As Oscar Wilde stated: “Arguments are to be avoided, they are always vulgar and often convincing.” In rhetorical practice (and writing), there are a lot of considerations. From the rhetorical triangle to the rhetorical canon, from procatalepsis and anaphora, to polemics. Nevertheless, these considerations are important for writers, whether they are consciously making rhetorical decisions or not. In this post, we look at the term “polemic” (po-lem-ick) to better understand how to recognize and utilize this argumentative form, and how to apply this understanding to our own writing.