This thesis attempts to open some debate with respect to the rhetoric in connection with the education of writing as a way to cultivate critical thinking and persuasive power. I try to suggest the direction the modern rhetoric should take by searching...
This thesis attempts to open some debate with respect to the rhetoric in connection with the education of writing as a way to cultivate critical thinking and persuasive power. I try to suggest the direction the modern rhetoric should take by searching for the possibility of a wider understanding of rhetoric and its role in the writing of argument.
It is revealed that the education of writing is being more emphasized as a process of education to build up critical thinking and power of argument being a condition to realize the image of ideal human beings demanded in the educational environment which cannot keep abreast of the change of modern times and society.
The education of writing plays a role as the education of basic liberal arts and becomes a channel for the education of citizen. It is meaningful that the power of thinking and persuasion developed by the education of liberal arts can be improved more by the deep study of a specific area.
Rhetoric can be reasonably discussed because writing aims not to be a simple process but to communicate with a reader. Persuasion has a complicated mechanism and it is available through argument. The power of argument is a basic qualification for a member of a community. The free communication is required to dissolve the conflict which arises by means of a variety of value systems. In some cases, we can persuade others by argument through the process of communication, and a consensus and concession can be reached. In this sense, rhetoric has an ethical value with respect to the practice of the judgement of value by the members of a community.
I divided the argumentative writing into the process of thinking and the process of writing. The process of thinking is divided into description, content construction, intensification and visualization, and the process of writing, into brainstorming, topic choosing, structurization, plot making, draft writing, and revision. This study concentrates on the process of thinking because in the practice of writing, the descriptive technique can be only part of writing, not writing itself.
Rhetoric in writing takes up an extended realm getting beyond an original limited one by contributing to creating a public discourse as a medium for communication and decision making. Recognizin rhetoric in a new perspective can not only bring an active correspondence to a today's real world which is radically transformed by information revolution and globalization but also expect the effect of practice, namely, the change of environment by internet and text messaging.