Filliam H Muffman's Splendiferous Zepplin Escapade

Wikipedia calls him "the bad boy of rhetoric"

2006-12-03T21:36:00.000-08:00

For last week, we read a couple of articles written by prominent members in the field of rhetoric in composition. Each of these author writes in response to a question posed regarding their particular field of study.

Jeff Rice, who likes to write about cool, writes about what he feels college English should be. In his words, "College English should be new media." For Rice, college English needs to embrace the idea of the network culture and the new media that has become such a large part of this culture. Rice says that "we must invent a new metaphor because on its own 'writing' feels too limited in an age of total information delivery and connectivity." What he means by this is that it is foolish to continue writing in our traditional static methods when the rest of the world is so rapidly changing. Therefore, an ideal college English class for Rice would be somewhere along the lines of our English 201 class which makes use of new media technologies instead of relying on the traditional formulaic methods that have become so commonplace in the university.

In Vitanza's essay, he decides that he doesn't really want to answer any question, and instead uses his letter to try to prove a point. Despite what my initial reaction was, Vitanza's point is not simply that he is a smug bastard content with entertaining himself with his own writing. Instead, Vitanza employs a form of unique rhetoric of his own in order to make a statement. This statement is that, as students, we have become so used to conventional forms and standards of writing, that we feel completely lost and frustrated when an author deviates from this feeling of familiarity. Vitanza does make this point, as I found myself completely at a loss throughout much of his essay.

HTML 1 workshop

2006-12-03T13:40:00.000-08:00

Earlier today I attended the software training course covering html basics. Html is the webtext that is used to create websites using coded phrases that translate to websites when viewed through a web browser such as Internet Explorer. When we use dreamweaver in class, the dreamweaver program actually takes the websites we creates, and translates our pictures and text into html text which can be sent over the internet.

In essence, html is text that can be written out normally, with the addition of special tags that tell the browser to do certain things. These tags signal that whatever falls in between them is a certain form of text. The main thing that we were reminded of in class, is to always close your tags, or else the browers will not know what you want the text to do.

We next learned how to do some simple variations with text, such as headers, creating lists, and changing the alignment, size and color of the text. We also discussed different forms of hyperlinks, such as the kind we often used in our blogs which send the user to a different site. In addition to this type of link, we also learned how to create links to different parts of the same webpage.

The last thing we covered was images. Besides simply inserting images and manipulating their size and location, we learned how to use an image as a link, which can be a useful tool when creating a user-friendly site.

And . . . Boom goes the dynamite! (make sure to watch up to 2:30)

2006-11-30T12:10:00.000-08:00

Boom Goes the Dynamite

I'm sure than many of you have seen this video before, but for those of you that haven't, I think it's worth a look. This guy, a student at Ball State, for some reason was allowed to go on live TV to do the sport segment of a college news program. Now I don't think that many people have very high expectations for student-produced newscasts, but this guy, Mr. Dynamite, manages to lower the bar to a never before seen level. My only guess is that someone decided to put him on there as some sort of cruel joke in order to get some cheap laughs. At first it seems like maybe the guy is just nervous, but before long it becomes apparent that he just can't speak like a normal person. Look out ESPN, here comes the next Sportscenter star.

Emergence

2006-11-21T14:14:00.000-08:00

In the introduction to Emergence, Steven Johnson introduces the reader to an organism referred to as slime mold. The reason that this organism is so interesting to scientists is because, "The slime mold oscillates between being a single creature and a swarm." Pg. 13. After witnessing this unique behavior scientists have tried to use the mold as case study in how "systems that use relatively simple components" can coaslesce into "higher-level intelligence," Pg. 12. For Johnson, the behavior of the slime mold is a perfect representation of emergent behavior of a system in which a bottom-up system with no apparent pacemakers somehow comes together to form a system in which the overall resul is greater than the sum of all of the individual parts.

The idea of Emergence is difficult for many people to understand, based on our common understanding of pacemakers. As Johnson says, "We're naturally predisposed to think in terms of pacemakers, whether we're talking about fungi, political systems, or our own bodies," pg. 14. Despite this tendency to think in terms of pacemakers directing the behavior of a group, Johnson says, that no such leader is apparent in a group of slime mold. Because of this lack of a pacemaker, it is clear that the slime mold demonstrate emergent behavior.

More real than real life...

