Roberts-Miller

The author of the text, “Rhetoric is Synonymous with Empty Speech”, is Patricia Roberts-Miller. She is a professor of rhetoric and writing who teaches at the University of Texas at Austin. The primary audience of this text are the students that are studying rhetoric and writing. She wrote this article for her students, and others to understand her point of view on meaning of rhetoric. The text implies that rhetoric hides the truth by using long, intellectual words, but she says that simplicity and the truth are not connected. She starts off with the rhetorical views of Plato and Aristotle. Plato says rhetoric is misleading others and lies, while Aristotle says rhetoric is about persuasion and the act of persuading what we think is best. The use of the words “empty speech” is false in Roberts-Miller’s mind as everything produced by humans has rhetoricity in it. Miller believes rhetoric is the cause and consequence of thoughts. It is discussion through communication with others. Rhetoric creates thinking, and speaks out on it. She also says that it can be good and bad, but never neutral. This means that there is a meaning to everything, and everything exists for a reason. One author can write an article consisting of lies and false evidence, while another author can write about the truth. She states that “rhetoric is a contingent, pragmatic, and generally verbal way of approaching problems we face as members of communities” (Miller 10). It is problem solving, even though there might not be one correct answer. It is important to language, communication, and writing, and can be used in many different ways. The texts primary purpose is to educate and to inform others. She is stating what rhetoric is in order to let others know what it means and why it’s important to everyday language.