As we conclude this unit on the Renaissance and Reformation within this Rhetoric & Civilization course, I'd like my students to return to the essay form -- not the college essay form with its overt structure of argument and support, but the essay form as first practiced by Michel de Montaigne: exploratory, informed, and conveyed with a sense of personal reflection and style.
We just had a classroom activity, a "salon" where, in small groups, the students practiced sprezzatura -- spirited and witty conversation informed by the historical figures, texts, and concepts we've studied in this period. I want their written essay to be something of an extension of this lively dialogue. In short, I'm hoping that in about 500 words each student can demonstrate 1) knowledge of specific concepts, people, events, and texts of the Renaissance and reformation; and 2) ability to meaningfully explore such ideas within the genre of the Renaissance "essay." In that spirit, they are to essayer ("try" or "prove") their ideas as those ideas bump into one another, and as they play off of people and ideas.
A simple formula:
Showing posts with label style. Show all posts
Showing posts with label style. Show all posts
Monday, February 2, 2015
Friday, December 5, 2014
Writing Plan for a Writing Clan (a.k.a English Teaching Majors)
Audience Profile
 |
| With my essay, English Teaching majors will be able to understand why rhetoric and communication is vital in the classroom! |
A
typical English Teaching major will take many literature, English language,
grammar, and teaching courses to prepare them to teach in a secondary education
setting (high school). Almost all
curriculum will address communication in some way. Communication will be found through
literature and the importance of literature on communication, how to
communicate correctly with grammar, and how to teach effectively to
adolescents. The teaching classes are by
far the most suited toward rhetoric because teachers must develop ethos,
pathos, and logos in order to help their students learn. Furthermore, classes like History of the
English language will provide a context or overview for the profession. Following these courses, there is a
professional element, which includes student teaching or an internship as well
as classes on special teaching topics like teaching in a multicultural setting
or teaching those with disabilities. The
student teaching portion of the major is the best time to get a hands-on
experience on how to communicate well to perform effectively as a high school
English teacher. In preparation for
getting a job, BYU’s university career services can help English teaching
majors apply for jobs, write an effective resume, and interview well.
Context
The
most meaningful context I can provide for someone who might be considering an
English Teaching Major is to expound upon the noble virtue of teaching. Although teachers are neither the most paid
nor most revered professionals in the world, there is something highly
gratifying and noble about teaching.
Students can be inspired to go on to be successful simply through a
great teacher. Sticking to the focus
that teaching is a noble and wonderful profession will be the best way to
persuade readers to focus on my essay. To
persuade readers to pay attention to issues of communication in the English
teaching major, I will remind them of bad teachers that they have had. Most bad teachers lack basic knowledge of how
to communicate and persuade effectively.
They do not understand the fundamental issue between learning and
engaging the student. They do not know
how to add personal touches to curriculum.
They often do not know how to dress to fit the part of a personable professional. Everyone wants to be successful, so I will
convince them that the best way to be a successful English teacher will be to
communicate effectively.
Rhetoric
I
will need to present in my paper the general ideas of ethos, pathos, and logos
in my paper and how each applies to effective communication in English
teaching. General methods of high,
middle, and low style should be addressed so that the teachers can know what
style to address their students at a given time. They should know both when to listen to the
students and when to be the speaker.
Specifically, persuasive strategies in regard to effective
e-communication (email, blog, social media and other effective technologies)
should also be addressed. How to teach
personally with an impersonal curriculum is another specific topic that is
needed for effective persuasion and communication. I can address the 3 different persuasive
appeals and the 3 different levels of styles without necessarily naming them in
rhetorical jargon. Rather I can use
synonyms like “logical argument” for logos and “an entertaining style” for
middle style.
History
To
give useful perspective, I can focus on how language and grammar teaching has
influenced history. I can focus on the
Sophists’ speech writing instructions and handbooks and Quintillian’s
progymnasmata. This historical focus
will allow readers to see the scope of how important and ancient the art of
teaching language is.
Developmental Plan
I will divide my paper into three
distinct sections—persuasion and communication in the classroom, persuasion and
communication on an individual basis, and persuasion and communication with the
staff and faculty. In order to be a
successful professional and teacher, English teaching majors must be proficient
in communication to these three different groups. For each of these groups, I will explain the
different styles and ways of communicating that will be most effective per
group (for example, clarity and repetition in a lecture might be extremely
helpful in the classroom, but it might be better to have a dialogue with little
repetition for individual communication).
