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This presentation at the Classical Association of New England Spring Meeting will explore the presence of figurae rhetoricae in various forms of media and literature. The speaker, DeHoratius, will discuss examples and analyze their impact on communication. Email: edehoratius@alumni.duke.edu.
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Perk Up Your Ears: Figurae rhetoricae sunt ubique! Ed DeHoratius Wayland High School, Wayland, MA Classical Association of New England Spring Meeting, Connecticut College March 14, 2008 edehoratius@alumni.duke.edu
Now Paul is a real estate novelist Who never had time for a wife And he's talking with Davy, who's still in the Navy And probably will be for life And the waitress is practicing politics As the businessmen slowly get stoned Yes they're sharing a drink they call loneliness but it's better than drinking alone Sing us a song you're the piano man Sing us a song tonight Well we're all in the mood for a melody And you've got us feeling alright It's a pretty good crowd for a Saturday And the manager gives me a smile 'Cause he knows that it's me they've been coming to see To forget about life for a while And the piano sounds like a carnival And the microphone smells like a beer And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar And say "Man what are you doing here?" Sing us a song you're the piano man Sing us a song tonight Well we're all in the mood for a melody And you've got us feeling alright.` Billy Joel, “Piano Man” It's nine o'clock on a Saturday The regular crowd shuffles in There's an old man sitting next to me Making love to his tonic and gin He says, "Son can you play me a memory I'm not really sure how it goes But it's sad and it's sweet And I knew it complete When I wore a younger man's clothes" Sing us a song you're the piano man Sing us a song tonight Well we're all in the mood for a melody And you've got us feeling alright Now John at the bar is a friend of mine He gets me my drinks for free And he's quick with a joke or to light up your smoke But there's someplace that he'd rather be He says, "Bill, I believe this is killing me" As a smile ran away from his face "Well, I'm sure that I could be a movie star If I could get out of this place"
Indigo Girls, “Closer to Fine” I stopped by the bar at 3 a.m. to seek solace in a bottle or possibly a friend, and I woke up with a headache like my head against a board, twice as cloudy as I'd been the night before, and I went in seeking clarity. I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains, I looked to the children, I drank from the fountains. Yeah, we go to the doctor, we go to the mountains, we look to the children, we drink from the fountains. Yeah, we go to the bible, we go through the workout, we read up on revival and we stand up for the lookout. There's more than one answer to these questions, pointing me in a crooked line. The less I seek my source for some definitive, (the less i seek my source) the closer I am to fine, the closer I am to fine, the closer I am to fine. I'm trying to tell you something about my life, maybe give me insight between black and white, and the best thing you've ever done for me is to help me take my life less seriously. It's only life after all. Yeah Well, darkness has a hunger that's insatiable and lightness has a call that's hard to hear. I wrap my fear around me like a blanket I sailed my ship of safety till I sank it. I'm crawling on your shores. I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains, I looked to the children, I drank from the fountains. There's more than one answer to these questions, pointing me in a crooked line, and the less I seek my source for some definitive, (the less I seek my source) the closer I am to fine, the closer I am to fine. And I went to see the doctor of philosophy with a poster of Rasputin and a beard down to his knee. He never did marry or see a b-grade movie, He graded my performance, he said he could see through me. I spent four years prostrate to the higher mind, got my paper, and I was free.
Hey there Delilah • I've got so much left to say • If every simple song I wrote to you • Would take your breath away • I'd write it all • Even more in love with me you'd fall • We'd have it all • Oh it's what you do to me [repeat] • A thousand miles seems pretty far • But they've got planes and trains and cars • I'd walk to you if I had no other way • Our friends would all make fun of us • and we'll just laugh along because we know • That none of them have felt this way • Delilah I can promise you • That by the time we get through • The world will never ever be the same • And you're to blame • Hey there Delilah • You be good and don't you miss me • Two more years and you'll be done with school • And I'll be making history like I do • You know it's all because of you • We can do whatever we want to • Hey there Delilah here's to you • This ones for you • Oh it's what you do to me [repeat] • What you do to me. Plain White T’s, “Hey There, Delilah” Hey there Delilah What's it like in New York City? I'm a thousand miles away But girl tonight you look so pretty Yes you do Time Square can't shine as bright as you I swear it's true Hey there Delilah Don't you worry about the distance I'm right there if you get lonely Give this song another listen Close your eyes Listen to my voice it's my disguise I'm by your side Oh it's what you do to me [repeat] What you do to me Hey there Delilah I know times are getting hard But just believe me girl Someday I'll pay the bills with this guitar We'll have it good We'll have the life we knew we would My word is good
The Premise • Figures of speech are fossilized by glossaries because of the obsolescence of sources used to illustrate them. • Most glossaries focus on rote memorization of a definition rather than an understanding of the rhetorical effect of a figure. • If students don’t care about, recognize, or understand the sources used to illustrate figures, they won’t care about understanding them.
