In the 5364 Moo, someone mentioned Robert Horn & information mapping. I think it was Tom. Anyhow, I googled him and am now looking into the topic. Peeking into it.
Just wanted to document it so I don't lose track.
Also locate George A Miller's "The magic seven, plus or minus two (7±2) rule of thumb."
From a pdf here, there's main points about the non-trademarked Structured Writing:
Building blocks and principles
Structured Writing is an integrated set of novel techniques, approaches, and principles:
• The information block as unit of information.
• The precise specification of different kinds of information blocks for specific purposes.
• A content analysis approach of information types that clusters different information blocks.
• An intermediate unit of structured writing, the information map, for easy and natural topic
clustering.
• A comprehensive and systematic set of criteria for labeling blocks and maps.
• A specification of where graphics should be used and where text would be better.
• Easy-to-scan formats and templates.
• The incorporation of research results from many fields and the creation of an ongoing research
program to keep the methodology current
How High...
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Aristotle: Rhetoric: Book 2: Ch 10-
Ch 10-11
Ch 16
It was interesting to learn that hatred of the nouveau riche has been around for millenia.
Ch 21: Rocking the Maxim
1395b
Read through chapter 23
Reread 23. It's dense.
Difference between envy and emulation is that envy is being upset that someone has something you do not; emulation is being upset that you do not have something that someone else does. Envy is doing things to prevent your neighbor from living well; emulation is doing things so that you live well.
Ch 16
There is indeed one difference between the type of the newly-enriched and those who have long been rich: the newly-enriched have all the bad qualities mentioned in an exaggerated and worse form -- to be newly-enriched means, so to speak, no education in riches.
It was interesting to learn that hatred of the nouveau riche has been around for millenia.
Ch 21: Rocking the Maxim
1395b
The maxim, as has been already said, a general statement and people love to hear stated in general terms what they already believe in some particular connexion: e.g. if a man happens to have bad neighbours or bad children, he will agree with any one who tells him, "Nothing is more annoying than having neighbours," or, "Nothing is more foolish than to be the parent of children." The orator has therefore to guess the subjects on which his hearers really hold views already, and what those views are, and then must express, as general truths, these same views on these same subjects. This is one advantage of using maxims. There is another which is more important -- it invests a speech with moral character. There is moral character in every speech in which the moral purpose is conspicuous: and maxims always produce this effect, because the utterance of them amounts to a general declaration of moral principles: so that, if the maxims are sound, they display the speaker as a man of sound moral character.
Read through chapter 23
Reread 23. It's dense.
Article: Mouratidis "Athlos"
Mouratidis, Yannis. The "Athlos" in Ancient Greece and Its Educational Significance.
I have pages 475-480. I think they were printed from a Google book, but I am not sure. Sloppy reference tracking, I know.
First, this is a good piece to give general overview/ information on the word athlos. Second, it is written in an academic tone that is easy to read, but it does not seem to have any footnotes.
476
477
I have pages 475-480. I think they were printed from a Google book, but I am not sure. Sloppy reference tracking, I know.
First, this is a good piece to give general overview/ information on the word athlos. Second, it is written in an academic tone that is easy to read, but it does not seem to have any footnotes.
476
In other words, the wider meaning of the word "athlos", [sic] covered many forms of human activity, which contributed to the advancement of civilization. The word "athlos" as time went by was more closely connected to major achievements in the field of sports contents, which achievements were, however, always attained under conditions of fair play.
...those who had neglected their physical traning were considered to be uneducated, the educated being only those who could combine it wiht intellectual pursuits. Such comibnation was truly the basic and primary achievement (or athlos) from which stemmed all other accomplishments in the field of art, science and other activities, which contribute to social progress and give a special meaning to human life.
477
The word athlos also meant good manners, nobility of character and honesty. Athlos did not mean to misue one's strength or to achieve victory by unfair means. Athlos mean as well (some characters in Greek here (modesty), honesty, respect and nobility of spirit.
Article: Lejkowit "Poet as Athlete"
Lejkowit, Mary. Journal of Sport History, Vol. 11, No 2 (Summer 1984), 18-24.
Initially I thought this might be relevant as a crossover discussion about poets and athletes in ancient Greece. It is not. Instead, it focuses largely on Pindar's odes and the comparison Pindar makes in his odes between his writing or writing of poetry and athletics.
Possible use as an example or crossover in aesthtetics or imagery, but much more literary focus than I think I need.
There are a number of references to specific odes and those could be useful in tracking down specific writings.
Initially I thought this might be relevant as a crossover discussion about poets and athletes in ancient Greece. It is not. Instead, it focuses largely on Pindar's odes and the comparison Pindar makes in his odes between his writing or writing of poetry and athletics.
Possible use as an example or crossover in aesthtetics or imagery, but much more literary focus than I think I need.
There are a number of references to specific odes and those could be useful in tracking down specific writings.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Geertz: Anti Anti Relativism
Geertz, Clifford. 1984
Pretty easy to read academic article. The title says it all: the piece explores in depth the attacks on relativism which are based upon a reversion to placing a universal form of knowledge at the top of a hierarchy. Just below that is morality. Geertz asserts that the two prime levers for doing this are "Human Mind" and "Human Nature."
The piece is an excellent example of professional writing which uses first person voice in places and engages in playful, sarcastic, and engaging tones. Similarly, he largely gives voice to the Anti Relativists before he pulls them apart. Very little discussion of Relativism takes place.
Key sections are second paragraph of 264: people spending too much time on what they do NOT believe; to question a universal truth often leads to being accused of not believing in anything.
page 270 Geertz covers the Anti R genre of child to adult as relativist to anti-relativist.
272 "There is the same tendency to see diversity as surface and universality as depth. And there is the same desire to represent one's interpretations not as constructions brought to their objects--societies, cultures, languages--in an effort, somehow, somehwat to comprehend them, but as quiddities of such objects forced upon our thought."
275 "Looking into dragons, not domesticating or abominating them, nor drowning them in vats of theory, is what anthropology has been all about."
Could you adjust that and change dragons to persuasion and anthropology to rhetoric?
276 The final words:
Pretty easy to read academic article. The title says it all: the piece explores in depth the attacks on relativism which are based upon a reversion to placing a universal form of knowledge at the top of a hierarchy. Just below that is morality. Geertz asserts that the two prime levers for doing this are "Human Mind" and "Human Nature."
The piece is an excellent example of professional writing which uses first person voice in places and engages in playful, sarcastic, and engaging tones. Similarly, he largely gives voice to the Anti Relativists before he pulls them apart. Very little discussion of Relativism takes place.
Key sections are second paragraph of 264: people spending too much time on what they do NOT believe; to question a universal truth often leads to being accused of not believing in anything.
page 270 Geertz covers the Anti R genre of child to adult as relativist to anti-relativist.
272 "There is the same tendency to see diversity as surface and universality as depth. And there is the same desire to represent one's interpretations not as constructions brought to their objects--societies, cultures, languages--in an effort, somehow, somehwat to comprehend them, but as quiddities of such objects forced upon our thought."
275 "Looking into dragons, not domesticating or abominating them, nor drowning them in vats of theory, is what anthropology has been all about."
Could you adjust that and change dragons to persuasion and anthropology to rhetoric?
276 The final words:
The objection to anti-relativism is not that it rejects an it-s'all-how-you-look-at-it approach to knowledge or a when-in-Rome approach to morality, but that it imagines that they can only be defeated by placing morality beyond culture and knowledge beyond both. This, speaking of things which must needs be so, is no longer possible. If we wanted home truths, we should have stayed at home.
Aristotle: Rhetoric: Book 2: notes
Chapter 1
1378 a
Chapter 3
At the end of Ch. 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 7
1385b
1378 a
There are three things which inspire confidence in the orator's own character -- the three, namely, that induce us to believe a thing apart from any proof of it: good sense, good moral character, and goodwill. False statements and bad advice are due to one or more of the following three causes. Men either form a false opinion through want of good sense; or they form a true opinion, but because of their moral badness do not say what they really think; or finally, they are both sensible and upright, but not well disposed to their hearers, and may fail in consequence to recommend what they know to be the best course.
