10/25/11

As literacy became more and more present, society became more and more centered around intelligent conversation, especially as the middle class grew and upward mobility was an available option. This prompted the emergence of Salon Societies, wherein those in a similar class standing would get together and discuss anything and everything. You were expected to participate, and even women could partake, upping a woman’s place in society.

Sure, she was still considered lower, but she was now seen as an intelligent being, rather than some fragile thing that was only good for reproduction.

In Salon Society, there was a constant flow and movement of ideas, a throwback to the Sophists.

These were also a many to many kind of communication model. This was a change from the previous typical one-to-one or one-to-many communication models. That model is still very apparent today, through our social media in Facebook and blogging.

Salon Societies were the early online chat rooms and also broke down class barriers even further.

10/18/2011

When we write papers, we’re told to never express our own opinions unless they are backed up by solid facts and evidence. We turn to the library, inhaling every that contains our usually vague key word, searching frantically for anything that agrees with our point.

These, however, include other authors’ opinions, renamed “testimony” to sound like a more reliable source. True, some support their opinion of why they think Elizabeth Bennet is actually in love with Mr. Darcy with actual factual evidence, later re-quoted in our own papers.

But, really, a lot of the time, we will take what another author has said and use it to support our point, using borrowed ethos to make our papers and arguments sound more reliable and trustworthy.

But is this borrowed ethos really a reliable resource? Well, in a way, yes. Not every resource is going to be a very detailed scatter plot graph of the number of times Elizabeth mentions love in relation to Darcy for each chapter and then charting the path to their eternal love, no. Yes, this person agrees with us, yes, we may take their argument a little out of context to make it fit into ours, but by using borrowed ethos we can make our papers and arguments stronger.

The authors of these essays and texts are experts in their field. They know their shit. Now, if someone wanted to quote one of my papers, I feel that their paper wouldn’t be as accurate or reliable. But testimony from an expert is a reliable resource.

10/13/11

So, basically, the development of the printing press changed everything. Too bad poor Gutenberg wasn’t able to reap the benefits of his perfected combination invention since copyright or patents weren’t around then. Nevertheless, it’s impossible to ignore the huge impact the printing press had on the world.

When the first printed books hit the shelves in 1450 and the availability of the written word exploded, so did literacy. Before, just the elite and the clerical could read, and even then the test for literacy was the ability to write your name. But as more and more books were mass produced and there was more and more to be read beyond the Bible and sermons, the ability to read soon dripped down to the middle class and, eventually, the lowest class.

Literacy meant an increase in upward mobility, increased communication channels, and made the Protestant movement entirely possible. The class system, rather than being a pyramid, became more bulbous as the middle class expanded. A primarily oral culture became a written culture, ancient stories finally written down and posterity possible. People were learning much more and education became a priority.

Of course, true universal literacy didn’t really happen until the early 1900s.

Imitatio Reflection: A Plea to Mr. President

As with all speeches, this one put me a little bit on edge. Usually with a speech, I can whip up a bit of research, write an outline, and call it a day. But this one was different. I didn’t even know where to begin. While the examples given in class were helpful, more than a few people shared my initial idea of doing an encomium of some recently shamed celebrity. Also, it would seem that an outline wouldn’t suffice for this speech. As it was an imitation, it had to follow its original a little more closely than word vomit prompted by a key word or phrase. No, this task would definitely prove to be a worthy adversary to my education, causing me to question my reasons for being here and whether it would be worth it to call in sick on whichever day I would end up performing. Somehow, I made it through (to be honest, it really wasn’t that bad; the questioning of myself only lasted about five minutes).

The first challenge faced was figuring out what I wanted to do. On my first read-throughs of the ancient rhetoricians, more of it went over my head than got caught in it, simply because I was out of practice with the language. Because I didn’t want to try to imitate something I didn’t fully understand, these were out of the question. This and I have quite a bit of respect for the ancient literature, more so than the speeches of the aforementioned ancient rhetoricians. I knew I wanted to do something fictional.

As much of my high school years were spent studying The Iliad, The Odyssey, Jason and Medea, and the like, I figured I would pick something from their milieu of monologues and soliloquies. At first I settled on something from Jason and Medea, my thinking following Medea’s tendency for anger and imitating an angry woman wouldn’t be hard for someone like myself who is similarly inflicted. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything in my personal life or the outside world that was stirring my pot enough for me to match Medea’s wrath or, really, that any of my fellow students would want to hear me rant about.

I had hit another road block and the questioning of myself resumed. It was not until I was doing the reading on pathos that I came across a segment from The Iliad where Priam is begging for Achilles to return Hector’s now much mangled body. This launched images of our own troops overseas, they’re original purpose and why they’re still there an unresolved issue. “Of course!” I exclaimed, getting a look from my pre-med roommate. I had found my speech to imitate.

In writing the speech, I tried to stick to the original as closely as possible, really only substituting words so alterations were minimal but effective. I also switched the direction of pathos. In Priam’s plea to Achilles, he remind him of his father, claiming that the two of them (Priam and Peleus, Achilles’ father) weren’t that different. In my adaptation, I connected myself and the troops overseas to President Obama’s daughters, trying to make the point that we are all someone’s child appealing to his paternal instincts the emotional response that it would provoke.

In the actual performance, I knew emotion really drove the piece. It conveyed passion, anger, sadness, and desperation, all in attempts to retrieve what had been grievously lost. I can only hope that I was able to convey these as well, though I’m sure I was also showing off how red I could make my face with the nerves that come with giving any speech. While I don’t particularly mind public speaking, the elephants in my stomach still made their usual appearance.

I learned some about ancient rhetoric and how their ways “translate into modern times,” quoting the prompt. Ancient rhetoric set the stage for the rhetoric of today. We still use most of their methods, we might just call them different things. Back in the day, they had the need to defend those charged (forensic rhetoric), to make laws and policies to govern the people (deliberative rhetoric), and the need to praise or blame someone in a ceremonial fashion (epideictic rhetoric); three kinds of persuasive speeches that we use today. Rhetoric also provides an alternative to war, though that’s something we haven’t quite grasped yet, one of the reasons behind my choice in imitation. Much of their teaching is applicable today, even if they wrote and spoke thousands of years ago.

All in all, the imitatio was a good experience. I appreciate its value as a teaching tool and really was able to get more out of the reading because I was doing it myself. Of all the speeches I’ve given, this one was definitely unique. It was fun, also, to see others’ imitatios and get an idea of their interpretation of the texts. It was a good way to see some insight into my classmates. I feel, given the chance, I would do this again but perhaps prepare a little better. I did end up reading my speech and, if I were to do this again, I would like to try to do as the Romans did. On the other hand, I may be so stuck in my linear thinking that there’s no hope for me. But it’s worth a try. This speech challenged me, but the challenge was accepted and, for the most part, defeated.