voxygen.net » Rhetoric

Where’s Neil Postman when you need him?

~LS~ — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 01:22:35 +0000

I'm contemplating teaching Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death in my Introduction to Humanities class this semester, particularly Chapter 4 ("The Typographic Mind"). I don't feel like scanning the chapter and I couldn't find a pdf or doc... Read more

When Species Meet

~LS~ — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 01:02:00 +0000

I'm reading Donna Haraway's _When Species Meet_ with Loretta. We had a great discussion of the first chapter over breakfast this morning. The book is a solid choice for us to read because she's a science-y person and a dog person and I'm a Haraway... Read more

Robert Byrd Anti-War Speech

~LS~ — Tue, 25 Feb 2003 20:30:00 +0000

I finally added a sig file to my emails. I got the quote from an anti-war speech given by Senator Robert Byrd, which I've saved on my website because I think it rocks. The speech was sent out over H-Rhetor by Tom Powell Bullock. Here is my sig... Read more

Public speaking activity – first week of class

~LS~ — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 14:03:50 +0000

I've twice used the following activity to open the semester and both times it was quite successful. I discovered the general idea by surfing around and I wish I could remember the site so I could acknowledge the creator whose idea I extended. I... Read more

Pecha Kucha in Public Speaking

~LS~ — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 15:11:39 +0000

I have always hated using PowerPoint in speeches. Always. I suspect many speech teachers feel the same. PowerPoint becomes a teleprompter and it defeats the purpose of giving a speech. Last semester, I taught Business Communication for the first... Read more

NYT analysis of Obama’s victory speech

~LS~ — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 16:59:00 +0000

There's a nice bit in the NYT blog that discusses the various allusions in Obama's victory speech. It's so nice to have a President (elect) who has a rhetorical... Read more

My third post for the morning

~LS~ — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 19:11:00 +0000

I must be really bored. I just read an article in the LA Times quoting Rod Hart's response to Bush's State of the Union gaffe of the "democrat majority" in Congress, which many people consider to be an insult: "The word 'democratic' has such... Read more

lolcats and lolobama

~LS~ — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:23:00 +0000

There's a cute article in Salon this week about the meaning of the lolcats phenomenon. I have to confess, I didn't get lolcats at first. I guess I'm dumbing down due to the time I spend on the intartubes. But now I think they're great and I giggle... Read more

Kenneth Burke, Little Magazines, and Blogging

~LS~ — Tue, 22 May 2001 04:20:00 +0000

Listening: Poe, Haunting Reading: Kenneth Burke in Greenwich Village, by Jack Selzer; Counterstatement, by Kenneth Burke I'm still not sure what the difference is between a blog and a journal. But these are my thoughts on the subject: I... Read more

I heart Al Franken

~LS~ — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 07:08:58 +0000

I'm entirely jealous of the people of Minnesota on a daily basis. I have friended/liked Al Franken's Facebook page and so I get posts about his work on several times a day. Jealous, jealous, jealous. He does so much good, progressive work, and he's... Read more