I like the following definition of rhetoric. I couldn’t find it Monday afternoon during class discussion when I wanted it, but here it is.

“Rhetoric, in the most general sense, is the energy inherent in emotion and thought, transmitted through a system of signs, including language, to others to influence their decisions or actions” (7).
From Aristotle On Rhetoric, trans. George Kennedy (1991).

For some reason, (that I cannot articulate presently) I like thinking of rhetoric as energy. I’m going to continue to mull this over. More will be posted later.