Chapter 3
The reason is that it is shameless to deny what is obvious, and those who are shameless towards us slight us and show contempt for us: anyhow, we do not feel shame before those of whom we are thoroughly contemptuous.
At the end of Ch. 3
It is now plain that when you wish to calm others you must draw upon these lines of argument; you must put your hearers into the corresponding frame of mind, and represent those with whom they are angry as formidable, or as worthy of reverence, or as benefactors, or as involuntary agents, or as much distressed at what they have done.
Chapter 4
We may describe friendly feeling towards any one as wishing for him what you believe to be good things, not for your own sake but for his, [1381a] and being inclined, so far as you can, to bring these things about. A friend is one who feels thus and excites these feelings in return: those who think they feel thus towards each other think themselves friends. This being assumed, it follows that your friend is the sort of man who shares your pleasure in what is good and your pain in what is unpleasant, for your sake and for no other reason.
Things that cause friendship are: doing kindnesses; doing them unasked; and not proclaiming the fact when they are done, which shows that they were done for our own sake and not for some other reason.
Chapter 5
Fear may be defined as a pain or disturbance due to a mental picture of some destructive or painful evil in the future.
... we can also see what Confidence is, about what things we feel it, and under what conditions. It is the opposite of fear, and what causes it is the opposite of what causes fear; it is, therefore, the expectation associated with a mental picture of the nearness of what keeps us safe and the absence or remoteness of what is terrible: it may be due either to the near presence of what inspires confidence or to the absence of what causes alarm. We feel it if we can take steps -- many, or important, or both -- to cure or prevent trouble; if we have neither wronged others nor been wronged by them; if we have either no rivals at all or no strong ones; if our rivals who are strong are our friends or have treated us well or been treated well by us; or if those whose interest is the same as ours are the more numerous party, or the stronger, or both.
Chapter 7
1385b
In considering this subject we must look at all the "categories": an act may be an act of kindness because (1) it is a particular thing, (2) it has a particular magnitude or (3) quality, or (4) is done at a particular time or (5) place. As evidence of the want of kindness, we may point out that a smaller service had been refused to the man in need; or that the same service, or an equal or greater one, has been given to his enemies; these facts show that the service in question was not done for the sake of the person helped. Or we may point out that the thing desired was worthless and that the helper knew it: no one will admit that he is in need of what is worthless.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Apodictic defined
Reading Eco, I learned the word apodictic. Here is Wikipedia's defintion:
"Apodictic" or "apodeictic" (Ancient Greek: "αποδεικτικος," "capable of demonstration") is an adjectival expression from Aristotelean logic that refers to propositions that are demonstrable, that are necessarily or self-evidently the case or that, conversely, are impossible.[1] Apodicticity is the corresponding abstract noun, referring to logical certainty.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Aristotle: Rhetoric: Bk 1: notes
I am reading Book 12 right now. I read several books earlier today, and there is just so much breaking down and classification. Lots of dualities, lots of mirroring, and a great deal of naming. "Pleasure expresses itself in five ways," or some such thing.
I do not know how to respond. In some ways, it feels contrived and artificial. But I think that is the jaded contemporary view. In another perspective, it seems ultimately sensible that you would want to sit down and describe the nature of your reality and your polis' reality to the best of your ability. And that means a lot of line drawing and classification.
Stylistically, such an approach feels really rather dry.
Content wise, I feel very, very heavy. This is such a dense collection of culturally important themes, that virtually any paragraph could be set aside and considered for the ramifications and echoing it has had for the past 2,500 years or so. Incredible stuff. And yet, at the very same time, some of these very same things seem ultimately basic, simple, and Homer Simpson "Doh!"
I feel very engaged with the material, but I am not exactly sure what that means. I also fool viscerally far more engaged than I have with other materials, and I do not know what that means, either. This content, thus far, is throwing up a lot of unknowns for me.
Kegan's lecture/discussions mention shame vs. guilt in classical Greek society. That fascinates me. I hope there's more in our assigned readings.
Book 13, at the start
Is natural law the same as the Truth? Can you make particular laws in accord with natural law? What constitutes "proof" of a natural law? Natural law just has too many echoes in my mind of fundamentalists seeking power in government as an expression of their natural rights (read: this applies to all Abrahamic religions as well as to non-Abrahamic religions as well).
1374a
I really like this quote, and I like that it is levered on the fulcrum of intention. But how does one prove intention? How do you find out what was going on in someone's brain--especially if they never discussed or recorded anything about the act? And what if you hurt someone or kill someone in a rage? The conscious, thinking intention was probably not there--it was probably visceral, animalistic anger. Can that be regarded as methodical or calculated intention?
It is almost like the very nature of intention empowers actions and, at the same time, makes it almost impossible to determine.
End of Book 13
A whole lot on Equity:
Equity bids us be merciful to the weakness of human nature; to think less about the laws than about the man who framed them, and less about what he said than about what he meant; not to consider the actions of the accused so much as his intentions, nor this or that detail so much as the whole story; to ask not what a man is now but what he has always or usually been. It bids us remember benefits rather than injuries, and benefits received rather than benefits conferred; to be patient when we are wronged; to settle a dispute by negotiation and not by force; to prefer arbitration to litigation -- for an arbitrator goes by the equity of a case, a judge by the strict law, and arbitration was invented with the express purpose of securing full power for equity.
This seems like a lot more about intention and compassion.
I do not know how to respond. In some ways, it feels contrived and artificial. But I think that is the jaded contemporary view. In another perspective, it seems ultimately sensible that you would want to sit down and describe the nature of your reality and your polis' reality to the best of your ability. And that means a lot of line drawing and classification.
Stylistically, such an approach feels really rather dry.
Content wise, I feel very, very heavy. This is such a dense collection of culturally important themes, that virtually any paragraph could be set aside and considered for the ramifications and echoing it has had for the past 2,500 years or so. Incredible stuff. And yet, at the very same time, some of these very same things seem ultimately basic, simple, and Homer Simpson "Doh!"
I feel very engaged with the material, but I am not exactly sure what that means. I also fool viscerally far more engaged than I have with other materials, and I do not know what that means, either. This content, thus far, is throwing up a lot of unknowns for me.
Kegan's lecture/discussions mention shame vs. guilt in classical Greek society. That fascinates me. I hope there's more in our assigned readings.
Book 13, at the start
Particular law is that which each community lays down and applies to its own members: this is partly written and partly unwritten. Universal law is the law of Nature.
Is natural law the same as the Truth? Can you make particular laws in accord with natural law? What constitutes "proof" of a natural law? Natural law just has too many echoes in my mind of fundamentalists seeking power in government as an expression of their natural rights (read: this applies to all Abrahamic religions as well as to non-Abrahamic religions as well).
1374a
It is deliberate purpose that constitutes wickedness and criminal guilt, and such names as "outrage" or "theft" imply deliberate purpose as well as the mere action.
I really like this quote, and I like that it is levered on the fulcrum of intention. But how does one prove intention? How do you find out what was going on in someone's brain--especially if they never discussed or recorded anything about the act? And what if you hurt someone or kill someone in a rage? The conscious, thinking intention was probably not there--it was probably visceral, animalistic anger. Can that be regarded as methodical or calculated intention?
It is almost like the very nature of intention empowers actions and, at the same time, makes it almost impossible to determine.
End of Book 13
A whole lot on Equity:
Equity bids us be merciful to the weakness of human nature; to think less about the laws than about the man who framed them, and less about what he said than about what he meant; not to consider the actions of the accused so much as his intentions, nor this or that detail so much as the whole story; to ask not what a man is now but what he has always or usually been. It bids us remember benefits rather than injuries, and benefits received rather than benefits conferred; to be patient when we are wronged; to settle a dispute by negotiation and not by force; to prefer arbitration to litigation -- for an arbitrator goes by the equity of a case, a judge by the strict law, and arbitration was invented with the express purpose of securing full power for equity.
