Hey all,
Well, another academic year is upon us and here we go with ENG 230 Advanced Composition–Mahoney style.
The title of this course, “Public Pedagogy: Managed Discourse and Available Means,” signifies that this course has a rhetorical bent and is interested in how discourse is “managed,” controlled, and manipulated in our current world. The rhetorical approach of this class means that we will be looking at the social and political contexts of discourse and will inquire into how we can intervene in this context.
This blog will be part of the little experiment we have going. We will be talking about writing as an on-going conversation all throughout this class. In his book The Philosophy of Literary Form: Studies in Symbolic Action, Kenneth Burke, a literary and rhetorical scholar, gave us the following metaphor of a “parlor” to highlight the conversational nature of knowledge making and, I would argue, writing:
Imagine that you enter a parlor. You come late. When you arrive, others have long preceded you, and they are engaged in a heated discussion, a discussion too heated for them to pause and tell you exactly what it is about. In fact, the discussion had already begun long before any of them got there, so that no one present is qualified to retrace for you all the steps that had gone before. You listen for a while, until you decide that you have caught the tenor of the argument, then you put in your oar. Someone answers; you answer him [or her]; another comes to your defense; another aligns himself [or herself] against you, to either the embarrassment of gratification of your opponent, depending upon the quality of your ally’s assistance. However, the discussion is interminable. The hour grows late, you must depart. And you do depart, with the discussion still vigorously in progress (110-111, brackets mine).
So, let the conversation begin…I’m looking forward to our little late-afternoon rhetorical parlor…Welcome!!!
August 27, 2008 at 1:58 pm
this is a comment. there are many like it; but, this one is mine.
August 27, 2008 at 3:53 pm
this is another comment
August 28, 2008 at 11:26 am
Hi! This is Christina S (I’m using the S to differentiate me from the many variations of my name in the class) and I hope I’m leaving this comment correctly. For as much as I love computer mediated communication and social networks, I haven’t really done my own blogging or replied to blogs. I do enjoy reading blogs, though. So anyway, as I’ve said I’m Christina S and I’m an English/Professional Writing major at Kutztown University. I’m planning on going into public relations when I graduate, but I do like to do creative writing in my small amounts of spare time. I would also like to attend grad school, but probably on a part time basis while working. But life has thrown me quite a few curve balls recently, so I don’t want to make too much of a plan for when I graduate – just kind of want to have a general idea of what I want in life and see where I go. I’m looking forward to this class and the different types of writing and thinking, and sharing my opinion on this blog. That’s all for me!
August 28, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Ah yes, the wonderful world of blogging. I was very surprised to find this a part of the assignments in this particular class, but it, for all purposes, was a pleasant surprise.
Either way, my name is Sarah Miller. My obsession with writing all started in high school when I was asked to pick something to write to add to a class “magazine.” Really, it was a collection of student-written plays, short stories, and poems. I picked a short story and inquired as to how many pages we needed. The teacher replied, “As many as you can write in two weeks.” I promptly handed in a 33 page, single-spaced spectacle to my teacher, who, upon reading it, asked if I had ever thought of majoring in anything English-related. Ever since then, I’ve been writing insane amounts of incomplete short stories, poetry, and anything else imaginable that one can do with the English language.
As I said in class, I’d like to do something like writing novels with all the success of Stephen King or Joyce Carol Oates (minus the teaching gigs). I’ve got a firm belief that I could never teach, so I’m hoping that the writing works out as that is all I really want to do. I could probably even go for working for Outside Magazine like a certain Mr. Jon Krakauer, if it meant getting paid to do things like climb mountains and investigate such interesting individuals as Chris McCandless.
As for the question, what can you do with a B.A. in English, I’m sure I’m about to find out….
August 28, 2008 at 8:22 pm
My name is Shain Wancio. I am 6′1 with a slim build and smooth supple skin. I enjoy long walks on the beach, potpourri, and horseback riding. I’d describe myself as a generous lover, but please, lets try being friends first ladies.
