what is a rhetoric
In one view, rhetoric is the art of ornament; in the other, the art of persuasion. Rhetoric as ornament stresses the manner of presentation; rhetoric as persuasion stresses the matter, the content . . .. (William A. Covino, The Art of Wondering: A Revisionist Return to the History of Rhetoric. Boynton/Cook, 1988) Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men. (Plato)