I won't be in class today due to a sick child, however, I wanted to add to the discussion because there was something that struck me about the Aristotle reading. 

In the Phaedras reading I think we sensed a lot of hypotheticals and "what if's" about rhetoric.  After reading Aristotle I got a sense of seeing rhetoric being put into play in daily life.  Aristotle gives a narrative of how the form and function are very necessary but still, we see more applicable uses vs. two guys hanging out in the woods, thinking about things.

For example, on page 185, second column, near the top, Aristotle says that, "Political speaking urges us either to do or not to do something."  I think this is what we most associate with rhetoric today.  A way in which we attempt to sway opinion and belief.

On page 203, again second column, in the middle, we see an interesting take on rhetoric in which Aristotle talks about revenge.  How it can be pleasant.  What I found interesting is how he uses rhetoric, skillfully, to almost make you believe that revenge is OK.  A very interesting twist in which he takes the lesson of HOW to use rhetoric and turns it back on us, the reader, without so much as us knowing, or really paying attention.

Speaking of which, Aristotle is speaking to us, right?  He's not having a conversation between himself and someone else?

On page 219 he sums it with "The use of persuasive speech is to lead to decisions."  I think that this is key because through the course of the text he leads us through varying degrees in which rhetoric can be used, but to sum it up, gives his final stance and thought on the topic...  That's my observation, anyway...

p.hill