lively riverfront spot about 30 minutes west of campus where you can rent kayaks, canoes and paddleboards. The best part? Itā€™s dog friendly.

If youā€™re looking for local fun, try visiting one of Floridaā€™s natural springs. Buy discount Disney tickets at the Student Union, eat at the delicious and creative , or feel the infectious energy coming from a wall of purple smoke at an Orlando City soccer game. The city has a lot to offer and thereā€™s something for just about every interest.

6. Surround yourself with people who reflect who you want to be and how you want to feel.

Even though thereā€™s fun to be had, college still requires time management and work.

Itā€™s easier to focus on your own goals if your friends are taking their goals seriously. I had a friend from high school that I really cared about, but as I made my way through each semester, I could feel a sense of bitterness growing in our friendship because I started to become more involved in extracurricular activities at Ā鶹Ō­““. It was difficult to admit, but I knew things were changing for me, and my friend didnā€™t want to celebrate the things I was passionate about.

Sometimes it takes meeting new people to realize the ones youā€™ve kept around are no longer growing with you. Youā€™ll want to hang out with people who encourage you to be your best self. Your friends wonā€™t resent you if you have to say ā€œnoā€ to going out in order to study for an upcoming exam. Those who understand you will support you, and those who donā€™t arenā€™t really your friends.

7. Seek out advice from professionals in your field.

Finding a mentor can be highly beneficial to your professional development. If youā€™re unsure of what steps you should take after graduation, try asking your friends, family or professors to connect you with someone who is doing the kind of things you want to be doing. Someone who is new in their field can offer advice on how they got their start, which may give you ideas on where to begin, as well as be a contact within your network.

Itā€™s never too early to get connected to the resources and people that will help your future.

Since starting at Ā鶹Ō­““, I always had an interest in how the fields of writing and public policy work together. In the spring of my senior semester, I participated in the Ģżprogram that sent me to live and work in Floridaā€™s capital. Besides the incredible professional experience the program gave me, I also made lifelong friends and mentors. Itā€™s never too early to get connected to the resources and people that will help your future.

8. Maintain your grades at the beginning to create a safety net for yourself later on.

GPA may not always be the defining factor in oneā€™s career, but thereā€™s little debate that the ability to get good grades and perform well in school reflects a strong work ethic and drive to learn. It can also lead to scholarships providing more money for your expenses.

At the beginning of each semester, strategically plan your time management so you get ahead for the term. If the material becomes more difficult later on, youā€™ll have some room to breathe. One of the things I always make sure to do during the first week is scout all the freebies being handed out on campus and look for the student planner. Getting into the habit of writing in a planner has done wonders for my ability to actually remember when I have quizzes due. Webcourses is usually reliable, but Iā€™ve found that keeping physical notes about when things are due helps your grade more than you might imagine.

9. Enroll in one class you never thought you would take.Ģż

If your program permits you the opportunity, you should take a course that challenges your beliefs or perspective. Iā€™ll never forget the semester when I signed up for Ethics of Law. I needed to fill a requirement for my legal studies minor and ended up enrolled in a course on the death penalty. My professor was a defense attorney in Orlando and had incredible connections in the field. She brought in guest speakers that included a homicide detective and state prosecutor Jeff Ashton, who served on the Casey Anthony trial. I never imagined that simply enrolling in that course would introduce me to experts in the legal field, and an entire new way of looking at capital punishment.

Taking classes outside of your comfort zone will also make you think critically.

Taking classes outside of your comfort zone will also make you think critically, developing a valuable skill set for potential employers. Ask your advisors about interesting or new classes that would complement your curriculum. You may end up in a psychology course focusing on human-animal interaction or even a literature studies class on Harry Potter.

10. Find your interests and follow them.

If I had never chosen to pursue writing, you would probably have never read this.

When I first started at Ā鶹Ō­““, I ran into a former middle school teacher of mine who was taking students on a tour. He asked me what I was majoring in, and I told him a little about the writing department. He looked at me with sympathy and said, ā€œGood luck finding a job.ā€ Little did he know, I never needed luck. College isnā€™t about being lucky. Itā€™s about building upon the knowledge you learn every day to get a little closer to your goals.