This seems like a lot more about intention and compassion.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Article: Staples: TC from 1950-1998
Staples, Katherine. Technical Communication from 1950-1998: Where Are We Now? Technical Communication Quarterly. Spring 1999, Vol. 8, No. 2 (153-64)
TW is mature as a discipline, is linked to workplaces and academia via pedagogy and research. However, maturity means moving away from TW's history and role as a service course.
154 GI Bill of 1944 swamped colleges with new kinds of students
154 popularity of engineering programs= popularity/need for TC/TW courses
155 TC instruction considered graphic as well as verbal presentations by end of 50s
155 TC largely taught by adjuncts/untenured in English & engineering depts.
156 by early 1970s, ten academic programs in TC/TW started
157 TC credentials/education regarded as a career advantage in 1984
157 key to professional identity was the foundation of professional journals in the 70s
158 schism in the profession in the 80s with growth: old-school, post-war men learned mostly by practice vs. new guard w/PhDs, capable in Rhet, and women
159 "Like Harris, Miller argues that praxis, applied craft, and techne, reflective art, can usefully support one another in technical communication."
161 TC/TW origins: teaching & a long relationship with applied technologies and with the workplace
161 the value of scholarship on teaching/theory is questioned by workplace/pragmatic advocates
Interesting articles referenced:
Fox on composition studies?
Kynell, Teresa Writing in a Milieu of Utility
Miller, Carolyn "What's practical about Technical Writing" 1989
apparently the article has important references about TW pedagogy and keeping critical awareness about when working with industry
Redish & Judith Ramey 1993 study about value added to tech products by communicators
"Special Section: Measuring the value added by professional technical communicators. TC 42 (1995): 23-29
TW is mature as a discipline, is linked to workplaces and academia via pedagogy and research. However, maturity means moving away from TW's history and role as a service course.
154 GI Bill of 1944 swamped colleges with new kinds of students
154 popularity of engineering programs= popularity/need for TC/TW courses
155 TC instruction considered graphic as well as verbal presentations by end of 50s
155 TC largely taught by adjuncts/untenured in English & engineering depts.
156 by early 1970s, ten academic programs in TC/TW started
157 TC credentials/education regarded as a career advantage in 1984
157 key to professional identity was the foundation of professional journals in the 70s
158 schism in the profession in the 80s with growth: old-school, post-war men learned mostly by practice vs. new guard w/PhDs, capable in Rhet, and women
159 "Like Harris, Miller argues that praxis, applied craft, and techne, reflective art, can usefully support one another in technical communication."
161 TC/TW origins: teaching & a long relationship with applied technologies and with the workplace
161 the value of scholarship on teaching/theory is questioned by workplace/pragmatic advocates
Interesting articles referenced:
Fox on composition studies?
Kynell, Teresa Writing in a Milieu of Utility
Miller, Carolyn "What's practical about Technical Writing" 1989
apparently the article has important references about TW pedagogy and keeping critical awareness about when working with industry
Redish & Judith Ramey 1993 study about value added to tech products by communicators
"Special Section: Measuring the value added by professional technical communicators. TC 42 (1995): 23-29
Article: Kynell: TC from 1850-1950
Kynell, Teresa. Technical Communication from 1850-1950: Where Have We Been? Technical Communication Quarterly, Spring 1999, Vol. 8, No. 2. (143-151)
Formation of TC pedagogy; evaluation of shifts in engineering curriculum from 1850-1960.
144 1850-62 most engineers mentored or had a sparse training
144 1862 Morrill Acts = land grant colleges = practical education/professional trade
145 Mansfield Merriman, quoted in Kynell, "The only way to learn to write is to write."
146 Circa 1910 educators grasped that engineers needed real-world context to develop their writing and they should focus on the kinds of writing they'll actually face as professionals
146-7 Earle's 4 abilities that would make English more relevant to engineers
ability to: put into words an abstract though; describe, in writing, an object not present; write for different audiences; give a concept a full treatment by demonstrating understanding in writing
This piece and the Connors, and possibly the Carolyn Miller could go on the reading list as histories of TC/TW. If I am going to focus on TC/TW and comp, then I need to be aware of the histories of both. This article does pretty well in laying a foundation/basis, as well as reference points, to locate more specifics about how TC/TW and comp have been regarded as service courses for nearly a century. Thus, the problems we see with the treatment/references to writing and composition are, in fact, apparent manifestations of the modern university.
Flying by the seat of my pants here, but I do believe that once the shift took place in the 1860s or so away from the classical educational roots is also when composition began to lose face. Essentially, with industrialization and the gutting of Rhetoric, composition fell down in status. The application of text, of words, seems to be far less important than the creation or manufacturing of materials.
Interesting referenced articles:
Gerald Savage 1996 "Redefining the Responsibilities of Teachers and the Social Position of the Technical Communicator"
Miller, Carolyn. "A Humanistic Rationale for Technical Writing." College English 40 (1979): 610-17.
Formation of TC pedagogy; evaluation of shifts in engineering curriculum from 1850-1960.
144 1850-62 most engineers mentored or had a sparse training
144 1862 Morrill Acts = land grant colleges = practical education/professional trade
145 Mansfield Merriman, quoted in Kynell, "The only way to learn to write is to write."
146 Circa 1910 educators grasped that engineers needed real-world context to develop their writing and they should focus on the kinds of writing they'll actually face as professionals
146-7 Earle's 4 abilities that would make English more relevant to engineers
ability to: put into words an abstract though; describe, in writing, an object not present; write for different audiences; give a concept a full treatment by demonstrating understanding in writing
This piece and the Connors, and possibly the Carolyn Miller could go on the reading list as histories of TC/TW. If I am going to focus on TC/TW and comp, then I need to be aware of the histories of both. This article does pretty well in laying a foundation/basis, as well as reference points, to locate more specifics about how TC/TW and comp have been regarded as service courses for nearly a century. Thus, the problems we see with the treatment/references to writing and composition are, in fact, apparent manifestations of the modern university.
Flying by the seat of my pants here, but I do believe that once the shift took place in the 1860s or so away from the classical educational roots is also when composition began to lose face. Essentially, with industrialization and the gutting of Rhetoric, composition fell down in status. The application of text, of words, seems to be far less important than the creation or manufacturing of materials.
Interesting referenced articles:
Gerald Savage 1996 "Redefining the Responsibilities of Teachers and the Social Position of the Technical Communicator"
Miller, Carolyn. "A Humanistic Rationale for Technical Writing." College English 40 (1979): 610-17.
Article: Connor: Rise of TW Instruction
Connors, Robert J. The Rise of Technical Writing Instruction in America. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, Vol. 12 (4), 1982. 329-352.
Overall history of TW instruction from 1900-1980. Focuses on the personalities, key textbooks, and forces that "shaped courses in technical writing during the period 1895-1980," as well as the growth & success of the TW courses.
329 TW fills the need for people communicate with each other about their tools.
330 Morrill Acts 1862 & 1877 founded & promoted land-grant ag & mechanical colleges
330-31 Civil War/ Indust Rev increased need for engineers and thus for their writing/communication, and thus TW increased while there were few courses actually given in TW--training was primarily FYC
332 1911 Samuel Chandler Earle, Father of TW: The Theory and Practice of TW
333 until 1950s TW and Engineering writing were synonymous
333-4 issues between English & Engineering: cultural supremacy bias versus philistine engineer bias; Engl depts producing lit scholars who wanted to teach lit; hostilities between the depts. was big
334 encultration and humanizing ala Aydelotte vs. reading and writing skills ala Earle.
