Category Archives: rhetoric

Two Bad Ideas from the Guardian

I’m not sure about this story on computers grading standardized tests, because I don’t know about the sophistication of the software or the levels of the students. My gut is to agree with Tim Oates, director of Cambridge Assessment:”Some approaches … Continue reading

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Santos on Hall on Kanye, Wilson, America, and Television

While I agree with Michael Hale’s general critique that Americans pay more attention to “artificial” dramas–be it Wilson’s outburst on the floor of Congress or Kanye’s usurpation of Taylor Swift’s moment, I resist his implication that such attention can be … Continue reading

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They Say, I Say — Kanye West Assignment

Today I want to practice using the They Say, I Say bridges you read this weekend in reference to the recent Kanye West debacle. Take ten minutes or so to explore the following links and reactions to both Kanye’s interruption … Continue reading

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Not All Things Are Equally True

I’ve had a few posts up recently regarding healthcare reform, most recently T.R. Reid’s 5 myths regarding international approaches to healthcare. Casey recently pointed me towards Ann Coulter’s echo of Reid’s piece, writing that he found it quite convincing. I … Continue reading

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Plato Said, I Say

Plato, Book VI, Republic: Let’s agree that philosophic natures always love the sort of learning that makes clear to them some feature of the being that always is and does not wander around between coming to be and decaying. (485a-b) … Continue reading

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A Great Page from Everything is Miscellaneous

I’m finishing up another read of David Weinberger’s Everything is Miscellaneous–wow do I enjoy this book. I wanted to post this passage to my living memory since I think it would make a nice opening to my Historical Rhetorics seminar … Continue reading

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The Story is not the Same

Work has been overwhelming of late, and I have been ignoring my blog and my friends. Sorry about that. I have been following baseball more closely this summer than I have recently–its my lunch hour obsession. In addition to maintaining … Continue reading

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Clinton on Johnson is Really about Rhetoric

Stephen Johnson has a neat post today on Bill Clinton’s reaction to The Invention of Air. I haven’t had a chance to read this one yet, but I am looking forward to it this summer. Anyways, in his praise for … Continue reading

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Help Support Net Neutrality

I posted this to Facebook yesterday, and a few people have passed it on. Time Warner, a large ISP, is making a serious political and legal effort to counter net neutrality. I am presuming they are attempting this early in … Continue reading

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Colbert on the”Danger” of the Internet

This comes from Colbert’s interview with Keen–it is presented as something of a nightmare. But I think it adequately describes a digital/rhetorical/sophistic new media environment, one in which there is not getting outside the cave. Responding to Keen’s claim that … Continue reading

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