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BIG TEN, PAC-12 PULL PLUG ON FALL FOOTBALL AMID COVID-19 PANDEMIC -ASSOCIATED PRESS HOW THE BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT WENT MAINSTREAM - WASHINGTON POST WILDFIRES RAGING IN CALIFORNIA AND COLORADO -NPR Headlines like these jostle with hundreds of others vying for our attention, all too often leaving us out of breath j... |
It's enough to make us want to throw up our hands and just tune out. But I say: resist that urge! If we have ever needed to put our critical thinking caps on, to take a deep breath, to stop, look , and listen , this is it. For all the junk that clogs our news feeds and inboxes, there's much of real importance to think ... |
To talk about these and other important issues with others, including those whose views differ from yours-and to listen to what they say, respectfully and with an open mind. To research topics and issues you care about as a matter of inquiry, searching for multiple perspectives rather than just for data to support what... |
And of course to write-as a way to explore ideas, to respond to something you've read or heard, to report on a topic you've researched or argue a position you want others to think about. In fact, thinking and writing almost always go hand in hand: as one of my students put it, I really can't think without a pen in my h... |
In the face of so many urgent issues, it seems especially important to hit the pause button long enough to look very closely at these issues in all their immediate complexity. In other words, to resist the urge to rush from one tweet to another, one headline to the next. Instead, we need to slow down to a crawl, and th... |
So turn off your devices, put distractions aside, and practice being still and open to what is happening around you. Take a moment, pause, and look at things from all perspectives. -MELANIA TRUMP Look! We all have ways of seeing the world, some of which are so deeply ingrained that we're not even aware of them. So it's... |
We need to look at ourselves as clearly as possible -our age, race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, political affiliation; where we live, where we work and play, where we go to school, what interests we pursue-and ask how these factors lead us to see and understand the world from a certain pos... |
But it is necessary if we are to recognize and understand-and acknowledge-the role we may be playing in going along with the status quo, and even in perpetuating unjust systems. Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in. -ALAN ALDA Consider the coro... |
How do we understand competing policies and narratives about protecting people's health versus protecting the nation's economy, about how best to combat the virus, about something as simple as whether or not to wear a mask? What are our responsibilities in such a time-to ourselves, our families, and our fellow citizens... |
Such choices, though often unconscious, reveal what we pay attention to and how they affect and limit what we see-and also what we read. So as a reader, you first need to be aware of how your preferences and ways of seeing the world lead you to value (and trust) some things and not others, and to think critically about... |
Most of all, you need to read with an open mind, saying maybe to ideas you're not sure about and attempting to understand them before saying no or rejecting them. It means looking closely at texts you might once have rejected, giving them a chance to make their points to you, and being open to the idea that they just m... |
Where do you get most of your news? Facebook ? Twitter ? Take some time to switch gears and listen for half an hour or so to a news source you don't normally pay attention to-or even resist listening to (MSNBC, say, or Fox News). Pay attention to how you are listening : With sources you like, do you accept what you hea... |
All of us have such patterns of listening, so it's important to get a sense of where your listening biases lie and to keep them from clouding your good judgment. In addition, we all need to listen consciously and critically, doing the kind of listening that rhetoric professor Krista Ratcliffe calls rhetorical listening... |
It means taking their views seriously, listening to really understand what they're saying. We have to listen to other people, so that we and they may lay our stories alongside one another's. -KRISTA RATCLIFFE This is the kind of listening that one student did when he read a series of Facebook posts attacking a politici... |
Rather than joining them and screaming out hate speech, he responded to those posts with a call for listening and understanding. As he listened more carefully to this politician, he said: I began to understand more about why she supports what we don't like. In her positions, I have to applaud her for having a clear and... |
Creating memes to Put her in her own casket is taking it too far! You don't understand what this kind of a violent witch hunt can do to a person. I am certain she means good. Furthermore, social media has its good and bad sides, and learning more about an issue before posting that next hate speech is the best method fo... |
