{"id":73,"date":"2026-03-09T00:12:04","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T00:12:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/myweb.fiu.edu\/cnewf001\/?page_id=73"},"modified":"2026-04-12T21:34:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T21:34:34","slug":"welcome","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/myweb.fiu.edu\/cnewf001\/welcome\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>There\u2019s a reason language online feels so powerful. It helps us develop identity, argument, and even a strange kind of digital confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Intro to Static Pages, Moving Meaning\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/RjVEx2EssEk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Transcribed:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>INT. OFFICE (NIGHT)<br>(Cheyenne seated at her desk, on the computer.)<br>(A notification sounds)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>CHEYENNE:<br>Ew. Oh, you&#8217;re here. Sorry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;ve somehow stumbled onto this website by accident, welcome. But if you&#8217;ve come here intentionally&#8230; Seek help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Either way, I&#8217;m Cheyenne, and this stupid corner of the internet is where I write about rhetoric, storytelling, and the numerous ways language dictates our life online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because whether we like it or not, rhetoric is everywhere. Even up your big ahh-<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your favorite influencer uses it. Your least favorite politician abuses it. And your group chat deploys it with DEFCON efficiency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This site is essentially my ongoing attempt to answer one question, and that is why humans are so easy to persuade. And the answer, broskis, is unfortunately complicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes it&#8217;s logic. Sometimes it&#8217;s credibility. But more often than not, it&#8217;s vibes. Sha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>INT. WHITE VOID (PRESENTATION)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ancient rhetoricians had names for this. You may have heard of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Socrates appears to the right of the frame.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>CHEYENNE:<br>No, not you. Everyone knows your name. Get out of my house already, man. I&#8217;ve alerted Chris Hansen four times now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Socrates sulks.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>CHEYENNE:<br>What I meant was referring to the three main aspects of argumentation. Ethos: credibility. Pathos: emotional appeal. And Logos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>INT. OFFICE (NIGHT)<br>(Cheyenne at the computer again.)<br><br>CHEYENNE:<br>Pure, unadulterated logic. Common sense buff. Something a lot of y&#8217;all are at a deficit in. But if you&#8217;ve spent more than five minutes on the internet instead of diggin&#8217; in yo butt, you&#8217;ll know that one usually wins most of the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The answer is pathos. It&#8217;s always pathos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, what exactly will you find here, you might be asking. Great question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You&#8217;ll find essays I&#8217;ve written about rhetoric and how it manifests in modern media before our very peepers. Reviews of narrative-heavy games you bed-rot your life away playing. Creative writing that conveniently functions as rhetorical argument and shameless self-plug. Blog posts where I waffle about persuasion as an art and digital culture. And a gallery where I share snippets from my book <em>Scrolls &amp; Screens: An Odyssey Through the Ages of Rhetoric<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Again, Soc has laser eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Cut to Socrates appearing once again.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>SOCRATES:<br>The better to vaporize you with, my dear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>CHEYENNE:<br>Vape? Where?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The real goal here is simple. I want to make rhetorical theory less intimidating. Less terrifying. Because most people hear rhetoric and imagine dusty, old books written by old farts named Demetrius or Quintilian. Or L&#8217;Carpetron Dookmarriott.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But rhetoric isn&#8217;t ancient. It&#8217;s happening right now. Every tweet. Every ad. Every viral TikTok. Every YouTube apology video where they did the crime and tattoo crocodile tears on their face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All rhetoric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Cheyenne gives a thumbs up.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, if you enjoy pondering about language and its roots, questioning sheep media, or occasionally staring into the abyss of modern doom&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Cheyenne sneezes.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>CHEYENNE:<br>Pardon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You&#8217;re in the right place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Feel free to explore the site, read something uncomfortable, and always remember to handle rhetoric with care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because those who understand manipulation- I mean persuasion, usually win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Deuces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There\u2019s a reason language online feels so powerful. It helps us develop identity, argument, and even a strange kind of digital confidence. Transcribed: INT. OFFICE (NIGHT)(Cheyenne seated at her desk, on the computer.)(A notification sounds) CHEYENNE:Ew. Oh, you&#8217;re here. Sorry. If you&#8217;ve somehow stumbled onto this website by accident, welcome&#8230;. <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/myweb.fiu.edu\/cnewf001\/welcome\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7383,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-73","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myweb.fiu.edu\/cnewf001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/73","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myweb.fiu.edu\/cnewf001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myweb.fiu.edu\/cnewf001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myweb.fiu.edu\/cnewf001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7383"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myweb.fiu.edu\/cnewf001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/myweb.fiu.edu\/cnewf001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/73\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myweb.fiu.edu\/cnewf001\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}