I think I am really going to like this book. The first thing that made me like it was the way the author writes: informally and understandably. I like the way he comes across on the page, he seems like a nice guy, and therefore I believe him when he tells me how to make people agree with me. There's some how-to-the-what in there - if he had written in a less personable style then I would have been less likely to enjoy reading and therefore less inclined to to like the author as a person and believe what he told me. Pretty nifty little trick he's got there.
I also really like it because it's useful. The things he's talking about are things that happen or can be used everyday. I'm already thinking about how I'm going to apply these concepts in my college essays: what do I want my reader to do in the end? Accept me, like me, think I'm a cool person that they want at their university. How do I do that? Make them feel the same things I feel towards my subject, make them think that it's the correct way to feel, and then make them think that I'm so correct they just have no choice other than to accept me into their university. If only it were so easy. But I do understand all the points that Heinrichs is making and can clearly see how effective the methods he talks about are in real life.
He's right when he talks about the importance of rhetoric in the introduction, it is an extremely useful tool. The proper use of rhetoric is a skill that everyone should know - especially those who dream of being very successful in the future. Getting people to agree with you is a skill that has many obvious benefits if you're good at it. I want to be good at it. I'm looking forward to finishing this book and seeing if I can get my way more often. If I could also get into college that would be cool as well.
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