2006-11-16T17:39:00.000-08:00

So some of us were talking about video games before class on Wednesday and about how insane the hype is for the new Nintendo Wii and Playstation 3 systems that are set to come out this month. When I went to Best Buy today, I realized that there apparently is a lot of Eric Cartman's in the world. The Best Buy next to West Town mall had more than a dozen tents lined up outside the store filled with people waiting to get PS3 the first day it comes out. Now, I like video games as much as the next guy, I've skipped classes before to play new releases with my roommates, but I can honestly say that sleeping in sub-freezing temperatures on a Best Buy sidewalk for a week just doesn't seem worth it. When I got home I even found this video where some guy admits to quitting his job and another puts off buying an engagement ring, all in the name of a little Crash Bandicoot. I guess when it comes to video games, some just have a little more determination than others.

Lost in Translation with Marc Auge

2006-11-12T12:16:00.000-08:00

After watching Lost in Translation, it is easy to see why "The traveler's space may thus be the archetype of non-place." (Auge, pg. 86). In the film, Bob Harris (Bill Murray) experiences the symptoms of a non place during his visit to Japan. Confined to areas that we normally think of as "touristy" such as hotels and restaurants, Harris spends the duration of his stay in non-places. As Auge says, "supermodernity produces non-places, meaning spaces which are not themselves anthropological places," (Auge, pg. 78). Visiting a hub of progress such as Tokyo Japan, it is no surprise that Harris finds himself in a series of non-places that are symptomatic of supermodernity. Only after Harris makes his connection with Charlotte (Scarlett Johannson) does Murray create a place in Japan where he can connect with another individual.

Reading

2006-11-09T11:53:00.000-08:00

So I just finished reading a couple chapters in a book for one of my history classes, and then it dawned on me . . . I have no clue what I just read about. The funny thing is, I know I looked at every word in the book. I progressively scanned each and every line in the 242 page book and yet I don't remember a single thing I read. I'm sure that Eric Avila had some valid points about Popular Culture in the Age of White Flight I just couldn't tell you a single one of them. I know he talked a lot about Disney World and Freeways and such, however, I really don't know what his point was. I guess this phenomenon is a little bit like the distinction between hearing and listening, only in this case the difference seems to be between reading and comprehension. I suppose I can take solace in the fact that I did finish the book, even if I can't tell you what the point of it was.

Stuck in a non-place you can't get out of

2006-11-05T11:59:00.000-08:00

In his chapter titled, From Places to Non-Places, Marc Auge discusses his concept of what constitutes a non-place in our society. In Auge's own words, "If a place can be defined as relational, historical and concerned with identity, then a space which cannot be defined as relational, or historical, or concerned with identity will be a non-place," pg. 78. For Auge, "the distinction between places and non-places drives from the opposition between place and space," pg. 79. For an example of what he is talking about, Auge says, "The traveler's space may thus be the archetype of a non-place," pg. 86.

Using the example of a traveler's space, we can see the heart of Auge's argument. He says that in a non-place is a "space in which solitude is experienced as an overburdening or emptying of individuality," pg. 87. Looking at a traveler in a place like an airport, we can see what is meant by the idea of a non-place. The airport for all travelers is a place in which they share a similar experience to everyone around them, but they are actually experiencing it alone. The individual is not part of a larger shared experience that they would be in a place.

Despite the seemingly clear distinction drawn between place and non-place, Auge says of a non-place that, "It never exists in pure form; places reconstitute themselves in it; relations are restored and resumed in it," pg. 78. As we discussed in class, the nature of what constitutes a place from a non-place leads to fluidity in what we may define a particular space. As an example, our English 201 class may have been a non-place at the beginning of the semester, but as time has passed and everyone becomes more comfortable with each other, the class takes on more characteristics of a place. It seems to be a phenomenon in our post-modern society that we are spending more and more of our time in non-places as we become more isolated from other people.

Playing in the MUD

2006-10-31T14:14:00.000-08:00

In Chapter 10 of her book Life on the Screen, Sherry Turkle discusses the phenomenon of online personalities. Turkle starts by introducing WELL discussion groups in which "participants shared a sense that their virtual identities were evocative objects for thinking about the self. For several, experiences in virtual space compelled them to pay greater attention to what they take for granted in the real," (pg. 256). Turkle goes onto to say that "what most characterized the WELL discussion about online personae was teh way many of the participants expressed the belief that life on the WELL introduced them to the many within themselves," (pg. 256). The online personalities created by individuals represent one of their many 'selfs'.

Turkle goes on to discuss MUD's which apparently are some sort of rudimentary form of World of Warcraft. These MUDs allow users to create a sort of virtual representation of themselves in which they can act out things they may otherwise not. Turkle provides an example of a woman who is unable to make love in real life until she first does this in the MUD world, pg. 261. For Turkle, these online depictions of ourselves represent one of the many selves that make up our whole.