Life is too short to not do the things that interest and inspire you.

One of the things that makes college such a unique, transformational experience is that there are so many ways to discover your goals and discover the world. Life is too short to not do the things that interest and inspire you. Start a club that plays Super Smash Brothers in front of the Chick-fil-a on campus. Take a Zumba class at the rec center. Skip a party to watch movies with your roommate. Take your roommate to a party. Get politically involved. Win a national championship. Take cooking classes. Jump in the Reflecting Pond. Prove that Pluto actually is a planet.

Whatever you choose, the experience is yours. And Ā鶹Ō­““ is a great place to start.

Melissa Mitchum is a writing and rhetoric major and legal studies minor at Ā鶹Ō­““, and works as an intern for Ā鶹Ō­““ Downtown. When sheā€™s not creating content for social media, she spends her time exploring Orlando with her French bulldog, Frank.

Here writing and rhetoric instructor Vanessa Calkins ā€™12MA, who teaches Writing for Social Change and earned a masterā€™s in rhetoric and composition from Ā鶹Ō­““, shares a few tips.

Communicate in the Format That Works for You

VC: I donā€™t have any actual data on this, so I donā€™t have a sense that any type of contact ā€” whether thatā€™s a phone call, email or auto-generated text ā€” is viewed as more effective. From my perspective, the most effective medium is the one youā€™re most likely to use. Even services, like Resistbot, work better than nothing if it gets you to actually reach out.

Each correspondence is also tracked. For example, if there is a fax, email, phone call and letter all about the same issue, from different people, those are logged individually. This helps [representatives] to see the amplification of a particular issue. For example, if everyone is contacting them about issues around public health, that is a clear signal they need to address this with their constituents.

Know Your Audience and Their Power

VC: Audience awareness is crucial. While itā€™s typically a representativeā€™s staffers who actually read letters, you should aim to appeal to the official since it still goes through his or her office.

Not knowing who to address, or how to address them holds [people] up from doing the social change writing they want to do. It is important to be aware of the rhetorical situations in which youā€™re writing and to analyze power dynamics before crafting a message for social change.

If youā€™re writing to a local or state official about something but donā€™t know if they even have the power to make the kind of change your letter calls for, what policies that person has supported or where they stand on the issue youā€™re addressing, then youā€™re not giving yourself a fighting chance at being successful.

Mapping out the power dynamics around the issues that matter can help you align your goal with the individual who can actually make that change ā€” and it gives you insight into how to approach them in your writing.

Figure Out the Best Method to Support Your Stance

VC: Sharing personal details or stories can be a rhetorically effective tool and might make a piece more likely to get passed along, but without knowing the official and their staffers, itā€™s hard to know if theyā€™d be most persuaded by ethos (your credibility), pathos (emotional appeals, such as a personal story) or logos (logic, data, etc). The best way around this is to learn more about the official (your audience) and use that information to make the best decisions you can.

Keep Your Writing Focused

VC: I think the best approach overall is to make sure each individual correspondence has a clear goal. When I do my own emails to officials, I try to stick to a single issue and I have been pleased to frequently get responses. Just like the rest of us, people in public office likely get a lot of email/mail and having a clear focus in what you send makes it easier for them to know how to respond.

Nanoscience and nanotechnology are the study of extremely small things — detectable only with very strong microscopes — and how they can be used in a variety of fields from biology to engineering.

Examples include micro cameras used in surgery, liquids used to repair scratches on cars, stain-resistant clothes and stealth technology that cloaks planes from radar.

Thursdayā€™s approval comes nearly 10 years after Ā鶹Ō­““ opened the , which will run the new program. Students will develop the scientific knowledge necessary to make discoveries, along with the business and entrepreneurial skills they need to take those discoveries to the market.

Government agencies and academic researchers have been working hard to unravel how the nano world works. Itā€™s one of the hottest growth industries with a worldwide market estimated at $1.2 trillion by 2020, according to Global Industry Analysts.