335 TW/Engineering English classes seen as low-status, low-interest classes--resented/regarded very much like FYC is today: let new, powerless people teach
335 1923 first "modern" TW textbook: English for Engineers by Sada A Harbager; organized according to the "technical forms
337 usage texts vs. forms texts
337 TW teachers: no respect from lit folks; Eng profs dissed many TW teachers; Eng students oft dissed TW profs (again, it reminds me of composition)
340 quote near bottom of page "The engineering professor who saw no pressing need fo r curricular changes viewed composition courses as service adjuncts to his activities, not important to fight for, and the humanistic-stem supporters did not see writing courses as humanistic enough to be included under their rubric." [In context of discussing the Hammond Reports of 1940 & 1944]
341 WW2 vital for TW: high demand to write manuals for all the new gear; quote by Jay R. Gould
342 1950s when TW "grew up"
343 "...arguably the single most important postwar technical writing text: Gordon Mills and John Walter's Technical Writing."
343 two most important assumption Walter & Mills learned from their survey of TW writing situations:
a rhetorical approach rather than "types of reports" was best
only good criterion for TW is "does it work?"--writer/reader relationship is most important
343-4 in late 50s & early 60s TW expanded out of engineering into other fields
344 1957 Sputnik led to tech race/war & increased work for TW; still, teaching TW was low prestige
346 Mills & Walter 1954: nobody's tried to say exactly what TW is
346 in the 60s, a variety of folks try to figure out what TW is
Key early essays: Robert Hays, 1961; W. Earl Britton, 1965
346 Britton's conclusion was TW defined most by "the effort of the author to convey one meaning and only one meaning in what he says." quoted in Connors.
346 first empirical research into TW and teaching TW took place in 60s
Early research/experiments
1964 Harry E Hand errors
1967 Richard M. Davis efforts of variable in tech description
347 1970 Journal of TW & Comm started; 1973 ATTW founded; 1976 MLA the first TW panel appeared
348 popularity, need, & growth of TC led to more courses, more tenure, and some more respect in 70s
Vocabulary:
diachronic
limne
quondom
Another article to get:
Composition for the culture of professionalism: notes on thehistory of technical writing instruction
Russell, D.R.
Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA;
This paper appears in: Professional Communication Conference, 1989. IPCC '89. 'Communicating to the World.', International
Publication Date: 18-20 Oct 1989
On page(s): 39-41
Meeting Date: 10/18/1989 - 10/20/1989
Location: Garden City, NY, USA
References Cited: 0
INSPEC Accession Number: 3695088
Digital Object Identifier: 10.1109/IPCC.1989.102095
Current Version Published: 2002-08-06
Abstract
The history of technical writing instruction reveals an increasing specialization which mirrors growing specialization in both engineering and the wider culture. Since World War II, professional communicators have taken on the role of translators, bridging the inevitable communication gaps between communities of specialists. Technical writers are specialists in specialization
Overall history of TW instruction from 1900-1980. Focuses on the personalities, key textbooks, and forces that "shaped courses in technical writing during the period 1895-1980," as well as the growth & success of the TW courses.
329 TW fills the need for people communicate with each other about their tools.
330 Morrill Acts 1862 & 1877 founded & promoted land-grant ag & mechanical colleges
330-31 Civil War/ Indust Rev increased need for engineers and thus for their writing/communication, and thus TW increased while there were few courses actually given in TW--training was primarily FYC
332 1911 Samuel Chandler Earle, Father of TW: The Theory and Practice of TW
333 until 1950s TW and Engineering writing were synonymous
333-4 issues between English & Engineering: cultural supremacy bias versus philistine engineer bias; Engl depts producing lit scholars who wanted to teach lit; hostilities between the depts. was big
334 encultration and humanizing ala Aydelotte vs. reading and writing skills ala Earle.
335 TW/Engineering English classes seen as low-status, low-interest classes--resented/regarded very much like FYC is today: let new, powerless people teach
335 1923 first "modern" TW textbook: English for Engineers by Sada A Harbager; organized according to the "technical forms
337 usage texts vs. forms texts
337 TW teachers: no respect from lit folks; Eng profs dissed many TW teachers; Eng students oft dissed TW profs (again, it reminds me of composition)
340 quote near bottom of page "The engineering professor who saw no pressing need fo r curricular changes viewed composition courses as service adjuncts to his activities, not important to fight for, and the humanistic-stem supporters did not see writing courses as humanistic enough to be included under their rubric." [In context of discussing the Hammond Reports of 1940 & 1944]
341 WW2 vital for TW: high demand to write manuals for all the new gear; quote by Jay R. Gould
342 1950s when TW "grew up"
343 "...arguably the single most important postwar technical writing text: Gordon Mills and John Walter's Technical Writing."
343 two most important assumption Walter & Mills learned from their survey of TW writing situations:
a rhetorical approach rather than "types of reports" was best
only good criterion for TW is "does it work?"--writer/reader relationship is most important
343-4 in late 50s & early 60s TW expanded out of engineering into other fields
344 1957 Sputnik led to tech race/war & increased work for TW; still, teaching TW was low prestige
346 Mills & Walter 1954: nobody's tried to say exactly what TW is
346 in the 60s, a variety of folks try to figure out what TW is
Key early essays: Robert Hays, 1961; W. Earl Britton, 1965
346 Britton's conclusion was TW defined most by "the effort of the author to convey one meaning and only one meaning in what he says." quoted in Connors.
346 first empirical research into TW and teaching TW took place in 60s
Early research/experiments
1964 Harry E Hand errors
1967 Richard M. Davis efforts of variable in tech description
347 1970 Journal of TW & Comm started; 1973 ATTW founded; 1976 MLA the first TW panel appeared
348 popularity, need, & growth of TC led to more courses, more tenure, and some more respect in 70s
Vocabulary:
diachronic
limne
quondom
Another article to get:
Composition for the culture of professionalism: notes on thehistory of technical writing instruction
Russell, D.R.
Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA;
This paper appears in: Professional Communication Conference, 1989. IPCC '89. 'Communicating to the World.', International
Publication Date: 18-20 Oct 1989
On page(s): 39-41
Meeting Date: 10/18/1989 - 10/20/1989
Location: Garden City, NY, USA
References Cited: 0
INSPEC Accession Number: 3695088
Digital Object Identifier: 10.1109/IPCC.1989.102095
Current Version Published: 2002-08-06
Abstract
The history of technical writing instruction reveals an increasing specialization which mirrors growing specialization in both engineering and the wider culture. Since World War II, professional communicators have taken on the role of translators, bridging the inevitable communication gaps between communities of specialists. Technical writers are specialists in specialization
Aristotle Rhetoric Notes
Book 1, Chapter 11
On Learning:
That last phrase just needs to be thought about. A lot.
Practical Wisdom:
Could TC be seen as practical wisdom/ applied knowledge? Does that make it "power over others?"
On Learning:
Learning things and wondering at things are also pleasant as a rule; wondering implies the desire of learning, so that the object of wonder is an object of desire; while in learning one is brought into one's natural condition.
That last phrase just needs to be thought about. A lot.
Practical Wisdom:
And since power over others is very pleasant, it is pleasant to be thought wise, for practical wisdom secures us power over others.
Could TC be seen as practical wisdom/ applied knowledge? Does that make it "power over others?"
Combative Sports in Aristotle
Rhetoric: Book I: Chapter 11
Victory also is pleasant, and not merely to "bad losers," but to every one; the winner sees himself in the light of a champion, and everybody has a more or less keen appetite for being that. The pleasantness of victory implies of course that combative sports and intellectual contests are pleasant [1371a] (since in these it often happens that some one wins) and also games like knuckle-bones, ball, dice, and draughts. And similarly with the serious sports; some of these become pleasant when one is accustomed to them; while others are pleasant from the first, like hunting with hounds, or indeed any kind of hunting. For where there is competition, there is victory. That is why forensic pleading and debating contests are pleasant to those who are accustomed to them and have the capacity for them.
Tech Rhet: a potential definition
I've been thinking a lot about what rhetoric means, and it is obviously set within the context of technical communication. So, here is some more thinking out loud/in text.
The power of persuasion and language through the use of forms & methods.
