Like many students, I started to search for the courses with the clearest, most rigid grading criteria. “Writing” became a euphemism in my experience for…
Comments closedCategory: Politics
Political campaigns, elections, and legislative debates.
Democracy in Chains by Historian Nancy MacLean was worthy of a few online posts earlier this summer, when I first read a loaned copy and was…
Comments closedOne of the fallacies we teach students is the “association” fallacy. Simply because I am related to a criminal or a professor does not make…
Comments closedIf you do not listen to a community, you cannot learn how to persuade its members. Apparently, it is impossible for some people to listen…
Comments closedI understand the complaints about Hillary Clinton and her loss to Donald Trump. But here’s a question everyone overlooks: How did Trump win? Trump won,…
Comments closedWe know that emotional appeals work. Pathos trumps logos and ethos. That’s reality. The ancient rhetoricians knew this. Behavioral economists know this. It’s clear to…
Comments closedMemes simply purify our social circles; they are partisanship intensifiers. It is a shame, but this is how humans create their communities. The internet allows…
Comments closedPolitical leaders in the United States in both major political parties are once again using “Judeo-Christian values” or “Abrahamic values” to argue about social welfare…
Comments closedMy colleagues in rhetoric study logical fallacies and reasoning. Yet, over the years many of them have dismissed the extreme hyperbole of fellow elites on…
Comments closedDonald Trump might win tomorrow’s presidential election. It’s going to be closer than pundits have admitted. The data are not as overwhelming for Hillary Clinton as…
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