But taking time to at least know where she's coming from may help you understand her politics (even if, like me, you disagree). After understanding her stance, you can proceed to make a critique that's not violent or threatening. -KYLE WHITE This post is a product of sound rhetorical listening, of listening as a way of... |
It's always better to stop and listen. Think! The listening and reading this book advocates, and the writing that grows out of them, go hand in hand with thinking -not just skimming over words and passages, but putting your mind to it and asking questions at every turn. But what does that really mean? It means paying v... |
In other words, it means not just agreeing or going along with it, but challenging it to convince you. I don't write to make readers think like me. I write to make them think. -ANNA QUINDLEN One student who was taking a course examining cultural stereotypes started wondering where his own largely negative impressions o... |
Since he was reading Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis for another course, he decided to make some notes about how Satrapi represents Iran, her home country-and he quickly saw that her perceptions of Iran differed from those he held. This careful reading led him to dig further, looking back to the time of the 1979 Iranian r... |
Carefully and methodically, he read coverage of Iran in national newspapers and found that New York Times reporting from 1979 reveals a narrative emphasizing a solidly unified, radical religious movement that brought the Islamic Republic into reality. Such a narrative laid the foundation for characterizations of Iran b... |
-DREW AGUILAR This analysis led to further reading on Iranian history and especially on the diversity within Iran, a diversity that contradicted the monolithic stereotype he saw reflected in the Times coverage. |
At the end of his investigation, this student had not only learned a great deal about Iran; he had also thought about how narratives about entire countries can build up in our minds almost without our even noticing-and he was able to bring this new understanding to his reading of Satrapi's famous graphic novel as well. |
Best of all, he was well prepared to write essays in both of his classes that drew on the knowledge he had gained and on his growing understanding of how cultural stereotypes get established and reinforced. Act! Taking time to stop, look, listen, think, and write can bring us only so far. Sooner or later we need to rol... |
When 17-year-old Trayvon Brown, who had organized a protest following the death of George Floyd, found a burning cross propped up on the lawn of his home in Monroe, Virginia, he was so shocked and taken aback that the event stopped him in his tracks. What deeply held beliefs could have propelled such a hateful and viol... |
As he looked at the situation in his community and listened to those on both sides of the debate surrounding police violence, Brown came to the conclusion that he had to do something-to lead a second protest. Here's what he said to those who joined him as the protest began: This is your chance, young people. Y'all comp... |
-JOHN LEWIS As news of that second protest march had spread, counterprotesters were there as well, some waving Confederate flags, some armed. Law enforcement officials gathered to try to keep the two sides apart, as those on both sides began shouting angrily at each other. With tensions at a boiling point, Brown took a... |
He was soon joined by the rest of the protesters, who did the same-thus defusing the situation and leading to a peaceful conclusion to the march. Remember the Golden Rule Trayvon Brown's actions call to mind the old Golden Rule, of doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. Showing respect for others and for... |
And doing so is pretty simple, even if sometimes challenging: you demonstrate respect when you take other people's feelings and thoughts seriouly, when you acknowledge them as equals in conversation, when you listen to what they say carefully and with an open mind, and when you are truthful. |
Such respect is especially necessary now, in the summer of 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic takes hundreds of thousands of lives, as millions of Americans are out of work and suffering, and as the deep inequities built into our institutions are more visible and disturbing than ever. Such times call for us to think bey... |
In short, we need to focus less on I and more on we, knowing that in helping-and respecting-others we will in the long run be helping everyone. When I is replaced with we, even illness becomes wellness. -MALCOLM X Respect, in other words, is the very opposite of the kind of trolling, cyberbullying, and harassment that ... |
This is not to say that you cannot disagree with someone; just keep in mind that you can disagree without being disagreeable, much less frightening or disruptive. We all need, then, to stop, look, and listen-to step back and think hard about how we communicate with others, about how well and how respectfully we listen.... |
