The Holy Grail as a pencil holder...

In a scene from a story I heard once, an archeologist was searching for a valuable chalice (cup) that supposedly possessed miraculous powers--something like the Holy Grail, but not quite on the same level. Hearing that a certain church had owned the chalice for a long time, he went to the church and asked the pastor about it. The pastor said he had never seen or heard of the chalice. Finally, the archeologist described the chalice in detail to the pastor. "Oh!" cried the pastor, "That chalice! It's in my office; I've been keeping pencils in it."

It turned out that the pastor was only joking, but that scene always makes me smile. How impossible it is that anyone could miss the value of something like the Holy Grail...but this last week, as I read about complicated rhetoric strategies, this story returned to my mind. So, I reasoned: If the English language is the Holy Grail, then the vast majority of the population is keeping pencils in it. Huh? Allow me to explain.

To most people--including myself--the English language is what you use to get fries at McDonald's, to argue with your siblings, or to answer the questions on the history exam. The English language used on the street and in homes is a highly fluid creature that morphs into whatever it needs to be for the occasion, whether correct or not. But--as evidenced by the rhetoric reading for this week--our language posesses a vast power that often remains untapped. Can you use the English language powerfully without knowing terms like "ethos", "pathos", and "logos"? Sure. It comes naturally to us. Think of a new mother who is trying to convince her husband that the crying baby really does need its diaper changed. She could perfectly naturally appeal to any of the three kinds of rhetoric, without knowing anything about them.

Logos: "Why, just yesterday I read Harvard's newest scientific poll, which found out that babies who didn't get their diapers changed regularly had a 75% higher chance of getting put in jail before the age of twenty-five!"

Pathos: "Honey, look at his poor little red face! Think how awful it must feel to have a wet diaper with no one to change it. I wish he would grow up with happier memories of his father..."

Ethos: "Look, I'm the one who spends all day every day with him. You would think I would know when his diaper needs changing by now--and it needs changing."

Our fictional mother has just employed all three tools of rhetoric to try to build a convincing argument. Even without any knowledge of rhetoric, humans are smart enough to instinctively use good rhetoric strategies when they want to convince someone of something. It's truly amazing.

So how important is it to really learn the language of rhetoric? Imagine what happens when someone is made aware of logos, pathos, and ethos and how each can be used. Imagine if we took our pencils out of the Grail, polished it, and put it in the place of honor it deserves. Wow.