The power of persuasion and language through the use of forms & methods.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Self-Correcting Rhetoric, Maltz, and Wiener
This is some thinking/writing on the free fly:
In the TOPIC manual, Fred writes about the self-correcting nature of rhetoric. Essentially, through skillful presentations of multiple positions, the public can listen to and decide what action to take after hearing various options. Only one thing seems to be missing: a goal or a point. What is the purpose, after all. This may be so big, or assumed, but it was a trigger which got me thinking.
The oscillation between two different ideas, or three or four, reminded me of Maxwell Maltz's discussion and incorporation of Norbert Wiener's works in cybernetics and goal achievement. In the second chapter of Psycho-Cybernetics (18), Maltz refers to Wiener and the zig-zagging of torpedoes as they make their way to the targets. They make errors and then then adjust/correct for them, and move toward the goal. This is a vital part of Maltz's Psycho-Cybernetic approach to self-help.
The parallel I see is that rhetoric can operate as these voices, guides, or pings for a torpedo/culture and the direction they go. The other skillful voices and positions which are presented operate in order to adjust the course of the torpedo/person/culture towards its goal.
I understand this is a mashed up mix of ideas, but it makes me wonder how we deal with a nation, culture, family, or organization when there is no clear purpose, when there is no goal. If there is no general direction, then how can any decisions really be made? If there is no "there" to shoot for, we can wander all over the place.
The net result is that it seems like rhetoric can be extremely efficient and effective in communities where there is a well-conceived, understood, accepted, and/or shared goal. However, when everyone has a different goal, how can you possibly persuade anyone to do much of anything? Their goal is different than yours.
In the TOPIC manual, Fred writes about the self-correcting nature of rhetoric. Essentially, through skillful presentations of multiple positions, the public can listen to and decide what action to take after hearing various options. Only one thing seems to be missing: a goal or a point. What is the purpose, after all. This may be so big, or assumed, but it was a trigger which got me thinking.
The oscillation between two different ideas, or three or four, reminded me of Maxwell Maltz's discussion and incorporation of Norbert Wiener's works in cybernetics and goal achievement. In the second chapter of Psycho-Cybernetics (18), Maltz refers to Wiener and the zig-zagging of torpedoes as they make their way to the targets. They make errors and then then adjust/correct for them, and move toward the goal. This is a vital part of Maltz's Psycho-Cybernetic approach to self-help.
The parallel I see is that rhetoric can operate as these voices, guides, or pings for a torpedo/culture and the direction they go. The other skillful voices and positions which are presented operate in order to adjust the course of the torpedo/person/culture towards its goal.
I understand this is a mashed up mix of ideas, but it makes me wonder how we deal with a nation, culture, family, or organization when there is no clear purpose, when there is no goal. If there is no general direction, then how can any decisions really be made? If there is no "there" to shoot for, we can wander all over the place.
The net result is that it seems like rhetoric can be extremely efficient and effective in communities where there is a well-conceived, understood, accepted, and/or shared goal. However, when everyone has a different goal, how can you possibly persuade anyone to do much of anything? Their goal is different than yours.
Aristotle: Rhetoric: Book I: Ch 9
Consequently, whenever you want to praise any one, think what you would urge people to do; and when you want to urge the doing of anything, think what you would praise a man for having done.
I need to think about this, but it seems like a masterful approach to manipulation. Again, this needs consideration.
Praise is the expression in words of the eminence of a man's good qualities, and therefore we must display his actions as the product of such qualities. Encomium refers to what he has actually done; the mention of accessories, such as good birth and education, merely helps to make our story credible -- good fathers are likely to have good sons, and good training is likely to produce good character. Hence it is only when a man has already done something that we bestow encomiums upon him. Yet the actual deeds are evidence of the doer's character: even if a man has not actually done a given good thing, we shall bestow praise on him, if we are sure that he is the sort of man who would do it. To call any one blest is, it may be added, the same thing as to call him happy; but these are not the same thing as to bestow praise and encomium upon him; the two latter are a part of "calling happy," just as goodness is a part of happiness.
Reading this made me wonder what we have currently which is similar to or functions as an encomium. Does a positive 30 second news spot count as one? Do media representations of good deeds actually have the same cultural important that formal encomiums did in ancient Greece? I wonder just how important or lost the role of praise and honor have become in modern culture. Again, more to think about.
Long Hair in Sparta
According to Aristotle in Rhetoric, Book 1, Chapter 9,
This is completely unrelated, but I wonder what cultural implications there are between the long hair of the Spartans, the long hair of the 60s, and the long hair of the self-indulgent glam-metal metals of the 80s.
So are the distinctive qualities of a particular people, and the symbols of what it specially admires, like long hair in Sparta, where this is a mark of a free man, as it is not easy to perform any menial task when one's hair is long.
This is completely unrelated, but I wonder what cultural implications there are between the long hair of the Spartans, the long hair of the 60s, and the long hair of the self-indulgent glam-metal metals of the 80s.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Combat Sports Texts
Battle Exhortation: The Rhetoric of Combat Leadership
By Keith Yellin
Published by Univ of South Carolina Press, 2008
ISBN 1570037353, 9781570037351
191 pages
Possible. It seems like a stretch, but there's an early chapter on Greeks in there. Additionally, perhaps leadership can be linked to teacher/pedagogy?
Aaron Freundschuh
‘New Sport’ in the Street: Self-Defence, Security and Space in Belle Epoque Paris
French History Advance Access published on December 1, 2006, DOI 10.1093/fh/crl026.
French History 20: 424-441.
Of possible interest discussion self-defense. More interested in this in terms of bibliographies and sources.
Chapman, Kris. "Ossu! Sporting masculinities in a Japanese karate dōjō" Japan Forum 16.2 (2004). 09 Jan. 2009
Possibly interesting material on sports and masculinities. Get to examine the bibliographies. See if there's a discussion of budo vs. bujutsu.
Crowther, Nigel. "Sports, nationalism and peace in ancient Greece" Peace Review 11.4 (1999). 09 Jan. 2009
More than 100 years ago, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic movement, declared that the Olympic games should promote “international understanding, brotherhood and peace.” Was this a modern concept, a dream of Coubertin, or did it resurrect the ideals of the ancient Olympics?
On the one hand, the ancient Olympic games certainly promoted in Greece a sense of unity among the independent city states, for Greece was for much of its history not a united nation but rather a collection of individual cities. Every four years the games brought together as many as 40,000 spectators, athletes, politicians, merchants and cultural figures to a festival that celebrated not only sports but also religion—since it honored Zeus and other gods. It was also a kind of trade fair, as were some of the more modern Olympics, such as the one held in Paris in 1900. The ancient Olympic games were the biggest single gathering of any kind in the Greek world, and thus their importance to the Greeks can hardly be overemphasized.
That was the official abstract. Maybe I need this? A little bit of background? I'm not sure, but I did not want to lose track of this.
Militarism, Sport, Europe: War Without Weapons
By J. A. Mangan
Published by Routledge, 2003
ISBN 0714653608, 9780714653600
316 pages
Virtually everywhere, directly or indirectly, modern men are prepared for war through sport. It has been no different in the past. Throughout history a constant imperative has been a moral commitment to defend the society. Sport has played its part in the inculcation of this commitment. However, sport has also been considered both a substitute for war and an antidote to war. This collection explores the relationship between sport and war and brings together established authors, including Peter J Beck, Hans Bonde, Vassil Girginov, J A Mangan, John McClelland and Gertrud Pfister, and emerging authors such as Steve Bailey, Penelope Kissoudi, Orestis Kustrin, Callum McKenzie, Alethea Melling, Antonio Misseroli, Hamad Ndee and Roberta Vescori.
This looks quite exciting with a lot of potential, but it is super expensive. Review the chapter selection more closely.
By Keith Yellin
Published by Univ of South Carolina Press, 2008
ISBN 1570037353, 9781570037351
191 pages
Possible. It seems like a stretch, but there's an early chapter on Greeks in there. Additionally, perhaps leadership can be linked to teacher/pedagogy?