In the conclusion, Turkle says that "as we stand on the boundary between the real and the virtual, our experience recalls what the anthropologist Victor Turner termed a liminal moment, a moment of passage when new cultural symbols and meanings can emerge. Liminal moments are times of tension, extreme reactions and great opportunity," pg. 268. The evolving technology that allows us to blur the line between real and virutal creates a time of exciting opportunity for Turkle to apparently do things such as create creepy robots that try to look us in the eye.

Nice...

2006-10-26T17:21:00.000-07:00

South Park: Dawg the Hallway Monitor's Crew

I'm not really feeling all that up to blogging tonight due to extreme frustration with my rollover buttons on my website, so here's a clip from one of the funniest episodes of south park I've ever seen. This is probably stupid if you've never seen dog the bounty hunter on A&E, but if you know who dog is, hopefully you will appreciate this. Just for the record, this guy made 2.3 million dollars this season on this show . . . that makes me want to grow a killer mullet and catch guys. Until next time, don't forget to go with Christ.

Remix+Remix =original

2006-10-21T14:15:00.000-07:00

Friday's readings, Connected by Steven Shaviro and Chapter 7 of Writing About Cool deal with the issue of sampling. For Shaviro, "appropriation, or sampling, is everywhere today: from rap songs to films and videos ot prose fiction and installation art," pg. 64. Shaviro says that the proliferation of sampling is so great that it "is the best way, and perhaps the only way, for art to come to terms with a world of brand names, corporate logos, and simulacra." pg. 64.

Jeff Rice focuses on Hip Hop music for his examples of appropriation, or sampling in pop culture. His examples include Public Enemy and Will Smith. These artists use pieces of pre-created art in forming their own unique pieces of pop-culture art. Shaviro focuses his discussion on the garage band, Illegal Art which created a cd entitled Deconstructing Beck. The album was created entirely by slices up samples from Beck songs to create new songs. The point behind the music of Illegal Art to demonstrate that someone could produce something very similar to what Beck produces, a cd based on samples, and yet not gain an audience without a corporate backing.

This brings us to an important question: what is the difference between sampling and stealing. As Rice says, "A fine line divides the two, and we may not discover a simple formula that helps differentiate between a moment of appropriation and a moment of theft," pg. 62. Shaviro seems to believe that our culture has tended to side with the stealing side of the argument saying, "copyright law has evolved . . . From something that balanced the rights of ownership with the rights of the public, to something that seeks to maximize the economic 'incentive' to produce new works," pg. 65. In class, we discussed the difficulty that occurs when one artist samples another. On the one hand, artists should be able to profit from the creations they worked to make, however, it is also clear that art can never be totally unique. This leads to the debate of where do we draw the line in copyright infringements. Hopefully for arts sake, our culture will not continue down the path of lawsuits thrown at anyone who creates anything based off another work of art.

Bring on the Tigers

2006-10-20T08:17:00.000-07:00

So the Cardinals advanced to the World Series last night, which makes me a happy man. This gives the Cards their second league championship in the last three years. Up next they will take on the Detroit Tigers in the World Series where they can try to atone for their embarassing showing in the 2004 Series in which they got spanked by destiny's darling Boston Red Sox. For a large portion of the game, I didn't think they would pull it off especially when Endy Chavez made one of the greatest chatches in recent playoff history going over the wall to bring back a Scott Rolen homerun. After a two-run homerun by Yadier Molina, quite possibly the worst hitting position player in all of baseball (now that Chad Moeller is in the Minor Leagues), the Cardinals appeared to have the game under wraps. That is until handing the ball over to closer Adam Wainwright, who decided to give every long term Cardinals fan a heart attack before recording the final out with the bases loaded by striking out Cardinals killer Carlos Beltran to end the game. Hopefully the team can ride the emotional high and take a quick game from the Tigers who haven't played in what seems like 2 months and bring back a World Series Championship to the NL.

