What in the world is Rhetoric?

I know your wondering what in the world is Rhetoric and what does it have to do with English? Rhetoric is the study of effective speaking and writing. It's the art of persuasion and many other interesting things. Rhetoric refers to the study and the uses of written, spoken, and visual language. Rhetoric investigates how language is being used to organize and maintain social groups,construct meanings and identities. Rhetoric also, coordinate behavior, mediate power, produce change, and create knowledge. Rhetoric is basically used to self - persuade and it operates to influence behavior, change attitudes, and opinions (1). Rhetoric  is important to know about , it's  the art of persuasive speaking  and it's a important skill to learn in  a academic environment. Rhetoric really began in Ancient Greece 2500 years ago as a form to communicate and it can be used as a way to deceive, or sway a person . Rhetoric is divided into chronological periods : the Classical which is the birth of rhetoric in ancient Greece to about 400 c.e., the Medieval (1400 c.e), the Renaissance ( the 1700s), and the Enlightenment period ( the late 1700s to the eighteen century, the nineteenth century , and the twentieth century. Rhetoric has been around since the fifth century and it developed in the Greek  courts (2).