Aaron Freundschuh
‘New Sport’ in the Street: Self-Defence, Security and Space in Belle Epoque Paris
French History Advance Access published on December 1, 2006, DOI 10.1093/fh/crl026.
French History 20: 424-441.
Of possible interest discussion self-defense. More interested in this in terms of bibliographies and sources.
Chapman, Kris. "Ossu! Sporting masculinities in a Japanese karate dōjō" Japan Forum 16.2 (2004). 09 Jan. 2009
Possibly interesting material on sports and masculinities. Get to examine the bibliographies. See if there's a discussion of budo vs. bujutsu.
Crowther, Nigel. "Sports, nationalism and peace in ancient Greece" Peace Review 11.4 (1999). 09 Jan. 2009
More than 100 years ago, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic movement, declared that the Olympic games should promote “international understanding, brotherhood and peace.” Was this a modern concept, a dream of Coubertin, or did it resurrect the ideals of the ancient Olympics?
On the one hand, the ancient Olympic games certainly promoted in Greece a sense of unity among the independent city states, for Greece was for much of its history not a united nation but rather a collection of individual cities. Every four years the games brought together as many as 40,000 spectators, athletes, politicians, merchants and cultural figures to a festival that celebrated not only sports but also religion—since it honored Zeus and other gods. It was also a kind of trade fair, as were some of the more modern Olympics, such as the one held in Paris in 1900. The ancient Olympic games were the biggest single gathering of any kind in the Greek world, and thus their importance to the Greeks can hardly be overemphasized.
That was the official abstract. Maybe I need this? A little bit of background? I'm not sure, but I did not want to lose track of this.
Militarism, Sport, Europe: War Without Weapons
By J. A. Mangan
Published by Routledge, 2003
ISBN 0714653608, 9780714653600
316 pages
Virtually everywhere, directly or indirectly, modern men are prepared for war through sport. It has been no different in the past. Throughout history a constant imperative has been a moral commitment to defend the society. Sport has played its part in the inculcation of this commitment. However, sport has also been considered both a substitute for war and an antidote to war. This collection explores the relationship between sport and war and brings together established authors, including Peter J Beck, Hans Bonde, Vassil Girginov, J A Mangan, John McClelland and Gertrud Pfister, and emerging authors such as Steve Bailey, Penelope Kissoudi, Orestis Kustrin, Callum McKenzie, Alethea Melling, Antonio Misseroli, Hamad Ndee and Roberta Vescori.
This looks quite exciting with a lot of potential, but it is super expensive. Review the chapter selection more closely.
Rhetoric & Training & Greece: Potential Texts
Bodily Arts: Rhetoric and Athletics in Ancient Greece
By Debra Hawhee
Published by University of Texas Press, 2004
ISBN 0292705840, 9780292705845
226 pages
Check out The Arts of Training chapter
Hawhee, Debra.
Agonism and Arete
Philosophy and Rhetoric - Volume 35, Number 3, 2002, pp. 185-207
Appears to be very similar to the first chapter of her book Bodily Arts.
The Poet as Athlete
Mary R. Lejkowit
Journal of Sport History, Vol. 11, No. 2 (Summer, 1984)
In press, in Sport in the Cultures of the Ancient World, edited by Z.
Papakonstantinou. Special issue of The International Journal of the History of Sport.
London and New York: Routledge, 2009.
Sport, war and democracy in classical Athens
David M. Pritchard
School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics, University of Queensland,
Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia. Email: d.pritchard@uq.edu.au
The Smell of Sweat: Greek Athletics, Olympics, and Culture
By William Blake Tyrrell
Published by Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, 2004
ISBN 086516553X, 9780865165533
264 pages
By Debra Hawhee
Published by University of Texas Press, 2004
ISBN 0292705840, 9780292705845
226 pages
Check out The Arts of Training chapter
Hawhee, Debra.
Agonism and Arete
Philosophy and Rhetoric - Volume 35, Number 3, 2002, pp. 185-207
Appears to be very similar to the first chapter of her book Bodily Arts.
The Poet as Athlete
Mary R. Lejkowit
Journal of Sport History, Vol. 11, No. 2 (Summer, 1984)
In press, in Sport in the Cultures of the Ancient World, edited by Z.
Papakonstantinou. Special issue of The International Journal of the History of Sport.
London and New York: Routledge, 2009.
Sport, war and democracy in classical Athens
David M. Pritchard
School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics, University of Queensland,
Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia. Email: d.pritchard@uq.edu.au
The Smell of Sweat: Greek Athletics, Olympics, and Culture
By William Blake Tyrrell
Published by Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, 2004
ISBN 086516553X, 9780865165533
264 pages
Roman Spectacle Podcasts
This is a link to podcast lectures on Spectacle Entertainments of Ancient Rome. They may or may not be of use, but I wanted to link them just in case.
Riffs on the Diss
My Working Topic:
How can the scholar/warrior traditions of Greece, Asia, and Japan contribute positive training models and influence to the composition classroom?
I know that it is terribly early, and I also know that my dissertation topic will probably mutate a number of times. Still, I have found it very useful in my experience to explore, work through, and contemplate materials earlier rather than later. This is one of the reasons why I spent so much time putting my application together and why I did not apply to PhD programs for some time: I wanted to know what I would read and write about. When in the program, I wanted to be able to work towards my diss with every class (if possible, of course).
Still, it is important for me to think through some of the ways that this can apply. For example, rather than just work on with one culture's tradition of scholar warrior, by finding three different cultures I'll be able to compare values and training traditions. I hope to pull the strongest traits from each one, and I also hope to find some common themes in each of them. If they are common between the three cultures, then there is probably a lot to be said for them.
One way I see this kind of work manifesting in a "real" academic career is an awareness of the importance of working with student athletes, non-traditional writing classes--such as doing field work--and the potential for offering hybridized classes that have training elements ala Lerner and his Aikido/sociology blend. The last is unlikely, or it may require a strongly funded school or significant seniority. Regardless, they are options worth considering.
When I look at WPA work, I see a very hybridized position of scholar, manager, boss, and intellectual. The confluence of these roles, and their potential fragmentation or implosion, is also a position which could benefit or be strengthened by viewing outside models which balanced multiple, and potentially conflicting, roles. Thus, as an aspiring WPA, these analyses of scholar/warrior could inform my future decisions and ability to achieve my work in a more stabile and strategic fashion.
In the classroom, I see a number of iterations from the scholar/warrior. Greatest, of course, is personal accountability. Second, reintroduction of blatant classical rhetorical methodologies. This does not mean the full rhetorical program. Instead, after a couple years of my own reading and review of works already done in the field, I will have a better notion of how rhetoric has been applied in the comp classroom and then will be able to contribute my own views on this approach.
One of the more important positions I see coming from S/W is the pronounced ethos, and the value of ethos in action in students and instructor. Given some of the work done by hooks on passion--and I am sure others have done related work--I wonder about how I could research or write about returning ethos, honor, and accountability into the classroom.
It sounds very archaic, and it is probably too roughly worded there. Still, it needed to be said. Similarly, I think people might take offense and say that there is accountability in the classroom, that people are behaving in honorable ways. Yes, there are individuals who are honorable, and they surely know that. However, given the incidents of cheating, the treatment/abuse of workers on college campuses, the outspoken desire of many students to get grades without earning them, the demonstrated-largely-by-anecdote trend of instructors desiring pay while teaching poorly, and on and on all show a system where people do less than they need or ought to simply because they can get away with it. There is no honor in that.
That is one of my major motivations: to develop a sense of honor and integrity as a professional. Then, can I figure out how to communicate this to my students...? I do not think you can force anyone to be honorable; rather, leading by example is the way to go. And it does not hurt to have relevant readings and policies in place. Still, it is a complicated issue.
