Can writing be taught? This is one of the central questions driving “composition studies”, at least in pedagogically-minded corners of the field. As a writer, I’m skeptical; but then, the entire question hinges on our definition of terms. My ego-boosting definition of “writer” is anyone who has been paid at least $100 for his/her work, … Continue reading
Here are the facts of the case: Voters put up an amendment to ban gay marriage. Californians voted for that measure with an overwhelming 80% voter turnout. 52% voted for the amendment and 47% voted against it. Not a landslide victory, but not a close-call by any means. Californians made themselves pretty clear: no gay … Continue reading
If our field had a Catechism, it would probably include something like the following: “All claims to truth or knowledge are cultural constructs; objective truth does not exist; we cannot escape the bounds of individual or communal subjectivity. This is most certainly true.” Undoubtedly, there is a great deal of truth to this denial of … Continue reading
A central theme in rhetorical theory is the notion of oppositions and binaries, as well as the perennial tension between identification and division. And so I’ve always wondered why we haven’t mined the work by and on William Blake, whose entire project seemed to be a poetic marriage between Heaven and Hell, a transcending of … Continue reading
The American West is burned into the world’s psyche. There are few cultures on the planet that haven’t been influenced by the lore of the west, the stories of rugged frontiersmen, the aesthetic of the shootout, the grand clash between modern and pre-modern civilization. It has inspired an entire genre of literature and film in … Continue reading
Siete meses atrás, empecé a estudiar Español; ha leído muchos cuentos en Español a fin de aprender mas del idioma. En esta semana, leí algo de los cuentos de Borges en Historia Universal de la Infamia. Por supesto, no sé todas las palabras en el libro, pero intento leer sin un diccionario o una traducción … Continue reading
Getting married and moving across the country to start a PhD program doesn’t leave lots of time in your schedule for going to the movies. (How I managed to go to the theater every week in film school, I’ll never know.) So, I didn’t see as many films this year as I would have liked. … Continue reading
An interesting news article about an “uncontacted tribe” in Peru has been plastered across internet news sites the last few days. Accompanying the article is a picture of tribesmen and tribeswomen. Undoubtedly, it is the picture that has caused the fanfare, not the complex spatial and cultural politics surrounding the existence of “uncontacted tribes.” The … Continue reading
Today I had a wonderful tete-a-tete in my morning seminar. We were discussing what it means to import terminology from a specific discipline (rhetorical theory) into an area where the discipline’s terminology may not apply. How much “casuistic stretching” should we allow ourselves when analyzing, as rhetorical, practices not traditionally understood as rhetorical? When we … Continue reading
I have been critiquing the postmodern mode of argumentation, but I have said nothing about the content or purposes of the arguments themselves. Lest I seem ungenerous in my reading of an entire field of work, I hasten to add that the postmodern styles of argumentation can and do serve an important purpose. At their … Continue reading
