In this essay “Murder! (Rhetorically Speaking)” by Janet Boyd, the author speaks on her definition and understanding of rhetoric. Rhetoric is a confusing concept for most people to grasp. She even uses an example of her own personal experience to show the readers how it can be hard to understand. One day in class, when trying to discuss the meaning of rhetoric, all of the students were stumped. Boyd points out that the best answered she received was “bullshit”. This sparked many thoughts in her head; one being why he said it, another being why it was important. Then she goes off to explain how the word itself is not what is important, but “choosing how to express your meaning” is what defines rhetoric (Boyd 87).  This example highlights the definition of rhetoric which is one of the main points of this essay. Rhetoric is used to persuade people which is what Boyd is trying to do.

I find it interesting how Boyd uses her own experiences to help relate the topic of the essay to the audience. This makes it very easy to follow along and understand. One of the most interesting parts of Boyd’s essay is the structure. The way the essay was set up was not the normal essay, there were bullet points and sub paragraphs, and a lot of questions. This is important because it displays to the reader that it’s not important what you say, it’s all about how you say it. So in a way, Boyd highlights her uses of rhetoric in her own essay about rhetoric. I find this very powerful because it shows the importance and effect that rhetoric has on reading and writing.This text is similar to others in such  way that they are trying to prove a point, but most of this essay is unique. The examples are real experiences which makes the analysis even more concrete.

As a writer my skills can only improve after reading this essay because now I understand the tool of rhetoric more than I did before. Rhetoric is the key to making your writing more unique. Every time you write, you should be adding a little bit of yourself into your writing because then the audience will feel as they actually know you and can connect with you. One sentence can mean one thing to a certain person but mean something completely different to another person. Rhetoric is essential to writing because without it, the audience would not be interested in a boring essay that is just like all the other. Now knowing how to use rhetoric properly I can have a new technique to use when writing. Writing with rhetoric is like thinking in a whole different way.