Don't go Cool Hunting with Dick Cheney

2006-10-15T11:52:00.000-07:00

In an article he wrote for the New Yorker, entitled The Coolhunt Malcolm Gladwell starts by saying, "Who decides what's cool? Certain kids in certain places--and only the coolhunters know who they are." For his study on cool, Gladwell spends time with two "coolhunters" who work for the Reebok shoe company. At first the idea of chasing cool sounds strange, but as Gladwell points out, "the rise of coolhunting as a profession shows how serious the chase has become," pg. 135. Companies like Reebok employ coolhunters in order to try and edge the competition in being "cool." Gladwell points out however, that "the paradox, of course is that the better coolhunters become at bringing the mainstream close to the cutting edge, the more elusive the cutting edge becomes," Gladwell continues by saying, "the act of discovering what's cool is what causes cool to move on, which explains the triumphant circularity of coolhunting," pg. 135.

During his examination of coolhunting, Gladwell establishes three rules of cool. The first rule says that "[cool] cannot accurately be observed at all, because the act of discovering cool causes cool to take flight," the second rule says that cool cannot be manufactured out of thin air, and the third rule of cool is that, "it can only be observed by those who are themselves cool," pg. 144-145. After establishing these rules, Gladwell says that "if you add all three together they describe a loop, the hermeneutic circle of coolhunting, a phenomenon whereby not only can the uncool not see cool but cool cannot even be adequately described to them," pg. 145.

The problem I had with this article is that the whole idea of "coolhunting" seems to rather pointless. As we pointed out in class, although Reebok seems to be on the cutting edge of the coolhunting phenomenon, they still can't compete with Nike, so really, how effective is their coolhunting. It was also pointed out in class that many consumers are very cynical and don't buy into what companies tell them is cool. In my opinion, if a company like Reebok really wants to make a name for themselves, they should focus less on coolhunters and more on getting their name into a hip-hop song . . . it sure worked for Nike and Adidas.

Bye Bye

2006-10-15T11:37:00.000-07:00

So the Packers are on bye this week, and that can only mean one thing . . . I have nothing to do all day on Sunday. Despite the fact that the Packers are terrible and incredibly frustrating to watch, I still look forward to sitting on the couch for 3 solid hours every Sunday afternoon to watch the game. Growing up in Wisconsin, never missing a Packer game is something that is kind of like in my genes, that and being a farmer or eating cheese or whatever some other Wisconsin stereotypes might be. It looks like I'll just have to spend the day actually doing some real work. On second thought, I'll probably just end up watching some other crappy NFL games.

Six Degrees of Duncan Watts

2006-10-09T08:23:00.000-07:00

In chapter one of his book, Six Degrees Duncan Watts discusses what he calls the connected age. To provide a background for his discussion, he provides an example of our current reliance on networks and the problems that this can cause. The example used by Watts is the West Coast power failure from the summer of 1996. Watts says that, "the power grid is not really a single entity, but several regional networks cobbled together under the rubric of greater connectivity for the good of all," pg. 21. The problem with the network was that it created a system in which each individual part is easy to understand, but the system as a whole can be chaotic. Watts connects this idea to the behavior of a football crowd, but I think our in class comparison to the Madison Halloween crowd is a better fit.

The idea of a different whole than simply the sum of all the parts is what Watts refers to as Emergence. Watts says that, "the parts making up the whole don't sum up in any simple fashion. Rather they interact with each other, and in interacting, even quite simple components can generate bewildering behavior," pg. 26. This leads us to another paradox of mob behavior; the idea that despite being made up of individual complex parts, the behavior of the system as a whole may be easy to predict, i.e. knowing that the Halloween crowd will grow into a riot by the end of the night.

This brings Watts to the focus point of his chapter which is networks. He defines a network as "nothing more than a collection of objects connected to each other in some fashion," pg. 27. Watts' studies revolve around new ways of understanding different types of networks. One of the more interesting things Watts discovers in his work is the Small World Problem. Surprisingly, this problem has nothing to do with the cheesy ride at Disney World. The small world problem has to do with what Watts calls clustering. Clustering basically means that most people's friends are also usually friends with each other. Therefore, the study of networks is not as simple as saying if I know 100 people and they each know 100 people than I know 10,000 people within 2 degrees of separation. In the real world, however, we see that networks are not this cut and dry. It seems that the one thing that we can know for sure is that any actor in Hollywood is within 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon.

So you're a mathematician? Chaotician, actually... Chaotician

2006-10-03T20:10:00.000-07:00

In his article, From Grid to Network, Mark Taylor discusses the shift in society from a grid to a network culture. In so doing he also touches on the theories of choas and complexity. Searching for a way to practically demonstrate this transition, Taylor focuses on examples of grid and network culture that can be seen in buildings of famous architects.

Starting off with some of Taylor's definitions, we can see that chaos is a condition in which order cannot be ascertained because of the insufficiency of information, pg. 24. Taylor says that complexity falls in between order and chaos as the moment of complexity is the point at which self-organizing systems emerge to create new patterns of coherence and structures of relation, pg. 24.