Write! This kind of engagement will often involve writing. Taking notes and trying to capture in words what you've heard someone say, for example, is a very good way to help understand it better, and to remember it. |
And just think of the role that writing plays in the courses you're taking, from preparing reports to analyzing issues, summarizing and synthesizing information drawn from many sources, developing a script to use in an important oral presentation, and reflecting on the ideas and perspectives of others-all writing. |
And don't be surprised if you find that as you write, your thinking gets sharper, your ideas more focused, your message more clear: you are, in fact, writing yourself into the role of a college student. Then, as you move toward your major, absorbing its vocabulary and methods and style, you are writing yourself into th... |
M. FORSTER And then there's the role that writing plays well beyond the classroom. Think about posters and signs proclaiming No Justice, No Peace! Make America Great Again! I Can't Breathe! Vote!-these are all words, yes, but they are actions as well. Think about the writing you do on social media- Instagram, Facebook ... |
Podcasts and YouTube videos-these allow you to put the power of your spoken voice and your personality to work in getting your messages across. No matter what kinds of writing you do, you'll be aiming to reach particular audiences in particular contexts and for particular reasons. That means you'll be listening and thi... |
Thus moving purposely from listening to thinking, and from thinking to writing, is a kind of dance that good communication calls for-and the more we practice that dance, the better we will get. Stopping, looking, listening, thinking, taking action. None of the steps in this dance are easy or simple, especially in times... |
We won't know about those differences, however, without being open to them, without opening ourselves to the thoughts and ideas and beliefs of others. This book is one attempt to begin and sustain such conversations. So-let's talk! REFLECT! |
Fox News host Laura Ingraham once famously criticized LeBron James for commenting on political issues, saying that he should shut up and dribble. Her comment got instant blowback from many, including James and other athletes, who posted on social media with the hashtag #wewillnotshutupanddribble. |
Ingraham and James are coming from completely different places in terms of their personal beliefs and ideologies, but how might this exchange have gone differently had they at least attempted a face-to-face conversation-and first taken time to stop, look, listen, and think? PART ONE RHETORIC: JOIN THE CONVERSATION 1. L... |
Developing Academic Habits of Mind PART 1 RHETORIC / JOIN THE CONVERSATION Chapter 1 Listening LISTENING TO OTHERS, ESPECIALLY THOSE WITH WHOM WE DISAGREE, TESTS OUR OWN IDEAS AND BELIEFS. IT FORCES US TO RECOGNIZE, WITH HUMILITY, THAT WE DON'T HAVE A MONOPOLY ON THE TRUTH. -JANET YELLEN IF YOU WANT TO BE LISTENED TO, ... |
Talking is (at least) a two-way street: when you talk, you're talking to someone, and you want that someone to listen, to hear what you're saying, whether it's calling a clinic to make a doctor's appointment or talking confidentially with your best friend about whether to break off a relationship. You want-and sometime... |
Elizabeth MacGregor certainly has such memories. As the first person in her family-and one of only two students in her high school graduating class-to go to college, she remembers feeling insecure when she first arrived at college. Do I really belong here? she wondered. Faced with some daunting assignments in the first... |
That person was sympathetic, but he was checking email and was somewhat distracted, responding don't worry; you'll be fine. She also went to her history instructor's office hours, hoping to get some guidance for doing the first assignment. He merely encouraged her to start on the assignment early and wished her luck; h... |
Reflecting on these experiences two years later, MacGregor said, They were well meaning, but they just weren't listening to me. Or you may be part of a group that feels ignored or not listened to. |
After the 2018 shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, when a group of predominantly white students started a protest that went viral and led to a huge rally against gun violence, a march for our lives, students of color at that school pointed out that they'd been talking persistently ab... |
Tyah-Amoy Roberts made this point, saying that students of color had never seen this kind of support and that they didn't feel as if their voices were valued as much as those of our white counterparts. In other words, they were speaking up-but no one was listening. Students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. List... |
During the 2019 NBA finals, Draymond Green-known for his constant chatter on and off the court-decided he'd been doing too much talking and not enough listening. In particular, he decided to listen to his mother and his fiance, both of whom told him he needed to learn some self-discipline and especially to stop screami... |
