Though I wouldn't credit The Hill's Spencer any value as a human being, he does, unfourtantely, have some rhetorical value.
As I sat and watched an re-run of the ever so realistic The Hills a few days ago, I watched as the manipulative tool Spencer used his rhetoric to make his baby sister cry. His ability to redefine the terms is what makes him an effective rhetorician. In this one instance (although there are many, many more) he takes a situation where he was at fault, redefines the arguement, and turns it back onto his sister. Within a matter of a few minutes, he had convinced her that he was not at fault and it was her "who was making herself cry." As dishonest and cunning as this entire conversation was, I was blown away at how easily Spencer redefined the term. Not only that, but he convinced her that the arguement was unimportant and irrelevant--which made her drop the subject all together.
I despise his character, yet continue to watch it every week...at least this time around, he offered me something to write about.
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4 comments:
I wonder where he picked up on those skills. Family seem to be the easiest to persuade, so he was able to make his sister cry. Would he be able to convince anyone else on his terms and make them cry as well?
I saw that episode and was likewise blown away at what he was doing--i think he loses points rhetorically because his ethos is so bad---but you are right, he did flip that argument on her pretty easily.
He is a jerk... and he is a jerk that uses rhetoric to his utmost advantage. He uses his "skills" to persuade everyone... i mean the sex tap scandal, the fight between lauren and hedie ... and obviously his sister. he is a con man and a manipulator. I guess he is one good example of how rhetoric can be used in a negative way to get what you want.
this sounds like an affected refusal or accismus. Spencer refused the fact that he was at fault and refused it and turned it around and made it his sisters fault. Spencer has this way with most of the girls on the show, however one girl in particular, his ex fiance, is catching on and not taking the blame anymore.
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