Rate this book

Words Like Loaded Pistols: Rhetoric From Aristotle To Obama (2012)

by Sam Leith(Favorite Author)

3.57 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0465031056 (ISBN13: 9780465031054)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Basic Books

review 1: I bought this for my high school student to read as an “after summer” refresher on persuasive essay writing. It really is perfect for this – it reviews rhetorical techniques and types of speeches/essays in a very entertaining way (though my student probably won't recognize the Yogi Bear/Jellystone Park references, and those to current British politics mostly went over my head as well). Leith provides numerous examples to illustrate the techniques he describes, and his style is conversational and humorous. He amply shows how rhetoric can be used to influence listeners/readers, both for good and for evil (chapters on aspects of rhetoric alternate with chapters on “Champions of Rhetoric,” in which the methods of famously and infamously effective orators are analyzed... more). He reviews the five canons of rhetoric, from invention through delivery (including a particularly interesting chapter on “Memory,” where he describes using a memory palace so well that I was actually able to remember the list of animals – a first for me!) His footnotes are sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, too. As Leith reminds his readers, Cicero said that the purpose of rhetoric “was to move, educate, and delight (movere, docere, delectare).” This book about rhetoric succeeded for me in all three of those goals!
review 2: Good general introduction to rhetoric. Leith offers practical tips on public speaking and the uses of rhetoric with examples from Cicero to Obama. He also attempts to come to grips with the fact that rhetoric is a powerful tool that "persuades and cajoles, inspires and bamboozles, thrills and misdirects." He acknowledges that "[r]hetoric's effectiveness is . . . independent of its moral content or that of its users," but argues that "the more good guys get glued into how it works, the better off we will be." less

Download links for: Words Like Loaded Pistols: Rhetoric from Aristotle to Obama

Advertising