Great article. Distancing ourselves from modern media and intereacting with the written and spoken word at the expense of the image is very important. I think the rise in homeschool is a good sign as well.
The lost art of critique, once diligently employed by diligent English and art instructors, remains among the best and most enduring benefits of the excellent K-12 education I received from an independent school district in Texas in the 1970s. Likewise, debate taught me to examine all sides of an issue, helping me determine what I thought best, and preparing me to explain and defend my positions. The classic scientific method learned in Biology taught me that not all hypotheses withstand testing. Then I went to a state college and discovered that critical thinking was not a skill widely pursued by many other public school districts or public universities. Had I my youth to invest again, I would do so at Hillsdale. I'm very grateful for their free online classes. Thank you as well, for this intelligent discourse.
Matthew, great article. I loved it. And yet I question one notion. That the kind of power you are talking about "...derives from control of the mediums of communication and the political and cultural institutions that shape language. And I have two things in mind as I question; 1) a lot of subversive speech arises in the hearts of men in despair - from the street. And that's why it carries power; and 2) there's this other thing of recent vintage "Everyday Subversion
From Joking to Revolting in the German Democratic Republic" (Rhetoric & Public Affairs), Kerry Kathleen Riley, that also speaks of powerful language rising up from those that have been pressed down, fermented, shaken together, and are now spilling over...and then the wall came down. Something to think about. Keep up the great work. We appreciate you.
Great article. Distancing ourselves from modern media and intereacting with the written and spoken word at the expense of the image is very important. I think the rise in homeschool is a good sign as well.
The lost art of critique, once diligently employed by diligent English and art instructors, remains among the best and most enduring benefits of the excellent K-12 education I received from an independent school district in Texas in the 1970s. Likewise, debate taught me to examine all sides of an issue, helping me determine what I thought best, and preparing me to explain and defend my positions. The classic scientific method learned in Biology taught me that not all hypotheses withstand testing. Then I went to a state college and discovered that critical thinking was not a skill widely pursued by many other public school districts or public universities. Had I my youth to invest again, I would do so at Hillsdale. I'm very grateful for their free online classes. Thank you as well, for this intelligent discourse.
Matthew, great article. I loved it. And yet I question one notion. That the kind of power you are talking about "...derives from control of the mediums of communication and the political and cultural institutions that shape language. And I have two things in mind as I question; 1) a lot of subversive speech arises in the hearts of men in despair - from the street. And that's why it carries power; and 2) there's this other thing of recent vintage "Everyday Subversion
From Joking to Revolting in the German Democratic Republic" (Rhetoric & Public Affairs), Kerry Kathleen Riley, that also speaks of powerful language rising up from those that have been pressed down, fermented, shaken together, and are now spilling over...and then the wall came down. Something to think about. Keep up the great work. We appreciate you.