I've really been focused and locked in on that, and I realized I got to a point where I was doing more crying than playing. I'm sure it was disgusting to watch, because I felt disgusting playing that way. -DRAYMOND GREEN Draymond Green, frustrated by getting a tech for yelling. Sometimes we all need to take a good look... |
Certainly, careful listening has been in short supply in the last few years, as the divisions in our society have grown deeper and more entrenched and as many people have retreated into their own bubbles or echo chambers where they hear only what they already agree with-and have stopped listening to anyone else. |
Yet if we don't learn to listen openly and carefully to one another, including those whose views differ from our own, we can't hope to gain understanding and insight into their motivations, hopes, and goals. So that's why this book opens with a chapter calling on you to start by listening and calling on all of us to pa... |
Think of the times when you have most needed someone to listen-openly and carefully and intently-to something you needed to say: when you were talking through a serious conflict with a family member, for instance, or when you were trying to explain to a professor something you didn't understand about a complex topic. O... |
And in return, you'll want to reciprocate, listening-really listening-to what others are saying. At times you may be tempted to jump into a conversation and say what you think; but think again: it's often much more effective to find out what others think before doing so. We have two ears and one mouth so we can listen ... |
In order to do so, you'll need to listen to what they say-and even to repeat what they say as a way of making sure you've understood before responding with what you want to say. This kind of listening is what rhetorician Krista Ratcliffe dubs RHETORICAL LISTENING -opening yourself to the thoughts of others and making t... |
It means paying attention to what others say as a way of establishing good will and acknowledging the importance of their views. And yes, it means taking seriously and engaging with views that differ, sometimes radically, from your own. See p. 31 for advice on getting to know people different from you. |
Rhetorical listening is what middle school teacher Julia Blount asked for in a Facebook post following the 2015 riots in Baltimore after the death of Freddie Gray, who suffered fatal spinal injuries while in police custody: Every comment or post I have read today voicing some version of disdain for the people of Baltim... |
I just need you to listen. . . . -JULIA BLOUNT, Dear White Facebook Friends: I Need You to Respect What Black America Is Feeling Right Now. Blount went on to call for her friends to expose themselves to unfamiliar perspectives, and to engage in conversation-in other words, to listen rhetorically. Learning to listen thi... |
There aren't any magic bullets for becoming a good listener, but here are some tips that should put you on your way to achieving that goal. Listen with an open mind and without an agenda. Listen to learn, and with the goal of understanding. Let others speak before stating your own opinions or asking questions. And be s... |
Ask questions that are open-ended (What do you think we should do?) or that clarify, not challenge (Are you saying-? rather than Don't you think-?). Turn off your phone , and don't be checking email. Let the other person have your full attention. Listen with empathy to try to see things from the other person's point of... |
Be on the lookout for COMMON GROUND , things you can agree on: I can see where you're coming from. Pay attention to body language and TONE of voice-yours and theirs. These can give you insight into the message the other person is trying to send. And maintain a respectful tone and posture yourself: lean in, nod your h... |
Offer affirmation when possible: Good point; I hadn't thought of that. Make it a point to listen to people whose views differ from yours -and whenever possible, talk with them in person. It's much harder to be dismissive (or mean-spirited, as so often happens online) when you're speaking face-to-face. What's listenin... |
That's a good question, and it has a good answer: whatever you're writing, you need to start by doing your homework-reading up on your topic, doing research, maybe conducting some interviews. That means listening. Writing doesn't begin when you sit down to write. It's a way of being in the world, and its essence is pay... |
In fact, when it comes to academic writing, what you write will usually respond to something that others have already said about your topic: they say this, you think that. So after introducing your topic, one effective way to proceed is to SUMMARIZE , QUOTE , or PARAPHRASE what other credible sources have said about yo... |
So writing is actually a way of participating in a larger conversation, of engaging with the ideas of others. When you quote or summarize or paraphrase sources, you're weaving their words or ideas in with yours-and hopefully responding to them in some way. You can't do that unless you've listened closely to those words... |
