rachelslaughter

When writing out my newly acquired web address for this fresh, new realm of communication that I am about to enter, I notice the odd phrase which the English language's duality suddenly presents. Rachel's laughter, as pertaining to the UW Oshkosh undergraduate class, Rhetoric of Laughter, transforms itself, in the form of a web address (without the apostrophe), into Rachel slaughter. On that note...
What is rhetoric? A good question, to begin, for it seems as though there could be an endless list of possible definitions. Aristotle defines rhetoric as "the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion." Beyond that, he explains how a rhetorician must intimately know and understand human nature and how it works. Rhetoric guides human tendency, not simply by what is expressed , but by how it is expressed. This is style. He professes that, "appropriate style will adapt itself to the emotions of the hearers, the character of the speaker, and the nature of the subject." Style, rightfully coined as "the art of language," by classical tradition, refers to prose, poetry, use of simile, metaphor, epithet, etc. By using such techniques, the author may well invoke his audience to simultaneously arrive at common judgment.
Rhetoric of Laughter, then, would refer to the persuasive means by which laughter results. Returning to the above mentioned slaughter comment, I decided to keep my original web address, not only for the irony protruding from its dual meaning, but also to explain a bit of truth on my approach to this subject: it has always been my understanding that once a joke needs explaining, it has lost its former wit. Will intense study of this subject "slaughter" the slight sense of humor I may have retained from my carefree childhood? We shall see; though it was not the strongest element of my personality, anyway.