I agree with Berlin that ideology plays a large role in rhetoric; ideology is behind everything and it is a strong force in every culture. I have seen the role ideology plays in the classroom. When my students first started talking about the HIV/AIDS epidemic, I first realized the role ideology plays in what we teach in composition. One of the ways my students came up with combating the AIDS epidemic is a long-debated method: needle exchanges. Needle exchanges, most common in larger cities like New York, are places where drug users can exchange dirty needles for clean ones, thus decreasing the likelihood of the transmission of HIV. This is deeply rooted in ideology and has been widely debated in American politics.
Furthermore, today in class, we talked about LGBT rights and watched several It Gets Better videos. My students responded very well to the videos and they opened up a good discussion of LGBT issues. They opened up about their experiences with bullying in middle and high school and issues adolescents face in general. All of this discussion is steeped in ideology and how Americans think. This ideology will be further translated into student writing and rhetoric.