August 28, 2008 at 9:49 pm
hey all,
i hope i give all of you a good idea about me…
my name is nicholas pasquale massaro, and i was born on february 15th 1989. i am from coatesville PA, which is an old steel mill town. they are trying to make my town a lot nicer, but the easiest way for me to tell you where i am from is by comparing coatesville to philadelphia; philly has some bad parts and some good parts. luckily, i was able to grow up in the good part of coatesville.
i come from an area with a lot of hometown pride for our sports teams, so a lot of that pride carried over to kutztown.
i guess i should probably talk about english being that this is an advanced comp class. i have a few goals that i have set for myself when it comes to my future. i would love to be a high school english teacher. i had a teacher in high school that inspired me to do this, and that has been my goal since my junior year in high school. a lot of you want to write for a magazine, or edit them, and thats awesome, but i want to teach the younger generations of our country, and i want to be that teacher that everyone wants to have, not the one that everybody hates. i guess one of my bigger goals is to write a book and to be a motivational speaker. that would be the ultimate.
i hope that we all will get to know eachother because it seems like this class will be a fun one.
see you guys in class.
August 29, 2008 at 8:38 pm
hello
my name is mary cusati and i’m studying secondary english ed. and english as a second language. in reply to the comment about the formality of the handshake: my feelings are that the handshake doesn’t necessarily imply the opportunity to recieve individuality. i feel that it is a connection. unfortunately, it is an undeniably political connection.
about 6 years ago i got my best friend a photography book for christmas.. .and in that book was a picture of two men from a (forgotten) slavic country with their foreheads touching. they meet…touch foreheads…and share a breath. in this country this is their way of greeting…their “handshake” if you will.
if i had the choice of a handshake or sharing a breath, i would…hands down (no pun intended) choose the sharing of a breath.
August 29, 2008 at 8:50 pm
testing
August 29, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Coatesville is not boring Nick, you guys had a great high school marching band.
Well hello on this lovely labor-day weekend! I am writing this all the way from Buffalo, NY where my dad lives. I am one of the other Christina’s, but you can call me Chris because my grandma does. I am a junior PW major, with big goals. I like writing, but am not going to be stuck in a cubicle typing away at the computer everyday. I already started seeing the world, and hopefully this summer I will finally get a chance to go backpacking, let me know if your interested!
I think we were supposed to post our opinions of the introduction chapter of Rhetoric, so hopefully I didn’t misread that instruction. Even though this chapter made me mad by poking fun at writers themselves, I understood what he was trying to do. Rhetoric, at first, seemed to be some sort of convoluted mind game; and went a little over my head. Originally I thought it assumed what “real disciplines” were. The author vaguely showed two sides of the point he was arguing.
So, I have concluded that rhetoric is like a stereotype or opinion of a certain piece of literature, or any topic really. In the end I thought the chapter did what it was suppose to do: demonstrate the power of rhetoric. He practices what he preaches in his own writing, which makes it a lot easier to understand and deal with.
Anyway, I hope everyone had as much fun/frustration reading this chapter as I did.
See you in class!
August 30, 2008 at 8:16 am
Hello,
My name is Fabricio Alvarado. I was born in El Salvador and have been living in the United States for over a decade. Sometimes, I come off as quiet, but I am anything but shy. Other than that, I am your average guy: tall, dark, and handsome.
I also like long walks on the beach and the occaisonal late night movie, but sorry ladies, I’m already taken.
Life is simple, or at least thats the way I try to keep it. I hang out with friends and play football. Most of my day is taken up by my studies, of course. I also hold a job at Planet Fitness in Reading. When ever I have free time, I try to simply relax with my girlfriend or work out at the gym.
Hopefully, the information I have provided has given some sort of idea of who I am. If not, or if you have any other questions, feel free to contact me, reply to this blog, or visit my website at
shop.readingstudio.com
Sincerely,
Fabricio A.
P.S.
And I hope to enjoy our time together throughout this semester.
August 30, 2008 at 9:20 am
Hi everyone. My name is Allison and I’m a junior English Lit major. This is the 5th major I’ve chosen since the beginning of my college career. I’ve settled on this major not necessarily because I love reading(although I do like it) or because I was inspired to become a teacher. I just always knew this is where I would end up and I’m finally ready to accept it.