The Solution • Present students with modern, current, and recognizable examples of figures of speech to illustrate both the relevance of rhetorical figures and the effect of their use. • Have students identify their own figures of speech to personalize the process and have them invest themselves in it. • Use digital technology to make more real and more vivid the rhetorical effect of figures.
The Process • Identify Figures • Identify Sources • Locate Sources • Acquire Sources • Organize Sources • Present Sources
A Technology Inventory • The ability to navigate the Internet, either by entering a web address or by using a search engine. • The ability to download audio and/or video clips from the Internet to your computer. • The ability to import or ‘rip’ a CD into your computer. • The ability to use an audio editing and/or recording application. • The ability to burn an audio CD. • The ability to use buttons and/or to insert sound clips into a digital presentation or other format.
Sources [Where to find the figures?]
Ephemera • The best figures are the ones you (and potentially your students) stumble upon. • These can be difficult to acquire for use in class, but are perhaps easier to find than expected. • TV Shows • Daily Show • Seinfeld • Commercials • Geico • Cadillac • Miller Lite • Sam Adams
Software [How to extract clips / the figures?]
Audacity: [http://audacity.sourceforge.net] • A free audio editing program that works on Macs or PCs • Easy to use: import files, highlight clip (the way you would highlight text in a word processor), copy clip, import as an .mp3 • Can’t import some file formats • Importing large files (speeches) can take a while
• A Mac-only audio program. • Has been updated from its original incarnation (WireTap Pro). • The update appears to be more complex (and expensive) than I would want. • Very easy to use. • Will record anything that comes through your Mac speakers as an .mp3 file. • Play a song through iTunes, play a TV clip from the Internet, play a movie through your Mac DVD player, and record just the figure that you want. WireTap Studio:[http://www.ambrosiasoftware.com]
What to do now? [How to store and organize figures?]
Storage • Each Figure has a prefix that identifies what figure it illustrates, followed by some sense of the source as a file name. • Not all Figures will / should make it to the classroom. • An additional folder (or folders) subdivides into CD tracks or other potential uses. • [PS: An audio CD can only have 99 tracks, however long the the total length of the tracks is.]
Output [How to present figures / integrate them into class?]
Output Options • Straight Audio • CD • Integrated Audio • PowerPoint Review • Simple Written • Quiz using transcribed figures • Developed Written • Project / paper involving both figures and analysis
Assessing Clips • Once you have clips, you have to assess to what extent they will be useful in class: • Length • Intelligibility • Context / Lead-in • Sound quality (especially for old speeches) • Force / Effectiveness of Figure
Graded Approach to Clips • Play clips for class. • Have layers of assistance. • Recite yourself the clip. • Transcribe and show the transcription of the clip. • Could structure a point system that reflects at what level students identified the figure. • 3 points for audio alone • 2 points for recitation • 1 point for transcription
PowerPoint • A menu-based approach provides a more focused look at specific features. • Such an approach requires an understanding of PowerPoint buttons, and the ability to insert sound files. • Figure of Speech PowerPoint
2 foci: 1. Rhetorical analysis of an existing piece of rhetoric 2. The identification of rhetorical figures in pop culture / students’ surrounding world 2 assignments 1. Write a 3-5 page paper that analyzes the rhetoric of a speech of their choice 2. Submit 5 figures of speech found in pop culture; figures scored on a sliding scale of difficulty of figure and source Latin 3 Rhetoric Project
Thank you! Ed DeHoratius edehoratius@alumni.duke.edu
