Pons Questions Seven/Five

1. Bitzer's presentation of the rhetorical discourse as being born out of a "rhetorical situation" that demands the utterance of discourse made me think once again about Pope Urban II's Clermont speech (which I briefly mentioned in passing during class discussion) in which he utilizes the strength of his position and plays on the religious fervor and growing fear of Islam to unite Christendom into carrying out the first crusade. Bitzer uses speeches from Lincoln and Churchill as examples, but are there any other major examples of rhetorical discourse that immediately come to mind for you (either historical or fictional)? If so, can you identify the rhetorical situation that demanded such a discourse to occur?

2. In Royster's "scene three" she discusses a "positive" response to one of her presentations in which a friend of hers lauded her "authentic voice" because she wasn't speaking in an "appropriated academic language." She goes on to make the case that all of her voices are authentic and that she prefers to construct "social realities" that "affirm differences, variety." I'm wary of any attempt for an individual to claim a unique or "authentic" voice that is somehow divorced from rhetorical context, and mostly agree with Royster that all of our voices are authentic. Although it seems to be the case that this reception to her presentation was intended to be a positive one (as we certainly should promote freedom of expression and identity especially for underrepresented cultural demographics) is there a sense in which strictly delineating which voices are "authentic" to a people group and which are "appropriated" in the name of protecting against cultural trespassers might give way to a dangerous reinforcement of tribalism, effectively shutting down any sort of cross cultural interaction or mutually agreed upon sharing?