ENG 335 RandWaPublicDiscourse

  You, reading my title . circa 2021 [colorized].       I know that what I'm about to say is contrary to what I'm going to argue, butchya gotta hear me out. Before I start roasting  criticizing Rodin & Steinberg (RnS), we gotta make sure we're on the same page about what they were saying. To that end, I'm gonna break out the approxaquotes: ~"[these just let me facetiously paraphrase]"~. Now that you understand, here's what RnS said about public discourse and what it should be:  ~"Public discourse is bad today because people don't really listen to what the other side has to say. They take sides and then dismiss arguments simply because they come from people on the side opposite theirs. We gotta find that middle ground that everyone can agree on and doing that requires us to listen to all sides."~ Cool, cool. Its a good ideal. Slap that on a picture of a cat hanging from a branch and you've got a perfectly serviceable motivational poste

Public discourse, a phrase that society uses for a variety of situations, including speeches, demonstrations, and political debates. However, what truly defines this phrase? There are multiple ways to look at public discourse. First, let us look at how the basic definition of the two words work together. According to Merriam-Webster, “ Public ” can be defined as “ of, relating to, or affecting all the people or the whole area of a nation or state.” The basic understand of public is easy to interpret. After all, we use this word often. The more challenging term is discourse. Discourse usually is demonstrated with a rhetorical theme to it. One definition of discourse can be defined as “a formal and orderly and usually extended expression of thought on a subject.” Discourse is usually relative in writing or speaking, using the term as a definition for expressing one’s thoughts about a particular subject or situation. The idea of discourse goes beyond just stating an opinion or fact.