And if you read rhetorically, not just to absorb information but also to question and respond to the text, you are entering into a dialogue with the author. That too starts with listening. Listening to views that differ from yours Fortunately, there are now a number of organizations that provide guidance for listening ... |
-TREVOR NOAH One such organization is the Listen First Project, founded by Pearce Godwin with the goal of mend[ing] the frayed fabric of America by bridging divides one conversation at a time. Listen First has launched the National Conversation Project, which helps people start new conversations, ones dedicated to movi... |
In 2018, hundreds of schools, libraries, faith communities, and other groups hosted conversations grounded in a commitment to listen first to understand.' Go to listenfirstproject.org or www.nationalconversationproject.org if you're interested in joining or hosting such a conversation. A Listen First poster at a rally... |
I hope you'll take the advice in this chapter to heart, seeking to understand those with whom you may disagree, and learning to become a better listener as you do. REFLECT! Think of a time when you felt you were being ignored, or not listened to. Why were others not listening-or not listening well enough? Did you try t... |
What would you do differently if you could go back and re-live that encounter? Glossary RHETORICAL LISTENING, 7-11 A way of listening that is open-minded, accepting, and respectful-of listening to what others say as a way of understanding their PERSPECTIVES and demonstrating respect for their views. COMMON GROUND, 9, 3... |
Writers build common ground with AUDIENCES by acknowledging their points of view, seeking areas of compromise, and using language that includes, rather than excludes, those they aim to reach. TONE, 27, 96 The way a writer's or speaker's STANCE is reflected in the text. SUMMARIZE To use your own words and sentence struc... |
See PATCHWRITING QUOTE, 285-90 To cite someone else's words exactly as they were said or written. Quotation is most effective when the wording is worth repeating or makes a point so well that no rewording will do it justice or when you want to cite someone's exact words. Quotations in academic writing need to be acknow... |
Paraphrasing is generally called for when you want to include the details of a passage but do not need to QUOTE it word for word. Paraphrasing a source in academic writing requires DOCUMENTATION . See also PATCHWRITING PART 1 RHETORIC / JOIN THE CONVERSATION Chapter 2 Thinking Rhetorically THE ONLY REAL ALTERNATIVE TO ... |
-ICE CUBE Wayne Booth made the above statement at a conference of writing teachers held only months after 9/11, and it quickly drew a range of responses. Just what did Booth mean by this stark statement? How could rhetoric-usually thought of as the art, theory, and practice of persuasion-act as a counter to war? |
A noted critic and scholar, Booth explored these questions throughout his long career, identifying rhetoric as an ethical art that begins with intense listening and that searches for mutual understanding and common ground as alternatives to violence and war. Put another way, two of the most potent tools we have for per... |
In the years since 9/11, Booth's words have echoed again and again as warfare continues to erupt in Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. And in the United States, people have protested the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other Black people at the hands of police. Protesters have held up signs saying I ... |
And after way too many other such killings, protesters have taken to social media as well, using similarly dramatic and memorable statements as rhetorical strategies that have captured and held the attention of people around the world. Aerial view of Fulton Street in Brooklyn, New York. |
Rhetoric as an ethical art Note that while Booth speaks of rhetoric as an ethical art (based on good intentions), rhetoric can also be used for unethical purposes (with bad or evil intent)-as Hitler and other dictators have done. In fact, rhetoric used in unethical ways can itself lead to violence. |
That's why the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle cautioned that we need to understand rhetoric both to communicate our own ethical messages and to be able to recognize and resist unethical messages that others attempt to use against us. That's also why this book defines rhetoric as the practice of ETHICAL communicati... |
One short answer: by developing habits of mind that begin with listening and searching for understanding before deciding what you yourself think, and by thinking hard about your own beliefs before trying to persuade others to listen to and act on what you say. In other words, by learning to THINK RHETORICALLY . Learnin... |
After all, you'll need to communicate successfully with others in order to get things done in a responsible and ethical way. On the job, you and your coworkers might do this kind of thinking to revise a shift schedule so that every worker is treated fairly and no one is required to work double shifts. Or in your colleg... |
