Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Blog Post #2
I think that seeing all language as persuasion could be correct. No matter what we do or say you can point it in a direction of persuasion. I think seeing the world this way can help us better understand each other, but I also think it could pull us away from simple interpretations. We might over analyze everything that someone is saying or doing if we only view it as persuasion. Just because I say “Hello” to someone I don’t want them thinking in their mind, “Oh she is trying to persuade me that she is a member of our society”. However, getting students to understand this can help with composition. I think it can help show them how important language is in our lives. The example of Joseph really showed me how language, something so simple and overlooked, could truly impact our lives if we did not have it. I know a common question of students is, “Why do I need to learn this?” I think the examples of rhetoric and Joseph are a great way to answer that question for students and put them on a path of understanding composition. Showing them that life is completely altered without language would put into perspective how important it is. Showing students how persuasion and rhetoric affects our society would do this as well. I think it is important that all students learn this early on in their educational careers and maybe they would understand the importance of their Language Arts classes. I know discussing all of this has really put a new light on how I view language and composition, and I understand its importance much more than I ever have before.
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I agree with you when you said that you think that Joseph and rhetoric examples would be good for students because they will learn the importance of language and therefore will understand the importance of the class. I know that when I was in high school it would have made me pay attention and understand more. I also liked your line "Just because I say “Hello” to someone I don’t want them thinking in their mind, “Oh she is trying to persuade me that she is a member of our society'. " It is situations like that where I feel that rhetoric is taken a little too far. It makes daily convo pretty confusing...
ReplyDeleteI liked your example of simply saying hello... I feel like I say hello because I want to greet them, not because I am trying to persuade them of something. But this also makes me wonder if we are so used to trying to persuade people that we no longer notice it and persuasion is just part of our nature.
ReplyDeleteYour "hello" example seems to have caught on with people. Thinking about everything in terms of persuasion does quickly lead to over-analysis, but at the same time, it can be helpful for understanding why some people choose not to say "hello" or why someone that you dislike is saying "hello." Over-analysis can be just as deadly as under-analysis, it seems to me. Thoughts?
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree that under-analysis is just as deadly. I guess my point with the hello is more that I don't look at it as all language is persuasion, but more as all language can have persuasion. Though, persuasion may have not been the main idea of the language that was expressed, I think if you always keep an open mind then you can always find the persuasion. If that makes any sense at all.
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