Getting into the meat of Taylor's argument, we come to his ideas of grids and networks. We learn from Taylor, that the grid is a figure of modernism. It deals with straight lines and right angles. The grid functions as an instrument for rationalizing and thus controlling nature. This grid style of architecture is exemplified in the work of Mies van der Rohe in his very rigid, structured Illinois Institute of Technology project.
In contrast to the Grid, is the network. According to Taylor, the network culture represents a shift to postmodernism. In network culture not only surfaces but structures that once seemed simple become irriducibly complex. The network style of architecture is seen in the work of Frank Gehry. Lookin at the famous Guggenheim we can see that Gehry uses a more fluid natural looking style in his work, that Taylor feels is indicitive of network culture.

In class, we went further in breaking down the differences between the grid and network culture, and also threw in the category of superficial. According to Scot, Las Vegas is seen as the quintessential example of superficial architecture. This category falls in between the grid and network ideas and therefore might be looked at as kind of a transition from one to the next.

We also came up with some examples of chaos and c0mplexity in nature, however, we had a hard time agreeing on which examples fell into which category. From what was said in class, some examples of the chaos theory include; flocks of birds, schools of fish and the butterfly effect. Examples of complexity theory include the human body, cities and evolution.

Writing About Cool

2006-09-25T08:37:00.000-07:00

In the introduction and Chapters 1 & 2 of Writing About Cool, Jeff Rice introduces his concept of "cool" which challenges conventional notions of what cool means. Here are some of Rice's key concepts from the reading.
-cool writing answers the need for practical pedagogical approaches to teaching and learning about electronic writing. pg. 2
-cool writing appeals to youthful attitudes pg. 3
-by studying cool from a cultural studies perspective, we can carefully examine a great deal of culture - particularly digital culture is shaped by a notion a cool. pg. 7
-traditionally cool has been associated with personality traits such as independence and rebelliousness. pg. 9
-cool has transformed from a personality trait into an electronic writing strategy. pg. 11
-the word cool has been commercialism as a strategy for attracting consumers. pg. 12
-the word cool is used rhetorically for consumer purposes. pg. 12
-the internet has shifted the meaning of cool to a tool for luring customers. pg. 14

Rice concludes by saying that we have started to see another shift, from cool being a marketing tool to being a writing system.
In order to show his point, Rice uses the interesting analogy of comparing cool writing to hip hop, an analogy that he returns to in later chapters as well. By doing this Rice tries to show the evolution of the word in our society. I think this becomes problematic for Rice, however, as he tries too hard to make a connection to hip hop culture instead of just explaining what his notion of cool is.

It is interesting how Rice expands on our conventional idea of "cool" when used on the internet. Rice uses the example of Everything2.com and how this website allows "cooling" of posts. Cooling is when someone links something in one post to another post, therefore allowing a user to make a connection from one topic to another. According to Rice, we have witnessed 2 transformations of cool. From a personality trait, to a marketing tool, and then to a system of writing. I guess only time will tell where cool takes us next.

You don't call retarded people retard, that's just bad taste

2006-09-21T19:10:00.000-07:00

So tonight was the season premiere of The Office on NBC. As much as I don’t usually get into weekly network television shows, I must admit, The Office is the one show I feel like I need to watch every week. Tonight’s episode centered on Michael Scott (Steve Carell) attempting to come to grips with the presence of a gay employee in the office. In typical Office fashion, Michael manages to make a fairly uncomfortable situation even worse when he “assists” his co-worker (Oscar) to come out of the closet to his fellow office workers. The only reason Michael himself has become aware of the situation is because he was reprimanded for calling Oscar "faggy" for preferring Shakespeare In Love to Die Hard. The funny thing about the show, and the reason I think I like it so much, is that Carell manages to play the extremely ignorant and somewhat arrogant boss that everyone should hate, and yet I always find myself feeling a certain amount of pity for his self-inflicted wounds. During the course of the episode, he manages to cross the line of political correctness over and over again, and yet still “save the day” in his typical manner. Not to ruin it for anyone out there, but Michael learns to face his fears of homosexuality and even tries to rid all of his fellow employees of their homophobia. In reality, we the viewer discover that Oscar is promised a three month paid vacation in return for his agreeing not to sue the company. In Carell’s warped mind, he is once again the savior of his office kingdom. Also in the episode, we saw the first appearance of Carell’s former co-worker on the Daily Show, Ed Helms who can be added to the ever growing list of Daily Show “correspondents” moving on to new and bigger things. So after waiting for this episode all summer, I can confidently say I wasn’t let down.

