Author Archives: Todd Battistelli
I can’t quit paper
As both student and teacher, I have used a lot of digital tools. During my graduate studies at the University of Texas, I worked at the Digital Writing and Research Lab. I’ve been responding to student writing in digital-only format … Continue reading
Posted in Methods, Stationery, Teaching
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Think of the Children, Avoid the Issue
People who run afoul of the Constitution’s Establishment Clause say the strangest things in defense of their violations. Instead of admitting their error, they try to rationalize it, often painting defenders of the Constitution as the real wrongdoers. I know … Continue reading
Buyer Beware, Rhetor Beware
My mobile phone service provider Ting tweeted about an endorsement they received on reddit recently. Commericial rhetoric often serves as classroom fodder for analysis of manipulative persuasive techniques, but the reddit discussion demonstrates some different problems that arise in a context … Continue reading
Posted in Interaction, Online Discourse, Teaching
Tagged advertising, argumentation, interaction, rhetorical analysis, teaching
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The Courage of Pseudonymous Conviction
Anonymous speech poses a challenge to defining responsible civic discourse. The New Rhetoric provides one model of responsibility in noting that “since rhetorical proof is never a completely necessary proof, … thinking [people] who give [their] adherence to the conclusions … Continue reading
Begging Off The Question By Changing It
It seems at times that people will do anything they can to avoid engaging in an extended back-and-forth conversation. Obviously we all would like to frame our positions in the most favorable light, but when we go beyond framing to … Continue reading
Posted in Civic Rhetoric, Interaction, Uncategorized
Tagged civic rhetoric, interaction, manipulation, Paul Ryan, politics
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The Uses and Abuses of Dyslogistic Phrasing
Laura Sneddon at comicbookGRRRL offers a moving condemnation of DC Comics’ decision to hire Orson Scott Card to write a Superman story. I couldn’t agree more with her conclusion: When the greatest hero of all is written by someone like … Continue reading
Posted in Civic Rhetoric
Tagged accuracy, civic rhetoric, comics, connotation, glen weldon, orson scott card
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Lighting A Lamp And Cursing The Darkness
Religion Professor Stephen Prothero’s essay on the place of religion in politics exemplifies the muddled terminology that often accompanies state-church separation discussions that I consider in my research. Prothero’s argument also interests me for another reason. In advocating for the … Continue reading
Posted in Civic Rhetoric, State-Church Separation, Uncategorized
Tagged Cicero, civic rhetoric, religion, rhetoric, state-church separation
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Visualizing Astroturf
Via Adam Lee’s Daylight Atheism, I came across Geoff Ó Laoidhléis interesting use of word frequency analysis to uncover evidence of an astroturfed anti-abortion group. The group Pro Life Atheists claims to represent atheists opposed to legal abortion. However, Laoidhléis’ analysis … Continue reading
Posted in Online Discourse, Pedagogy, Social Media, Visualization
Tagged discourse analysis, pedagogy, twitter, visualization, word clouds
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Terrorism is in the Eye of the Property Holder
Some members of the Texas legislature object to a curriculum program asks students to think about the Boston Tea Party as a terrorist act. According to an article in the Austin American-Statesman by Ben Kamisar, “The lesson asked the teacher … Continue reading
Posted in Antilogy, Civic Rhetoric
Tagged antilogy, civic rhetoric, education, rhetoric
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Stasis in the State of the State
Texas Governor Perry gave his State of the State address yesterday. Our local NPR affiliate KUT included a couple quotes in its report that caught my attention, highlighting the difficulty people have converging on the same question in political rhetoric. … Continue reading
