Archive for August, 2008
Bizzaro: “Men as Cautious Feminists” (2005)
I’m reading Calling Cards: Theory and Practice in the Study of Race, Gender, and Culture, edited by Jacqueline Jones Royster and Ann Marie Mann Simpkins, for class. Excellent book! I just read “Men as Cautious Feminists: Reading, Responding, Role-Modeling as a Man” by Patrick Bizzaro. His concern is “What kind of role model should a [...]
Rice: The Rhetoric of Cool (2007)
The Rhetoric of Cool: Composition Studies and New Media by Jeff Rice My review rating: 4 of 5 starsRice’s The Rhetoric of Cool is like a less antagonistic, less carnivalesque version of Geoffrey Sirc’s English Composition as a Happening, but like Sirc, he argues that Composition has missed something. In particular, Rice focuses on 1963 [...]
584: Weekly Position Paper #1: Bohjalian’s Trans-sister Radio
warning: this post has spoilers for the book, not that I think the book is worth the warning, but you may Throughout Trans-sister Radio, representation is a key issue: community members refuse to let Dana represent herself and refuse to acknowledge her identity as a woman; Allison is denied the opportunity to represent herself to [...]
Clough and Loges: “Racist Value Judgments as Objectively False Beliefs” (2008)
In “Racist Value Judgments as Objectively False Beliefs: A Philosophical and Social-Psychological Analysis,” Clough and Loges “argue that racist value judgments express beliefs that are objectively false” (77). Drawing on Donald Davidson and social science, they argue that racist value judgments are beliefs made from empirical evidence, that these judgments can be assessed as true [...]
Kick Ass Blogger Awards
Evidently, I am a Kick Ass Blogger, according to my good friend Eric Stoller. I am honored, and even though the whole idea of blogging awards seems a little silly to me, I’ll play along, for Eric’s sake. And I suppose I’m supposed to do the following: Choose 5 bloggers that you feel are “Kick [...]
the ethics of anger and rhetoric
I’ve become quite obsessive about thinking about anger recently. It’s quite apparent that liberal sensibility doesn’t lend itself to angry rhetoric. Watch how folks react to angry queers or angry women or angry working poor or angry people of color or angry anyone. They only listen if they identify with them — that is, agree with [...]
day one
After a week of orientation last week, which left me drained, and a good, relaxing weekend, today is the first day of the semester! Semester. It’s got such a nice ring to it. After three years on the quarter system, I’m excited for classes that last longer. Yes, I’m a nerd. Of course I am. [...]
Delahoyde and Despenich: “Creating Meat-Eaters” (1994)
In “Creating Meat-Eaters: The Child as Advertising Target,” Delahoyde and Despenich argue that “Paranoia about the growing validity of the vegetarian alternative has prompted meat advertisers to secure their own future through the most susceptible consumers — children” (148). Throughout their essay, they show how meat advertisements have a “vindictive, aggressive characteristic” (136), a “frantic intensity [...]
Heinz and Lee: “Getting Down to the Meat” (1998)
In “Getting Down to the Meat: The Symbolic Construction of Meat Consumption,” Heinz and Lee analyze an archive of “50 texts related to meat consumption” collected over two years (88). Drawing on Marx and others, they show how meat is a fetishized commodity that hides modes of production. Additionally, they use Kenneth Burke’s concept of [...]
confirmation: san fran in march
I just got my acceptance email for my proposal for CCCC in San Fransisco in March. And I just checked the PSU calendar: it’s during Spring Break. Yay! A benefit of semesters is that 4C’s won’t fall during the first week of the term for me again (at least for the next four years).