I will attempt to add a little historical context if it applies. I will need to add some new information that
is not taken from my blog posts in regard especially to faculty
interaction. I will need to know how
faculty communicates effectively.
The section on in the classroom and
to the individual will be the most important sections. The people you will influence the most as a
teacher will be the students, not the faculty.
Telling the stories about Ms. Evans and Mr. Rice will be the most
effective in explaining how to communicate well to students and to faculty.
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
All of the Above!
While reading others' blog posts, commenting about which style, I found I agreed with almost all of them, which brought me to the conclusion that Augustine uses all of the styles in a different way. Augustine would start out with the low style, simply teaching about the scriptures and giving clear examples. He would sooth the audience into and out of these conversations using the middle style. When he used the high style, he was using direct and powerful language to convince the audience to forgive and seek to be forgiven before the time of repentance comes. All three styles are proven by the statement he gives in his fourth paragraph, when he says "I have admonished him; now I console you..."
In class, we questioned whether knowledge, speaking, style, or delivery were more important. I find that Augustine used all of these modes to make a convincing argument. He talks to the audience as a confidant and friend, while also admonishing action and giving strict counsel. He uses scripture and words of Christ to back up his argument. He also arranges the argument in a way that makes it easy to understand and easy to find his target audience.
I noticed that Augustine took his own advice and looked to the advice of the language to determine if the meaning was literal or figurative. In ever case, Augustine pointed to love as the motivator for what he taught. I also found that he uses extension to emphasize each point. He makes many points clear with the main sentence or scripture, but continues to elaborate for a whole paragraph to make his point more clear. He uses extension to draw in the audience, also. In a continuation of the sentence I referenced early, in Augustine's paragraph 2, he could have left it at "now I console you" but he continued to extend his meaning of "you" with the following phrases.
The last striking thing that I found in Augustine's discourse, was his use of parallelism and repetition. In several of his sentences, he writes "you..." at the start of successive statements. This emphasis bonds him with the audience and encourages the audience to pay more attention, as he is speaking directly to them and counseling them to do things. He uses many subtle tools such as this to engage the audience and bring about his point. Overall, with his style and the words he spoke, he created an argument that couldn't be ignored.
In class, we questioned whether knowledge, speaking, style, or delivery were more important. I find that Augustine used all of these modes to make a convincing argument. He talks to the audience as a confidant and friend, while also admonishing action and giving strict counsel. He uses scripture and words of Christ to back up his argument. He also arranges the argument in a way that makes it easy to understand and easy to find his target audience.
I noticed that Augustine took his own advice and looked to the advice of the language to determine if the meaning was literal or figurative. In ever case, Augustine pointed to love as the motivator for what he taught. I also found that he uses extension to emphasize each point. He makes many points clear with the main sentence or scripture, but continues to elaborate for a whole paragraph to make his point more clear. He uses extension to draw in the audience, also. In a continuation of the sentence I referenced early, in Augustine's paragraph 2, he could have left it at "now I console you" but he continued to extend his meaning of "you" with the following phrases.
The last striking thing that I found in Augustine's discourse, was his use of parallelism and repetition. In several of his sentences, he writes "you..." at the start of successive statements. This emphasis bonds him with the audience and encourages the audience to pay more attention, as he is speaking directly to them and counseling them to do things. He uses many subtle tools such as this to engage the audience and bring about his point. Overall, with his style and the words he spoke, he created an argument that couldn't be ignored.
Does St. Augustine contradict himself?
In St. Augustine’s De Doctrina
Christiana, he speaks of three styles of speaking – to teach (low), to please
(middle), and to exhort (high). While
reading his Sermon for Lent I noticed that he used the three different styles
combined to reach the goal of an action either to ask for forgiveness or to
forgive. In De Doctrina Christiana he
states that there are more useful situations for each style as follows:
- To teach (Low Style) – To those who are unfamiliar with the subject/focus is mostly on clarity and logos.
- To please (Middle Style) – To those who are familiar with the subject and need to hear it in a new way to be reminded of its importance.
- To Move (High Style) – To those who are sinning and must be corrected.
While reading his Sermon for Lent I
noticed that he addresses different groups but there is a pattern within each
group. He starts out in the middle style
and addresses the whole congregation. He
uses many metaphors like “tree of hatred”, “light shone in their hearts”, and “his
heart in his prison” to make the familiar subject of forgiveness seem more
interesting. In this introduction he
captures their attention but also makes the distinction that a mortal life “[…]
cannot be lived even by a just person without some sins…” This makes his earlier classification that
the high style is to be used with those transgressing seem odd since everyone
is a sinner.