So in the words of Jim Halpert, “Not a bad day”

Kill the Messenger

2006-09-18T07:58:00.000-07:00

In his book, Understanding Media, Marshall McLuhan sets forth his controversial (and rather confusing) theory that “The Medium is the Message.” McLuhan says that by this he means, “the personal and social consequences of any medium – that is, or any extension of ourselves – result from the new scales that is introduced into our affairs by each extension of ourselves, or by any new technology,” pg. 23. To put this idea in simple terms, McLuhan believes that it is not the content that matters, but rather the media itself that is of importance. Using movies as an example, he says that, “the sheer speeding up the mechanical, carried us from the world of sequence and connections into the world of creative configuration and structure. The message of the movie medium is that of transition from lineal connections to configurations,” pg. 27. Doing my best to decipher this loaded statement, it would seem that McLuhan believes that what you see in a movie, or the content, is of no importance. The only thing that matters for his media studies is that you have viewed a film of any sort.

In trying to better explain himself, McLuhan makes a non-media comparison in discussing the effect of the railway system on American transportation. This example can be useful as it allows to try to gain a grasp of why in fact the medium is the message. McLuhan says that, “The railway did not introduce movement or transportation or wheel or road into human society, but it accelerated and enlarged the scale of previous human functions, creating totally new kinds of cities and new kinds of work and leisure,” pg. 24. At first I found the comparison of a train to modern media rather confusing, but the more I thought about I found it to make some sense. McLuhan points out that “for the ‘message’ of any medium or technology is the change of scale or pace or pattern that it introduces into human affairs,” pg. 24. For his train example, it doesn’t matter who or what is being transported by the train or even where that train is going, all that matters is that train itself as a new form of transportation contains a message about the new possibilities it allows. If we were to compare this to a more conventional idea of media, we can say that it doesn’t matter what we watch on TV, what really matters is TV gave us the opportunity to in home access to entertainment, information etc.

In class Scot discussed the background from which McLuhan was writing his book from. It seems that McLuhan had some crazy idea about printed literacy being bad for society as it lead to segmentation/fragmentation and individualism to run rampant. Scot says that McLuhan advocates a return to an oral based culture in our society. During the ensuing discussion it was pointed out the divergence from oral culture did in fact lead to individualism as it allows many more people access to information and ideas than at any previous point in history. Someone pointed out that before printed literacy, people had to rely on only a select number of individuals to orally pass on information. While the class was able to come to somewhat of a consensus on McLuhan’s idea of increased individualism, I don’t believe that we necessarily agreed with his condemnation of this idea. An interesting question thus arises, is the increased individualism resulting from print literacy an inherently bad thing?

Blog Assignment #2

2006-09-14T13:08:00.000-07:00

Lacking any real direction as I start this entry, I'll go with one of the most overused statements of all time, "How 'bout this weather?" After 5 or so days of depressing grey rainy weather, the heavens have opened and given us, at least for the time being, one of those perfect days that makes me forget how terrible Wisconsin weather can be. It’s funny how something as simple as the return of the sun can instantly make the day seem that much better. Something as routine as walking to class just seems like so much less of a chore when it can be done on a day like today. Hopefully this weather can stick around until the Badger game on Saturday, that way maybe I’ll have a reason to be excited about seeing UW take on San Diego State.

Blog Assignment #1

2006-09-10T21:08:00.000-07:00

Before doing the assigned reading, my only impression of rhetoric was that it was specialized speech that focused on exaggerated wording in order to convince someone to do something or believe something. In his article, "An Overview of Rhetoric," Herrick concedes that "Rhetoric traditionally has been closely concerned with the techniques for gaining compliance." Herrick, however, takes great pains to point out that persuasion is only a part of what rhetoric is as a whole. According to Herrick, rhetoric has multiple distinguishing qualities; it is planned, it is adapted to an audience, it reveals human motives, it is responsive, it seeks persuasion and it is concerned with contingent issues. After reading the article my understanding of rhetoric is that it is much more than simply "persuasion by fancy words," as Herrick points it has a lot to do with how language is used in everyday situations and how it shapes our communities.

Get this party started

2006-09-08T10:47:00.000-07:00

This blog will focus on material from English 201 at the University of Wisconsin Madison and also on Brett Favre. The name comes from a bit on the Colbert Report about William H. Macy and Felicity Hoffman.