Sophists Rule!

For some reason, I'm having trouble following directions this summer. But here's my short version of the last two prompts.

First, my favorite canon is arrangement. Really. It's amazing to me the effect organization has on meaning and effectiveness. A poorly organized document or video or sentence, and it's incomprehensible to the audience. Good organization and the document makes perfect sense. People in general and students in particular tend to over look arrangement as important, but it will really make or break an artifact.

Secondly, three important things I've learned.

First, I learned how to covert powerpoint slides to video with voice over cool--and a corollary to that is I should probably let my husband do the voice work--he's got a voice made for radio.

Secondly, I learned that Plato really does think that rhetoric has value if not primary value. And also that he was a looney toon--ok I already knew that--but seriously. Plato must have thought at some point that he had come to know the truth otherwise why would he postulate that one can know truth but not tell it. And what was that moment like when Plato thought he had come to understand the true thing about...what? trees or beauty? probably math, but still what was he thinking to believe he had seen the true form of anything? Clearly he was in some sort of altered state when he had that brain wave.

Thirdly, I've really come to understand the various definitions of rhetoric i.e. it's style; it's persuasion; it's a good man speaking well and understand that how you define rhetoric really matters when it comes to the value that language has. Are you more of a sticks and stones person or a pen is mightier than the sword person?

Kendall