Ziyin 1 1 Essay - 1327 Words

Ziyin Li English 1A Paul Glanting October 10, 2014 The rhetoric in Geography of Bliss In Geography of Bliss, Eric Weiner is setting on finding the worlds happiest country. He uses a beguiling mixture of travel, psychology, science, and humor to investigate where happiness is. Rhetoric has enjoyed many definitions, accommodated differing purposes, and varied widely in what it included. The traditional definition of rhetoric, first proposed by Aristotle, was the art of observing in any given case the â€Å"available means of persuasion.† It is such a wise definition. In a broader sense, good rhetoric can refer to the effective use of language in any form of discourse. To me, good rhetoric is persuasive communication that is intended to†¦show more content†¦His travel has sent him through the darkest corners of the world to the brightest and busiest places of all. Thus, Weiners exigency that let him keep travelling is obvious to tell--he wanted to know what happiness was to him as an unhappy person. Also, is there a standard definition of happiness? Happi ness is untouchable and mysterious but most people think it can be easily found in their lives. His simple and unadorned sentences appeal a powerful emotion to the audience. Emotions are necessary elements when we are trying to build a good powerful argument. For instance, Weiner questions the audience: â€Å"What if you lived in a country that was fabulously wealthy and no one paid taxes? What if you lived in a country where failure is an option? What if you lived in a country so democratic that you voted seven times a year? † (2). Pathos is evident in this passage because Weiner asks the audience whether they would be happy if they lived in countries with different economic and political standards. He tries to convey his argument by evoking emotion to the audience -- he tries to prove that there is not a certain definition to happiness. Happiness depends on the constraint which involves each person’s perspective of the world that surrounds them. One example of such c onstraint is the Chinese governments policy which states a single-party of citizens do not have right to vote. The leaders will not be happy if the