The Aristotle poem

The Finest of All

The poem by Aristotle explains “the finest of all.” It denotes the existence of a beginning, center, and end of all. In the Bible, for example, there was the production of light at the beginning, which is also used in the poem. When it gets to the center, the poem implies that there are moments when situations get complex, while the end is where things are summarized. The aim of this paper is to compare and contrast the rhetorical systems of Aristotle and Billy Collins.

Rhetorical Systems of Aristotle and Billy Collins

According to Aristotle, what is called a whole has a beginning, middle, and end. Billy Collins uses informal messages and focuses more on his experiences as well as how the poem affected him. He uses imagery and individualism to express his ideas. Aristotle ensures that his poems are commentary describing in every paragraph various ways to go with one’s poem (Green, 640). This means that every paragraph has a different beginning, middle, and end. The use of personification, as well as imagery, offers the reader a new perspective to interpret and find the significance of the poem.

Aristotle’s Influence on Billy Collins’ Poem

Billy Collins uses the philosophy of Aristotle in his poem because his poem is divided into three parts beginning, middle and end. The poem talks more about life. It starts at the beginning when a person is born, then moves to the middle when life gets hard and later to the end when one realizes that the pains and struggles were worth working for (McCroskey, 23). In the beginning, almost anything can happen, in the middle, nothing is simple anymore while at the end we reach the destination we cannot help imagining. Aristotle was the first to come up with the idea of the three-part writing system. Billy Collins agreed with this system by using it in his poem basing it on Aristotle’s three elements of having a complete unified whole.

The Role of Imitation in Both Poems

Another rhetorical structure used by both Aristotle and Billy is imitation. The poem is an imitation of life, and this is accomplished using poetic language. Just like there was a beginning, middle and end in the bible, human beings have to pass through the three stages in life.

Rhetoric as a Science and Historical Sequences

Aristotle treats rhetoric as a science even if it is not strictly one. He believes that poems should be used for different reasons which include helping in defense of truth as well as persuading a less intellectual audience that is not in a position to comprehend intellectual demonstrations. He uses arguments that can be reduced logically to syllogisms (Green, 653). For instance, when Miriam and Edward reach the middle level; they are faced with different challenges. To start with Miriam does not want Edward’s child. In the end, the car runs out of the road.

On the other hand, Billy Collins uses historical sequences as well as other chronological grinds. This is where he locates himself in time. He always orients the reader at the beginning of the poem regarding where we are and when we are. These are the two major rhetorical pieces of his information (O’Driscoll, 39). For instance in the poem ’Aristotle’ it is clear that the beginning is time-space coordinate in one way or the other. Having a beginning, middle and end is an opening which can be compared to opening a chapter of a novel. Collins carefully guides the reader through the poem from a circled hell to a modest place.

Work cited

Green, Sandy Edward. “A rhetorical theory of diffusion.” Academy of management review 29.4 (2004): 653-669.

McCroskey, James C. Introduction to rhetorical communication. Routledge, 2015.

O’Driscoll, Dennis. “Billy Collins, New and Selected.” (2002): 32-39.