Valued Education...

Judging that I really did not know what this course was about until the first day of classes my expectations and goals for this class have changed as well. I am very interested in the topic of “rhetoric of resistance;” all forms of rhetoric interest me for many reasons. As I stated before in my last blog that I plan on becoming an attorney and eventually a judge – rhetoric and the use of it is the basis for defining justice in the United States presently. Having a knowledge of all forms of rhetoric are very important to me. What intrigued me the most is the idea of study rhetoric of different non-westernized cultures. Being a Rhetoric and Writing major tends to mean that we study rhetoric from its alleged “origin;” we study Socrates and Plato. These readings give a theoretical framework to how rhetoric was originally defined and used, but rhetoric like all language has evolved over time and so should the curriculum in which it is taught. With that being said I hope to study all aspects of rhetoric from different cultures in all its forms. I would hope to use analysis, critical reading and response, practicing the creation of autoenthnographic texts and more. It is hard for me to decipher a particular topic because I believe it is the culmination of all of these topics and ideas that will give me a greater understanding of rhetoric and rhetoric of resistance.

The Pratt article was very useful and informative in providing a framework for what we will be discussing over the semester. On a scale of 1-5 (5 being the most frustrating) I would rank the Pratt article at about a 3. It took me some time to read through the article it was pretty dense but it was still readable. I don’t mind reading dense texts if they are crucial to my understanding of the course material and learning. I always enjoy a class that challenges me but challenge can come in many different forms. Challenging does not necessarily mean reading a lot of dense texts but maybe less dense texts with challenging ideas or ideologies. I value both forms of reading and in either I think a detailed class discussion is useful.

Other then that I just think that it is important as always to remind professors that most undergraduates have more than one class. In the writing program that means multiple classes of this caliber demanding dense readings and response at the same time. In preparing any course or course load I think that is an essential reminder for any professor.