Ratcliffe is building on Burke's ideas of identification. Through rhetorical listening she acknowledges the existence of many discourses. One can use rhetorical listening as a tool to understand Burke’s terministic screens. These terministic screens are compared to a lens through which the world makes sense to us. For example, one's race or gender can help form a screen through which they interpret the world differently. Ratcliffe promotes studying these kinds of "screens" in order to understand completely the authors point of view.
Ratcliffe takes Burke's idea of identification and applies it to her idea of listening. To Ratcliffe, rhetorical listening is a method of reading that offers a unique way of interpreting text. It can be used to distinguish categories such as age, class, history, nationality, religion and politics. In “Rhetorical Listening,” she describes studying, as well as identifying, her own whiteness. She does this by taking the time to read up on other authors viewpoints. She believes this listening will create a deeper understanding.
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