Then he goes on to speak to the
different ways that a person can commit a sin with forgiveness and clearly in
the low style explains the situation. He
moves on after stating the proposed situation to exhort them to either ask
forgiveness or to give forgiveness to another.
The majority of the sermon is exhorting all members in the congregation
to repent so that they can enjoy the observance of Lent with a clear
conscience.
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Wronged, Yet Seeking to Forgive
*I could not figure out how to fix my words being split between lines, so sorry in advance.
Reading through St. Augustine's sermon, I noticed
that he was mostly addressing (or at least referring to) forgiveness among
masters and servants, but also between brother to brother. In addition, he called out to those in the
audience that have not trespassed against another, but have been trespassed
against. These are the people St.
Augustine exhorts to not seek forgiveness for a wrong not done, but to ask God
to forgive your brother, to be ready to forgive when the time comes, and to
prompt your brother to seek forgiveness.
With this last statement in particular, St. Augustine is most definitely
using the high/grand style, as I even used the word "exhort," in
order to produce a movement in the audience.
In so doing, however, does this point of discussion not also encompass the low—and even middle—style? Advice is given to the audience in a manner of teaching, but is not the middle style also present in that St. Augustine seeks in his sermon to find ways to address and connect to everyone he possibly can? Such effort to make his words touching and applicable to all, while not inherently pleasing, does to some degree please readers.
I, for one, read St. Augustine's words and saw the merit in them, but it was not until the very end of the sermon when he said, "Say to the Lord in your prayer: 'Lord, You know that I have not sinned against my brother and that he has sinned against me. You know, too, that his having sinned against me is harmful for him if he does not seek pardon from me. With a good intention, then, I beg You to pardon him.'" Recently having been wronged through no deserving of my own, these words pleased me in that I was personally spoken to, taught me as to how to react in this situation, and moved me to action.
Styles, Similes, and Scripture in Saint Augustine’s Sermon
Style
In
paragraph 1, Saint Augustine introduces the idea of forgiveness in a mixture of
all three styles and various rhetorical techniques. He mostly includes low style to teach his
audience about forgiveness, but starts his speech in an exhortation to “not despise
these words, my brethren.” Furthermore,
he moves us when he laments about how human it is to get angry: “It is human to
get angry: would that we did not have this power!” He effectively empathizes with his audience
through his lament while still decrying anger at the same time. He also moves into middle style with his simile. When he speaks of anger, he compares it to a
“tender young twig” which is entertaining and instructive simultaneously, so he
is combining a low and subdued style with some entertaining middle style by way
of simile.
Simile
Why the
simile is so effective for his readers is because it is almost an imitation of
traditional scriptural style or even a parable, like Jesus speaking about the
olive tree that does not give forth fruit.
So Augustine’s Christian audience already can recognize the simile and
learn to “uproot [anger] and cast it out, [so that] it will amount to nothing.” This simile allows us to visualize anger like
a weed or tree and learn how to cast it out.
It also separates anger and hatred from the individual. Anger is a separate item growing inside the
person. Anger is not the person.Scripture
Comparing
this simile to the actual scripture of Matthew 7:3 about the beams and the
motes allows Augustine to be scripturally backed up with his argument against
anger with additional information about how wrong it is to have anger when you
have your own problems as well.
Friday, November 7, 2014
Style and Delivery in Parent-Teacher Communication
Katie descriptively drew the line between a teacher's clear but not condescending language in a high school English class. The same care should be taken when the teacher communicates with parents in both written and verbal form.
Written Style:
Email ensures a quick and easy way for teachers to contact the parents of struggling students. When Mrs. Nelson needs to inform a mother about her son's frequent absences and failing grades, she observes the norms of "English teacher" style. She is sure to use correct grammar, express her argument clearly, and add a touch of ornateness to make the difficult message sound a little more pleasing. She does not personally know James's mother. Mrs. Nelson avoids a condescending or accusatory tone by using figurative language like parallelism (to place herself and the parent on the same level of concern for James), and anacoenosis (asking the opinion of the audience). After reviewing James's grades, Mrs. Nelson writes the following:
Hello Mrs. Tucker,
I have the pleasure of teaching your son, James, in my English class. He is respectful and very kind to other students.