I’m hoping to eventually become a college professor. But that will probably take a long time. I also enjoy writing plays and am working on a novel.
I’m relieved that this class doesn’t require that I read 19th century novels(because I will already be doing plenty of that) We were all pretty quiet the first day of class but based on some of the comments people have already made I think this will be a fun and interesting group.
August 31, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Hm. I’ve never blogged before and I’m not sure where to start. Let’s try this:
Hi! (Good so far?) My name is Melanie Hirshberg. I’m a junior Pro Writing major.
I am from New Jersey, but please don’t hold it against me (Feel free to make fun of the accent, though – everyone else does).
As for writing, I mostly enjoy the creative spectrum, although I do work for a Public Relations company at home. I have a novel published and floating around on the internet, which isn’t bad considering I wrote it before I had any real training (aka early high school). With that checked off my list of things to do before I die, I’d love to become a travel writer, but wouldn’t mind becoming a copy and line editor instead.
I’m looking forward to the rest of the semester with you all!
August 31, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Hi All!
I’ll be honest, I don’t really know what I’m doing with this blogging thing. I really only use blogs on myspace to advertise the bar I work at… So any advice or help is appreciated!
About me…
My name is Chrissy V. I am a post-bac working towards a certification in secondary ed. I’m interested in teaching for a number of reasons. I really just want to be happy in life without the major pressures from corporate America. I am excited to start a family and take joy in the simple pleasures of life. I’m getting married Sept. 13th so I’m a little bit on edge about everything between working full time, going to school full time, and planning my wedding full time.
I am worried about this course because I think I’m a TeRrIbLe writer. I am excited because I love creative writing. I dont necessarily want to be restricted by all the standard conventions.
I guess thats all for now!!
September 1, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Well, it’s very nice to meet everyone. I am Elizabeth Schroeder. I am from West Chester and hope to eventually move to New York City. I want to travel the world and write, that would be a dream come true.
I have a sick obsession with collecting quotes. So, if you ever need a great quote I am your person.
I look forward to meeting all of you guys and hoping to improve my writing as well as learning from everyone.
Good luck with classes and see you all tomorrow.
September 2, 2008 at 12:41 am
Hi! My name is Katie Grow and I’m a Junior English/Professional writing major here at KU. I’m from Lancaster which is widely known as a middle of no where place, but it’s actually not like that at all. It’s a big county with very rural parts and very suburban parts…if that makes any sense. It’s a really pretty place. Anyway, besides defending my hometown I really enjoy reading and writing; probably more reading. I love to write but I also find it so challenging as I feel that so many people want to be a writer and that’s is impossible to stick out. Hopefully I’ll be proved wrong. I’d really like to have a career in book publishing or magazine writing. I’m pretty determined to get somewhere with this major.
By the way, Nick, I live really close to Coatesville and it really does have nice parts. My parents went to high school there and said it was always a “race war”…although that was a really long time ago.
I already miss summer.
And this blogging thing is cool and also reminds me of when I had a xanga in 7th grade…hahaha.
September 2, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Hi, name is Chris Roof, and I’m a junior Professional Writing major. I reside in New Jersey, just outside of Ocean City; it’s a dandy place.
I enjoy writing, and hope to write for a magazine in the future. I had an internship at a weekly Ocean City newspaper for the second straight summer. It’s a start to a career, and I was able to build a nice portfolio because of it.
Anyhow, I think this class will be beneficial. I have a good feeling about it, and hope we’re able to improve our writing. So, that’s about it. Peace.
September 2, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Hello everyone, my name is Billy Watts. I am a junior electronic media major, with a concomident (minor) in journalism. I have just recently been exploring with the possibility of writing for a career. I haven’t taken many classes in it, but the only way i can ever get a complete thought out is by writing it down.
So anyway a little bit about me. I grew up in a small town called royersford in pa. It is about 15 mintes from the king of prussia mall. I love sports, but mainly hockey and golf. I have never blogged before, so this is a new exerience for me, and i am looking forward to it. I really want to improve my writing skills, so if anyone has suggestions or critique it is always welcome.