All 3 Uses of
rhetoric
in
Don Quixote
- nor have geometrical measurements or refutations of the arguments used in rhetoric anything to do with it;†
Chpt 1.0rhetoric = the use of (or study of using) words to make a point
- The girls, who were not used to hearing rhetoric of this sort, had nothing to say in reply; they only asked him if he wanted anything to eat.†
Chpt 1.1-2 *
- The landlord, to get him out of the inn, replied with no less rhetoric though with shorter words, and without calling upon him to pay the reckoning let him go with a Godspeed.†
Chpt 1.3-4
Definition:
the use of (or study of using) words to make a point -- typically implying skillful use
Rhetoric is used with many connotations. "Effective rhetoric" has a positive connotation, If someone says something is "just rhetoric," they're implying that the words may make a good surface impression, but they are lacking in substance.