homework

One of my instructors has us introduce ourselves at the beginning of class each semester so she can get a feeling for where we are and where we want to go.

As I read about rhetoric and the beginnings of it within these two books, I realized that rhetoric means different things to different people. We can have a textbook definition of it, but it’s still going to mean something different to different people. What first made me think this is that Plato showed his disdain for rhetoric. However, with one quote, it’s difficult to know if Plato really had disdain for it or if he had disdain for it in this one particular situation regarding one particular set of circumstances. The reason I question this is because that’s exactly what John Locke was doing. He didn’t necessarily discount rhetoric. He was discounting the educated men who used rhetoric for their own gains, as he saw it, to turn the nation in a direction that he felt was not good for the people.

This is an important distinction. The authors of the books are using rhetoric to persuade the readers (us) to think about rhetoric in a very specific way. Who is to say that their rhetoric is the Truth, though? It may be their truth and may fit with the direction in which they want their books to go, but what if their definition of rhetoric does not fit with my own personal truth? And, in fact, what if I feel that their leading (or misleading) isn’t conducive to effective learning? Aren’t they doing exactly what Locke was complaining about? Using their version of rhetoric to convince me to think a certain way – which may or may not be appropriate?

I’ve been thinking about my introduction to you over the past few days. I think this is the fourth introduction I’ve written to you and I’m wondering how I’m changing or growing and if I am at all. I should go back and re-read them (but, frankly, I haven’t the time right now).

I don’t know what I want to do when I grow up (hah!). It seems to change with the direction of the wind. I’m so curious and excited about so many things that I learn that I can’t pin one thing down. I love what I do for my job but is that what I want to do for the rest of my life? I don’t know. I feel like I’m flailing about, wondering which way to go, hoping the tides will carry me in a good direction. I’m confused. I don’t know where to go with it all.

I’m also taking an education course this semester and it has already given me some insight into some things. The course is Teaching Literacy through Photography. And it has made me think about some things that are up your alley. Is it possible to work with basic writers and readers and use multimedia and images to assist them in learning concepts and writing skills in a more manageable way? Would they be more receptive to it? Would it be something that they would understand better than a page full of words (or, worse yet, a blank page they have to fill with words just from thin air)? And I’m thinking that this may be a direction I want to lean toward – using the skills I have in multimedia and graphics to help people with literacy. I’m not sure I want to be a teacher or professor but if I could assist professors in creating positive environments like that, it would be amazing.

You may be asking where this came from. Our instructor said that thisworks particularly well with students who have special needs. As the aunt of a little boy with Down Syndrome, I’m constantly amazed at how receptive he is to the way things move, feel, or look. He may never read at great speeds nor write as well as others but when I show him a photograph or we take a photo together, there is something about it that assists him in understanding what is going on. If that could be applied to a larger setting, like a class, with people who have the abilities to do more than he does (and, granted, he’s only three years old), then what kinds of differences could that make in their lives?

I keep thinking back to some of the readings we had about Mina Shaughnessay and how students had difficulties conceptualizing topics or moving from their thoughts to words on paper. And I wonder if media would help them with that.

As I said, I love what I do. I love the editing. I love the photography. I love helping others create beautiful, interesting learning environments. I just think it’s possible to take it further. And while I find the technical writing side of this degree interesting, I know it’s not for me. I wouldn’t feel like I was helping others in that kind of a job. And I need to feel like I’m making a difference. That’s important to me.