DIA Day!

Friends, I'm having a great day. Today was DIA day for my writing classes!

My students are working on collecting readings in various genres that can inform their research proposals. We learned about how to evaluate websites, then we surfed the web. We learned about searching databases with keywords, broadening and narrowing our searches, and then we practiced in the library. Then, we learned about analyzing and evaluating visual texts, and our practice took place in the "library of visual art", the DIA.

 

A couple of my students were really interested in the Diego Rivera murals in Rivera Court. I was so geeked to talk to them about this massive, strange and beautiful work. Even cooler was when a museum staff member came up to us and offered us an ipad with all sorts of info in the pre-loaded apps about the painting process, the symbols...tons of stuff!

 

An any time I'm at the DIA, I make sure to visit the Rothko--Orange and Brown.  I try to stare at it from different angles and let my mind drain. I try to just pause and feel, as I imagine Rothko intended me to do. Today I thought to myself: wow, these colors are so warm (it is frigid and windy in the D today!), it's probably the perfect one of his paintings for Michigan...The coolest thing was that I got to introduce this piece to a student who'd never seen it, who wasn't even familiar with Rothko. We talked about the painting and you know what she said? "It's great that it's warm colors. It warms me up on a cold day."

No kidding. 

I could probably go on and on. The day was just packed with moments that made my teacher-heart sing--students asking docents for advice, asking me questions about pieces, taking notes, telling me they're planning to stay all day, exploring, smiling, absorbed in art! Man, what a great day.

How is your day going?

Theory Thursday: Rhetorical Appeals

So, one of the keystones  of my composition courses is the concept of rhetorical appeals. Being persuasive is key in academic writing (and speaking, emailing, etc.), and understanding how to appeal to one's audience becomes an important step in the process.

Which is why I was pretty geeked when ProfHacker posted this blog on Aristotilean Rhetorical Appeals (or, Ethos, Pathos and Logos). Having read Aristotle in grad school, I am always 1) glad I did, and 2) glad I don't ever have to, ever again. Ever. And 3) amused at how we've transliterated the greek words into our English terms. A language-nerd thing, I know! But the blog also pointed out that, as academics, we should be thinking through our "available means of persuasion," as Aristotle says.

For those who need a little refresher on Aristotle's "available means":

• Ethos--persuasion based in personal character; who you are gives weight to why we should believe you (or, as my students once told me, "You'd believe Oprah, because she's Oprah. She has strong ethos. You wouldn't believe a crack head. A crack head has weak ethos.") 
• Pathos--persuasion based in a passionate, emotional appeal; if I can play on your compassion, fear, humor, I'm utilizing a pathos appeal
• Logos--persuasion based on logic, rationale, facts; this can be easily noticed in the form of statistics

As I get ready to officially start my new job, I can't help but think about being persuasive in my new academic environment. My ethos isn't automatic; no one really knows me, so I'll want to be purposeful in establishing and developing my ethos as an instructor, a colleague, a mentor, and a mentee. And, learning about "how things go" in my new workplace will be necessary to contextualize logical and emotional appeals, as well.

Ultimately, these are ideas I seek to get my students to think through. How well they establish the logic of an particular claims or arguments or ideas they have (which ties into critical reading strategies), how well they understand and appeal to emotions in others, and how well they convey themselves as people, and as scholars, can ultimately effect how they are perceived (and how successful they can become) in the academy, the workplace, and ultimately in the democracy. Not that this teaching-of-writing thing is brain surgery, but when you think about it, it is pretty cool--and important--stuff!