Chapter 10

As always…here’s my unorganized observations about the chapter: Now I know how my students feel at times – enough with the jargon. “Clarity”, “Correctness”, “Appropriateness”, “Style”, “Composition” are thrown around English classrooms and departments every day, but they certainly don’t carry the weight and specificity that Crowley and Hawhee’s usage does. Circumlocutions remind me a bit of euphemism, and I’m not sure I could define the difference between the two. Colloquialisms on the other hand, are easily distinguished. I try to avoid using that word in my class because it always gets me tongue tied. I know its meaning and how to say it, but I always mess it up. ON a side note: one of the characters in the show I was watching last night used to word, and I was impressed to hear it in TV dialogue.

The association of Kairos and style is a bit unclear to me, but I think it stems from my idea of appropriateness and balance. I understand the concept of balance in an argument, but how is that an issue of Kairos? In this same section, there is discussion about a rhetor’s sensitivity to community standards of behavior. While it is necessary to consider subject, occasion, and audience, I feel that this sometimes limits to potential of student writers. Students are often required to write for an audience that is not necessarily authentic. What is appropriate isn’t always as effective, so there are some limitations in instructing students to guide their appropriateness.

The paragraph on tropes made me think of Yoda. Isn’t Yoda practicing the type of trope that the authors call “rare?” The Churchill example has a motive and Yoda’s probably doesn’t, but is the goal about the outcome or the act of transferring words or phrases from their proper place to another? The second type, the one that transfers the meaning/significance of a word is much more common. As the chapter provides more specific types of and definitions for tropes, I was shocked at how little I actually know. I teach about and develop students’ use and understanding or a few of the tropes, but I felt ignorant as I read on. Even though I might have recognized them or referred to them as something different, here are the terms I never use: Antonomasia, periphrasis, hyperbation, catachresis. That’s 60% proficiency!

I hope to explore some of these devices and rhetorical tools in class tonight, because I’ve got much to learn. I look forward to tonight’s discussions. See you soon.