Unfortunately, I am aware of frequent absences and unexplained late work from him. Do you feel concerned about his performance in this class? Like you, I care for the well-being of your son. Literacy will be an essential skill throughout his life, and I worry that he is not taking full advantage of the opportunity to learn it now. I believe you would do anything in your power to provide him with a positive future. I hope you believe that I will do all in my power to help him, too, to improve his reading, writing, and critical thinking abilities.
 |
Thank you,
Mrs. Nelson
Verbal Delivery:
A parent-teacher conference is a familiar mode of communication that deals with verbal delivery. Let's suppose Mrs. Nelson had simply called Mrs. Tucker to schedule a face-to-face conference:
Mrs. Tucker and James arrive at the door of Mrs. Nelson's classroom. The teacher kindly smiles and invites them to sit with her at a round table where a sense of equality and mutual respect resides. Mrs. Nelson begins by asking about James's extracurricular activities. Her question improves her ethos by showing that she cares for him as a person and not 'just another' student. Plus, it allows her to get an idea about outside factors that may be inhibiting his scholastic performance. She continues by addressing Mrs. Tucker, saying much of what was written in the example email above. In addition to the words she speaks, she uses gestures that suggest openness, facial expressions of consideration, and a tone of voice that is firm but loving. She allows Mrs. Tucker and James to voice their thoughts, and the discussion ends with a hopeful plan for James's scholastic success.
Shoes, Watch, Cuff-links and the Like
While Mr. Webb walks into the meeting that was arranged by
Mr. Trujillo, a potential future client, he is reminded of the advice he
received years ago when he first entered the business world; the first three
things that any true man of business notices are shoes, cufflinks, and the
watch. With many years of experience Mr. Webb surely came prepared for the
meeting having shined his shoes the night before (although they were already
like a mirror even beforehand), chose his most respected set of cufflinks, dry
cleaned his suit, ironed his blue button- up, and of course laid out his power
tie (with a little help from his wife).
Before the appointment even began Mr. Trujillo took a liking
to Mr. Webb as it was apparent that Mr. Webb was a man of professionalism; a
man who took his work, his life, and his client’s seriously. Simply by the pure
appearance of Mr. Webb his ethos was increased. Whether fair or unfair, Mr.
Webb understands that to be taken seriously and to be respected requires to
respect oneself and in the business world this is often done through apparel
and appearance. His professional appearance, with his more experienced face was
respected by all who worked with him.
As the two men come together a firm handshake and inviting
but confident eye contact is exchange between them both. Whether Mr. Webb’s
(and his firm’s) ideas are worth the time or not, Mr. Webb knows that if his
ethos brings no appeal to Mr. Trujillo he may never get the chance to offer his
ideas. Both men have a handpicked team of colleagues that they brought yet the
focus remains upon the two main representatives of each corporation/firm.
As the meeting begins Mr. Webb knows that he must present
himself in such a way to suggest authority and power while still demonstrating
respect and sincere interest in the success of Mr. Trujillo’s company.
Mr. Trujillo: Thank you for meeting with me on such short
notice. As I’m sure your secretary reported to you we have been looking for a
firm for some time and would like to move forward as quickly as possible. I
have heard some things about you and your firm and would like to hear a bit
more from you. (Mr. Trujillo tests the waters by verifying the level of
communication within the firm. Namely between Mr. Webb and his secretary.)
Mr. Webb: Yes, I was told. It’s my pleasure to make the
trip. It’s pleasing to hear that my firm remains elite in the consulting field.
I assure you that if willing, you will find that the things you heard are true.
(Mr. Webb demonstrates complete confidence in the success and reviews of his
firm as given by others in reference to Mr. Trujillo’s previous statement. He
is sure to include as much information provided by Mr. Trujillo’s words in his
own speech as to demonstrate his attentiveness and good listening skills while
still being able to move the conversation forward. Mr. Webb understands that he
must demonstrate control and confidence while not overpowering the firm. As a
result, at this point in conversation he uses a middle style to please the
client and his company. He wishes not to come off as condescending and
therefore avoids the low style at this point in time.)
Mr. Trujillo: With the information that was provided in the
email, what perspective or options do you have to offer?
By the end of the meeting, both Mr. Trujillo and Mr. Webb leave pleased with the outcome. The consulting begins.
Style and Delivery in Engineering
Robert McDaffry is the project engineer of an aerospace
engineering firm, Aeronozzles, Inc., which supplies fuel nozzles to military
and commercial aircraft platforms. He is
responsible for project execution and customer satisfaction. Recently a customer, Lucky Flights, has
approached the firm and complained about the missed deadlines for a
shipment. In this situation, McDaffry
has to address at least two specific audiences: his company employees, and the
disgruntled client.