Students will work closely with industry partners, and the NanoScience Technology Center is interested in recruiting additional partners. The centerā€™s faculty members already work with 21 companies. Interested companies can contact center director Sudipta Seal at sudipta.seal@ucf.edu.

The new program is expected to begin this fall with 10 students.

In other action Thursday, the Board of Trustees:

Approved a new bachelorā€™s degree in Writing and Rhetoric housed in the , which Ā鶹Ō­““ established in 2010. The program, the only one of its kind in Florida, will address employersā€™ needs by producing graduates who are proficient in analyzing, creating, editing and adapting text. Students will have opportunities to work with community and business partners. The program is expected to begin this fall.

Participated in a demonstration of , which improves teacher practice and student learning by giving educators the opportunity to instruct a virtual classroom full of avatar students. The experience allows teachers-in-training to perfect their skills without impacting any real students and helps veteran teachers hone their expertise or try out new techniques. Mike Hynes, a professor in Ā鶹Ō­““ā€™s College of Education and Human Performance, created the program with education professor Lisa Dieker, College of Engineering & Computer Science professor Charles Hughes, and an interdisciplinary team that included members of the Synthetic Reality Lab at Ā鶹Ō­““ā€™s Institute for Simulation & Training. About 40 universities around the country now use TLE TeachLivE to train future educators, and the program has been nationally recognized by both education and simulation and training associations.

Thanked student body president Melissa Westbrook for her service as a trustee during the past year. Westbrookā€™s term as president ends in early May. She will be replaced on the board by newly elected student body president Weston Bayes.

Approved changes to four student fees beginning in the fall. Following the recommendations of a committee made up of a majority of students, trustees voted to increase the activity and service fee and athletic fee each by 88 cents per credit hour, to reduce the Health fee by 5 cents per credit hour, and to increase the Capital Improvement Trust Fund fee by $2 per credit hour to help pay for Library renovations. The proposed CITF fee increase will take effect only with the approval of the Florida Board of Governors.

Agreed to host the the 10th annual MEAC/SWAC Challenge Presented by Disney at Bright House Networks Stadium on Sunday, Aug. 31. Ā鶹Ō­““ was asked to host the game to keep it in Orlando while the Citrus Bowl is being renovated.

The showcase is an opportunity for the Ā鶹Ō­““ community to view the exceptional work of students from the First-Year Writing Program. The event featured student displays, panels and awards for best writings.

Three student panels allowed young researchers to share their work with an audience. Research projects presented during the panel sessions included ā€œSpanglish and Its Effect on L1 and L2 Speakers,ā€ ā€œCombatting Internet Piracy,ā€ and ā€œGeocaching and the Use of Multiple Literacies.ā€

Students whose work had previously been published in Ā鶹Ō­““ā€™s presented a glimpse of first-year writing at its best and were recognized by Provost and Executive Vice President Tony Waldrop.

JosĆ© Fernandez, dean of the College of Arts and Humanities, presented awards for best student displays to Vanessa Carrillo for best overall poster, ā€œReligious Literacy;ā€ David Sheets for best research, ā€œReality Networks;ā€ Lindsay Schmit for best presentation, ā€œFacebook and Self-Disclosure;ā€ and Delaney Postma, honorable mention for her poster ā€œTraumatic Brain Injury.ā€

Ā鶹Ō­““ President John C. Hitt concluded the ceremony by presenting the Prize for Excellence in First-Year Writing to Lindsay Schmit for her research article ā€œPersonality and Its Effects on Facebook and Self-Disclosure,ā€ published in the Fall 2012 issue of Stylus.

The prize includes a $450 book scholarship donated by Hitt and the Department of Writing and Rhetoric. Schmit, now a sophomore majoring in Pre-Clinical Health Sciences, was accompanied to the ceremony by her parents, Cathy and Dave, who drove from Fort Meyers to attend the showcase.

Marissa Penzato, now a sophomore Aerospace Engineering major, and Victoria Marro, now a junior majoring in Microbiology and Molecular Biology, were awarded first- and second-runners-up.

For more information about the Knights Write Showcase, the First-Year Writing Program or the Department of Writing and Rhetoric, visit .