Rhetoric?

I have heard the word rhetoric only once, and that was when my Communications major roommate was trying to decipher the meaning for a class. What I got out of that conversation was that rhetoric is speech (both formal speeches and everyday communicating) and the kind of language and means used to deliver and receive that speech. After reading James A. Herrick’s "An Overview of Rhetoric" I think my definition was pretty much on the money with a few exceptions. I need to include the aspect of persuasion from my definition. Mainly though, he mentions many times the two categories of: 1) what was said and 2) how it was said, or the content and form respectively, which is a much more clear way to phrase what I tried to articulate. It’s not surprising though that “rhetoric” is a commonly used word about which many people have differing definitions seeing as it has been in use since Plato’s times. One thing I still do not understand, however, is how the study of rhetoric could have been “at odds with religion, philosophy, and science at times”, as Herrick states. Even in medieval times when religion often opposed philosophy and science, I do not see how studying language and its “means and meaning” could disagree with any of the three fields listed.

Starting Out

My name is Miranda and I am currently a graduating senior at UW-Madison with one major class and a "Comm b" requirement standing in my way. It's this requirement that lands me for my first time in the writing center on the sixth floor of Helen C. White at 9:30 am where I'm told my "Intermediate Writing" class (read: dull papers and lots of them) is really "Rhetorics of Network Culture" (read: what?!). And, despite dreading the eventual over-the-shoulder look from teachers that reminds me very much of elementary school arithmetic, I am here typing an online, open-to-public blog which is technically intended as an introduction. In way of that introduction:
My Likes:
summer
sleeping in
sand in your toes, hair, and teeth after a day on the beach
front porches
friends and family and my old, crabby cat
puppies, and the idea of getting one
football
glitter
shopping, looking at, and owning shoes
the colors red and turquoise
My Dislikes:
cold, face-scraping wind
traffic
rude people
dry skin on your hands