Interrupting Rhetorical Analysis

Josh’s father monopolizes the conversation by continually interrupting him almost every time Josh speaks. Interrupting commonly uses language that challenges or disrupts a speaker (Wood, 122). When Josh’s father interrupts and bombards him with questions such as, “What do you mean you’re not me? You think I wasn’t a good student before I joined the fraternity? You think you’re so smart you can party all the time and still make good grades?” he does this to challenge Josh’s judgment (Wood 122, 132). When he cuts Josh off again by exclaiming, “Well, you think wrong!” he does not allow Josh to communicate what he thinks, expressing disregard for his opinion. Whether this disparagement was intentional or not, he has focused the attention away from Josh, resulting in ineffective listening.
First, because his dad is only acknowledges his opinion as right, he will not be able to understand Josh’s opinion. Second, it makes Josh feel like his opinions are invalid, as his father is disregarding what he says (Wood, 120).
On the other hand, Josh is listening defensively and is taking his father’s advice as criticism. When his father uses his own experiences to explain the negative impact he believes fraternities have on academics, Josh responds, “But Dad, I’m not you. Joining a fraternity wouldn’t necessarily mean that my grades…” (Wood, 132) With this remark, Josh has ignored his father’s advice and, instead, thinks that his father does not value his judgment. He knows his father disapproves and is imposing that disapproval onto his responses when criticism may not be intended (Wood,