Liberation vs. Terrorism

I'm taking a class called Intro. to Speech Communication 190.

It's all online material and the lectures to me, are boring. Well, most are. Some students have been engaged in this art of rhetoric material, though every once in a while, I'll hear my professor more clearly in other parts of these lectures than I do in others. I heard him loud and clear just moment ago.

I came across this part in my professors lecture:

What is the nature of the world created by Rhetoric?

Social-Constructivist
Through the use of language, individuals come together & build a community. It is only through language that we can understand one another, it is only through language that we can understand the world, live & affect the world.
Therefore, the world is both a reflection and creation of our use of language.
The language we use, the symbols we use, create the world in our image.

Terministic Screen
Is like a filter that stands between each person and the world that s/he observes. The symbols that we use, create a screen or filter, and that screen changes what we’re able to see out of it. A screen or filter lets in certain things and keeps others out. As screen or filter distorts what we're able to see in the distance and magnifies other things that we can see.

Example: when we were little kids, the symbol "dog" meant just about anything with four legs and fur. We drove by a field and pointed to the cows and said, "dog." We saw a cat and said, "dog." We saw a bear in the zoo and said, "dog." All we could see through our screen, were dogs.

When we got a better screen, we could see the difference.

"A choice of words, is a choice of worlds." - Kenneth Burke

Simply put: When we use one symbol, rather than another, we create a different world.

When we say "Terrorist," we create one world. When we say "Freedom Fighter," we create another world.

When we name a situation, that situation is so devine, it requires certain actions. Those actions are discint to that situation.

Rhetoric allows for people to choose the most appropriate action for each situation.

For instance: We are at war in Iraq. We term that situation a war against terror.
When we used that term, it sets up the rules that we have to live by and we have to play by in this war.

Had we used something else, such as a term we used in the 90s, a Liberation for example when we removed Iraq from Kuwait, all we had to do was take care of moving one person out of another area.

Now we use the term "War against terror," and we have a whole different set of rules we have to deal with.

Rhetoric tells us how we should feel about situations, rhetoric tells us what behaviors are appropriate, rhetoric tells us how to draw comparisions and distinctions.

Rhetoric provides a map of that world and also provides a key for that map.

If you want a definition of rhetoric, I do not have one for you.

Go here: http://www.amazon.com/History-Theory-Rhetoric-James-Herrick/dp/0205566731/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240778279&sr=1-1

and you'll see the book I've been studying out of for this class.

I thought this was an interesting example he used. Let me know your thoughts!