For the first, McDaffry first needs to locate the source of
the delays and address it. Due to the diversity
of the employees, he must be able to communicate to a wide variety of
functional areas, such as Operations, Marketing, Planning, Finance, and Quality
Assurance. Apparently several people in Quality Assurance
have been under the weather, so the few remaining have been swamped trying to
meet the deadline. Because deadlines are
important and customer satisfaction more important, something needs to be
done. However, being the responsible
project engineer that he is, McDaffry understands the importance of company
morale as well. After calling a group
meeting with Quality Assurance, he might try to appease the demands of deadlines,
and to be compassionate at the same time, by addressing them in this way:
“I’ve called this meeting to address a few items of
business. Up to this point our company
has had a great reputation of being punctual and exact in our performance. Due to obvious circumstances, we had a hiccup
recently that aroused some dissatisfaction with one of our clients. I understand that this group had been
understaffed as of late. It is my fault
for not addressing the situation earlier.
In order to thwart the evil designs of the flu bug in the future, I
think it would be wise of us to take necessary precautions. Do your best to stay healthy and I’ll get you
the help you need if it’s required.”
The sign of a good leader is being willing to take
responsibility when things go wrong. It
would have been easy for McDaffry to accuse QA of being slackers and unhygienic,
but by taking the blame he builds his ethos.
He shows understanding, which would in turn spark a desire of the
employees to work that much harder. In
addition, he addressed them as equals by using pronouns such as “we” and “our”.
McDaffry still has to speak to the disgruntled client. He might say this in a letter:
Lucky Flights:
With respect to the
delayed shipment of the custom fuel nozzles that you ordered, we express our
humblest apologies. Aeronozzles has
always valued your cooperation and emphasized customer satisfaction. As we wish to retain these relations, we
offer these future services to you free of charge…
Respectfully,
Robert McDaffry
Project Engineer
Aeronozzles, Inc.
When addressing the client, McDaffry does not give excuses
or offer any explanations as to the nature of the delay. Doing so would make Aeronozzles seem
incompetent or negligent with its affairs.
Lucky Flights isn’t looking for excuses, they want results. In order to preserve the relationship with
Lucky Flights, McDaffry acknowledges mistakes and offers amends.
Style and Delivery in Medicine
 |
| An large collection of most anything is sure to impress in one way or another. |
A seasoned practitioner of medicine and an amiable,
fine fellow, Doctor Savage has years of experience in medicine under his
belt. With his far-reaching skills as a
doctor, he has helped countless individuals with their health throughout his
career. These cases vary from standard
checkups to emergency situations, but through it all, he has persevered and
learned how best to address his audience.
Perhaps most critical of all, he does not lose his composure on the
clock, nor does he do anything to belittle those he serves, regardless of his
pay grade, age, or experience above them.
 |
| Do you see this and immediately think the wearer knows what they are doing? |
Doctor Savage gave a concerned lo
 |
| What does this icon say to you? |
Entering the room, Doctor Savage gestured a welcome
to his clients who sat before him—a mother and her son. Observing the air of unease surrounding the
mother and her constant fidgeting, it appeared to the Doctor that the young
woman was perhaps newer in her mothering and had not ever needed to bring her
toddler in for anything of serious nature before. Washing his hands thoroughly in plain sight
of the mother for a slight boost of unspoken ethos, Doctor Savage began to
question her as to the nature of the visit, making sure that he did not block
the view of his credentials hanging on the wall. Perhaps quelled somewhat by the sound,
somewhat by the sight of the cleansing and mark of experience, the mother
explained that her son had become ill, but she could not cure him with general
purpose drugs. Hearing this, Doctor
Savage nodded his head and began his systematic routine that he had done
countless times before. Politely asking
for compliance in each step, the Doctor checked pulse, temperature, pupil
dilation, nasal cavities, breathing motions, reflexes, ears, and all else that
was required. Gentle with the boy in
both words and tone, the Doctor finished his evaluation in a friendly, yet
professional manner, then relayed the diagnosis to the mother using light
jargon in his explanation. Straightening
the collar of his lab coat and readjusting the stethoscope around his neck, Doctor
Savage displayed his symbols of authority, but in a way that would not permeate
the subconscious. Dressed for success
and cleanly in conduct and appearance, the Doctor explained findings to both
parent and child, making sure not to provide an air of excessive levity or
gravity. Antibiotics were the solution,
he explained with just enough of a casual twinge to allow the mother to let out
a sigh of relief. Danger had been
averted, and the mysterious sister maladies of disease and unease could only
dread their expelling.
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