The blending of scholar/warrior is similar, too, to my interests in composition and technical communication. Writing is so terribly important to me, and I do not think that splitting it up or dividing it up is a good thing. Sure, it can be a useful approach at the start, but I do not have a solution to propose. That is another reason I'm in the program. I hope to get enough reading, writing, and thinking done so that I can evaluate and consider various modes of teaching writing as well as how to manage a writing program that has all of these various facets.
Undergirding all of this work is my experience as an adjunct. I am not sure how that will play out or influence matters, but I am certainly looking forward to the research and publication potentials surrounding issues of adjuncts in comp, TC/TW, and how they compare. I am also looking forward to more consideration and discussion of the experiences of WPAs running tc/tw and comp programs when compared to just comp.
How can the scholar/warrior traditions of Greece, Asia, and Japan contribute positive training models and influence to the composition classroom?
I know that it is terribly early, and I also know that my dissertation topic will probably mutate a number of times. Still, I have found it very useful in my experience to explore, work through, and contemplate materials earlier rather than later. This is one of the reasons why I spent so much time putting my application together and why I did not apply to PhD programs for some time: I wanted to know what I would read and write about. When in the program, I wanted to be able to work towards my diss with every class (if possible, of course).
Still, it is important for me to think through some of the ways that this can apply. For example, rather than just work on with one culture's tradition of scholar warrior, by finding three different cultures I'll be able to compare values and training traditions. I hope to pull the strongest traits from each one, and I also hope to find some common themes in each of them. If they are common between the three cultures, then there is probably a lot to be said for them.
One way I see this kind of work manifesting in a "real" academic career is an awareness of the importance of working with student athletes, non-traditional writing classes--such as doing field work--and the potential for offering hybridized classes that have training elements ala Lerner and his Aikido/sociology blend. The last is unlikely, or it may require a strongly funded school or significant seniority. Regardless, they are options worth considering.
When I look at WPA work, I see a very hybridized position of scholar, manager, boss, and intellectual. The confluence of these roles, and their potential fragmentation or implosion, is also a position which could benefit or be strengthened by viewing outside models which balanced multiple, and potentially conflicting, roles. Thus, as an aspiring WPA, these analyses of scholar/warrior could inform my future decisions and ability to achieve my work in a more stabile and strategic fashion.
In the classroom, I see a number of iterations from the scholar/warrior. Greatest, of course, is personal accountability. Second, reintroduction of blatant classical rhetorical methodologies. This does not mean the full rhetorical program. Instead, after a couple years of my own reading and review of works already done in the field, I will have a better notion of how rhetoric has been applied in the comp classroom and then will be able to contribute my own views on this approach.
One of the more important positions I see coming from S/W is the pronounced ethos, and the value of ethos in action in students and instructor. Given some of the work done by hooks on passion--and I am sure others have done related work--I wonder about how I could research or write about returning ethos, honor, and accountability into the classroom.
It sounds very archaic, and it is probably too roughly worded there. Still, it needed to be said. Similarly, I think people might take offense and say that there is accountability in the classroom, that people are behaving in honorable ways. Yes, there are individuals who are honorable, and they surely know that. However, given the incidents of cheating, the treatment/abuse of workers on college campuses, the outspoken desire of many students to get grades without earning them, the demonstrated-largely-by-anecdote trend of instructors desiring pay while teaching poorly, and on and on all show a system where people do less than they need or ought to simply because they can get away with it. There is no honor in that.
That is one of my major motivations: to develop a sense of honor and integrity as a professional. Then, can I figure out how to communicate this to my students...? I do not think you can force anyone to be honorable; rather, leading by example is the way to go. And it does not hurt to have relevant readings and policies in place. Still, it is a complicated issue.
The blending of scholar/warrior is similar, too, to my interests in composition and technical communication. Writing is so terribly important to me, and I do not think that splitting it up or dividing it up is a good thing. Sure, it can be a useful approach at the start, but I do not have a solution to propose. That is another reason I'm in the program. I hope to get enough reading, writing, and thinking done so that I can evaluate and consider various modes of teaching writing as well as how to manage a writing program that has all of these various facets.
Undergirding all of this work is my experience as an adjunct. I am not sure how that will play out or influence matters, but I am certainly looking forward to the research and publication potentials surrounding issues of adjuncts in comp, TC/TW, and how they compare. I am also looking forward to more consideration and discussion of the experiences of WPAs running tc/tw and comp programs when compared to just comp.
Reading List
This is the start of my reading list and short justification notes.
My Working Topic:
How can the scholar/warrior traditions of Greece, Asia, and Japan contribute positive training models and influence to the composition classroom?
Locate history/evolution of rhetoric into composition.
Locate history/discussion of scholar/warrior paradigms in Japan, China, Greece.
Locate comparisons/discussions of sports and war.
Locate definitions/histories of humanitas.
Locate definitions/histories of paedeia.
Locate current coaching pedagogies
Books
Artistotle. Rhetoric.
It is not possible to discusses rhetoric without Aristotle.
Dao, Deng Ming. Scholar Warrior.
Introductory and source for materials on Chinese scholar-warrior.
Draeger, Donn F. Classical Bujutsu.
Top-notch martial arts scholar Draeger's take on Bujutsu. Useful as a source of definitions, terms, and general history.
Draeger, Donn F. Classical Budo.
Top-notch martial arts scholar Draeger's take on Budo. Useful as a source of definitions, terms, and general history.
Articles
Levine, Donald.
My Working Topic:
How can the scholar/warrior traditions of Greece, Asia, and Japan contribute positive training models and influence to the composition classroom?
Locate history/evolution of rhetoric into composition.
Locate history/discussion of scholar/warrior paradigms in Japan, China, Greece.
Locate comparisons/discussions of sports and war.
Locate definitions/histories of humanitas.
Locate definitions/histories of paedeia.
Locate current coaching pedagogies
Books
Artistotle. Rhetoric.
It is not possible to discusses rhetoric without Aristotle.
Dao, Deng Ming. Scholar Warrior.
Introductory and source for materials on Chinese scholar-warrior.
Draeger, Donn F. Classical Bujutsu.
Top-notch martial arts scholar Draeger's take on Bujutsu. Useful as a source of definitions, terms, and general history.
Draeger, Donn F. Classical Budo.
Top-notch martial arts scholar Draeger's take on Budo. Useful as a source of definitions, terms, and general history.
Articles
Levine, Donald.
Paper Topics 5364
I like to start thinking about things early.
From TOPIC:
and more:
The key points that have my attention are in bold.
Potential Topics:
Compare/contrast current/classic rhet surrounding olympics (broad)
same but combat sports, i.e. classic pankration and current MMA
rhetoric of sports or combat
rhetoric re: warriors/atheletes
focus on the epideitic rhetoric of sports?
Google Scholar produced a number of good results, and views, on pankration
From TOPIC:
The term paper will be a typical academic study of about 4000-5000 words, or about 16-20 pages double spaced, 12 point New Times Roman. Obviously, the primary subject will be classical Rhetoric, but your thesis may extend beyond just our time period, 500 BC to 400 AD, and beyond the tradition of oral political and judicial oratory. What I mean by this is that you may apply the precepts we will study to other times and even other genres of expression. We will talk more about this in the coming weeks, but if you’ve read my slightly incendiary little essay, “What is Classical Rhetoric?” (item 1.1), you should realize that I take Rhetoric, even classical Rhetoric, as the essential element (beyond language itself) of what I somewhat clinically refer to as the “negotiated society,” more easily understood as the “free society” or democracy.
and more:
In these ways, classical Rhetoric should not be thought of as existing in an isolated time period “back then,” but instead seen as the original paradigm of how society functions when it functions well. This paradigm, or these paradigms, are applicable to a wide range of human endeavors -- politics, art, war, education, business.
Your principal subject must be classical Rhetoric, of course, but you may either further explain something you find interesting in the period or compare-and-contrast with something operating entirely outside the period. What you should avoid is a "report," or a summary of what scholars have already summarized.
The key points that have my attention are in bold.
Potential Topics:
Compare/contrast current/classic rhet surrounding olympics (broad)
same but combat sports, i.e. classic pankration and current MMA
rhetoric of sports or combat
rhetoric re: warriors/atheletes
focus on the epideitic rhetoric of sports?
Google Scholar produced a number of good results, and views, on pankration
Books to Buy
Idiots Guides:
Usability Testing
Technical Writing
Statistics
Learning Greek
General Greek/Classical History
Usability Testing
Technical Writing
Statistics
Learning Greek
General Greek/Classical History
B&H notes
These are notes for my own use. They are reminders, refreshers, or things I have never bothered to clarify until now. Or they are simply notes.
Epistemology: ways of knowing; nature of knowledge; way people acquire knowledge
Dialectic: practice of inquiry & argumentation through conversation/Q&A (Aristotle)
Parturition: process of giving birth
Rhetoric:
Classical: Greeks to 400 CE
Medieval: to 1400 CE
Ren: to 1700
Enlightenment: late 17th to 18th cent
19th: obvious
Modern & Post-Modern (isn't it hubristic to believe that we can accomplish two very different forms of rhetoric in less than one century? Perhaps these forms will not be seen as so different in a couple centuries.)
Rhetoric: largely prescriptive & not a form of inquiry (B&H 2)
Rhetorical theory seeks to penetrate the complexities of communication & persuasion.
Classical Rhetoric has 3 kinds of public speech:
1. Legal/forensic: regards the past, courts, judgment
2. Deliberative/political: to persuade for future; legislation
3. Ceremonial/ epideictic: to strengthen beliefs about the present; address public
Speech Prep 5 Steps
Invention
Arrangement
Style
Memory
Delivery
Topoi: stock formulas in which arguments can be cast
Syllogism: form of deductive reasoning: major premise, minor premise, conclusion that results
Enthymeme:
Epistemology: ways of knowing; nature of knowledge; way people acquire knowledge
Dialectic: practice of inquiry & argumentation through conversation/Q&A (Aristotle)
Parturition: process of giving birth
Rhetoric:
Classical: Greeks to 400 CE
Medieval: to 1400 CE
Ren: to 1700
Enlightenment: late 17th to 18th cent
19th: obvious
Modern & Post-Modern (isn't it hubristic to believe that we can accomplish two very different forms of rhetoric in less than one century? Perhaps these forms will not be seen as so different in a couple centuries.)
Rhetoric: largely prescriptive & not a form of inquiry (B&H 2)
Rhetorical theory seeks to penetrate the complexities of communication & persuasion.
Classical Rhetoric has 3 kinds of public speech:
1. Legal/forensic: regards the past, courts, judgment
2. Deliberative/political: to persuade for future; legislation
3. Ceremonial/ epideictic: to strengthen beliefs about the present; address public
Speech Prep 5 Steps
Invention
Arrangement
Style
Memory
Delivery
Topoi: stock formulas in which arguments can be cast
Syllogism: form of deductive reasoning: major premise, minor premise, conclusion that results
Enthymeme:
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Levine texts to get
Book: Powers of the Mind
Search: cross-cultural on study warriorhood & masculinity
Search: cross-cultural on study warriorhood & masculinity
Donald Levine's "Martial Arts as a Resource..."
"...for Liberal Education: The Case of Aikido"
Written in 1989 as a revision of a 1984 article, "The Liberal Arts and the Martial Arts," the article stands out to me in several ways.
First, in the first couple pages, Levine establishes clear links between Jutsu and Techne. If I am to work on rhetoric and MA at all, this is an obvious place for good ground.
Second, Levine differentiates between Budo and Bujutsu. I am not sure if his distinctions are accurate, so I want to read and confirm with Donn Draeger's texts before I go to far.
Nice quotable connection on page 2 between paedeia and Budo.
Some good introductory discussions and sources for more information on liberal education and humanitas.
Interesting points about democratic/scattered nature of western culture and the authoritarian/focused nature of many Asian martial arts.
Another interesting point of comparison might be how with the rise of MMA, and thus the cross-fertilization, much of the provincialism and authoritarianism (pg 10) might wear out, die out, or go away. Simply put, in an era of information exchange, dogma will not cut it if your fighters always lose. In writing/composition, if your students do not pass tests, if your grad students do not get work, if your MFA people do not get book deal or contracts, they are not succeeding. And, rightfully so, they should leave you for another school which enables success.
This, of course, invites discussions of success--market versus personal--but I am only addressing the competitive nature and applications of MA in academia.
We could talk about arete, and I am glad that Levine mentions it several times. Arete, just like paedeia and humanitas, deserve a lot more of my attention.
Levine's profile at U Chicago
Written in 1989 as a revision of a 1984 article, "The Liberal Arts and the Martial Arts," the article stands out to me in several ways.
First, in the first couple pages, Levine establishes clear links between Jutsu and Techne. If I am to work on rhetoric and MA at all, this is an obvious place for good ground.
Second, Levine differentiates between Budo and Bujutsu. I am not sure if his distinctions are accurate, so I want to read and confirm with Donn Draeger's texts before I go to far.
Nice quotable connection on page 2 between paedeia and Budo.
Some good introductory discussions and sources for more information on liberal education and humanitas.
Interesting points about democratic/scattered nature of western culture and the authoritarian/focused nature of many Asian martial arts.
Another interesting point of comparison might be how with the rise of MMA, and thus the cross-fertilization, much of the provincialism and authoritarianism (pg 10) might wear out, die out, or go away. Simply put, in an era of information exchange, dogma will not cut it if your fighters always lose. In writing/composition, if your students do not pass tests, if your grad students do not get work, if your MFA people do not get book deal or contracts, they are not succeeding. And, rightfully so, they should leave you for another school which enables success.
This, of course, invites discussions of success--market versus personal--but I am only addressing the competitive nature and applications of MA in academia.
We could talk about arete, and I am glad that Levine mentions it several times. Arete, just like paedeia and humanitas, deserve a lot more of my attention.
Levine's profile at U Chicago
Sunday, January 4, 2009
TTU's Dissertation Advice
Official dissertation advice from TTU. I find it useful to remember things like this.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
More on the Higher One card
Citing Gillian, with permission, from the TTU TCR list:
The "Higher One" is a card that TTU financial aid is using now as a means to dispense financial aid funds. Several cautions on this:
1. You must have this card, and must activate it in order to receive financial aid (when you activate it, you may select to either use this card as a debit card, or you can have funds deposited directly into your checking account). TTU will automatically deduct your term bill before they issue a refund.
2. It is easy to accidentally throw this out (it looks just like a credit card offer).
3. If you do not get it soon (like you probably should have it by now), you must call financial aid to get a replacement (the Higher One Company cannot issue a replacement unless the financial aid office tells them to.
Finally, I will tell you that financial aid can be a nightmare at TTU. If you call the Financial Aid Office, it is likely that you will get different answers depending on who answers the phone.
The "Higher One" is a card that TTU financial aid is using now as a means to dispense financial aid funds. Several cautions on this:
1. You must have this card, and must activate it in order to receive financial aid (when you activate it, you may select to either use this card as a debit card, or you can have funds deposited directly into your checking account). TTU will automatically deduct your term bill before they issue a refund.
2. It is easy to accidentally throw this out (it looks just like a credit card offer).
3. If you do not get it soon (like you probably should have it by now), you must call financial aid to get a replacement (the Higher One Company cannot issue a replacement unless the financial aid office tells them to.
Finally, I will tell you that financial aid can be a nightmare at TTU. If you call the Financial Aid Office, it is likely that you will get different answers depending on who answers the phone.
May & Summer Finances
May and Summer come as lump-sum financial hits. From what I gather, there are no payment plans. And, if you have taken your max financial aid for the two primary terms, there's additional paper work and higher interest rates for summer financial aid.
In short, save up money--all that you can--from the two prime terms to pay for Spring and Summer.
In short, save up money--all that you can--from the two prime terms to pay for Spring and Summer.
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