When a group of college students became aware of how little the temporary workers on their campus were paid, for example, they met with the workers and listened to gather information about the situation. They then mounted a campaign using flyers, social media, speeches, and sit-ins-in other words, using the available m... |
Note that these students worked together, both with the workers and with one another. After all, none of us can manage such actions all by ourselves; we need to engage in conversation with others and listen hard to what they say. Perhaps that's what philosopher Kenneth Burke had in mind when he created his famous parlo... |
When you arrive, others have long preceded you, and they are engaged in a heated discussion, a discussion too heated for them to pause and tell you exactly what it is about. . . . You listen for a while, until you decide that you have caught the tenor of the argument; then you put in your oar. -KENNETH BURKE In this pa... |
Yet instead of butting in or trying too quickly to get in on the conversation, we listen closely until we catch on to what people are saying. And then we join in, using language and rhetoric carefully to engage with others as we add our own voices to the conversation. |
This book aims to teach you to think rhetorically: To listen to others carefully and respectfully To try to understand what they think, and why-and then to think hard about your own beliefs and where they come from To do these things before deciding what you yourself think and trying to persuade others to listen to ... |
It means paying attention to what others say before and even as a way of making your own contributions to a conversation. More than that, it means being open to the thoughts of others and making the effort not only to hear their words but also to take those words in and fully understand what they are saying. It means p... |
And most of all, it means engaging with views that differ from your own-and being open to what they say. The simple act of paying attention can take you a long way. -KEANU REEVES When you enter any conversation, whether at school, at work, or with friends, take the time to understand what's being said rather than rushi... |
Developing such habits of mind will be useful to you almost every day, whether you're participating in a class discussion, negotiating with friends over what movie to see, or thinking about a local ballot issue to decide how you'll vote. In each case, thinking rhetorically means being flexible, determined to seek out v... |
In ancient Rome, the great Roman statesman and orator Cicero argued that considering alternative POINTS OF VIEW and COUNTERARGUMENTS was key to making a successful argument, and it is just as important today. Even when you disagree with a point of view-perhaps especially when you disagree with it-force yourself to see ... |
Say you're skeptical that hydrogen fuel will be the solution to climate change, for example: don't reject the idea until you've thought hard about what those in favor of it say and carefully considered other possible solutions. REFLECT! |
Blogger Sean Blanda warns that many of us gravitate on social media to those who think like we do, which often leads to the belief that we are right and that those with other worldviews are dumb. He argues that we need to make an honest effort to understand those who are not like us and to remember that we might be wro... |
Consider the larger context Thinking hard about the views of others also means considering the larger CONTEXT and how it shapes what they're saying. When you think rhetorically, you may need to do some research, to investigate whether there are any historical, political, or cultural factors that might account for where... |
In addition, you would look at the issue in a larger context by considering what the US Constitution says about gun ownership and how it's been interpreted over time, thinking about the broader political agendas of both those who advocate for and those who oppose stricter gun control, asking what the economic ramificat... |
In short, you would try to see the issue from as many different perspectives and in as broad a context as possible before formulating your own stance. And in writing about this issue, you'll draw on these sources-what others have said about the issue-to support your own position and to help you consider other positions... |
Examining all points of view on any issue will involve some tough thinking about your own STANCE -literally, where you yourself are coming from-and why you think as you do. Such thinking can help you define your stance or perhaps even lead you to change your mind; in either case, you stand to gain. |
Just as you need to think hard about the motivations of others, it's important to examine what's motivating you, asking yourself what influences in your life lead you to think as you do or to take certain positions. Ibram X. Kendi offers an example. When a student from Ghana gave a monologue in class detailing negative... |
After class, however, the discussion continued, with Kendi asking the student if he could name some racist ideas the British say about Ghanaians. The student hesitated, but then came up with a list of such ideas, which he vehemently agreed were not true. Then Kendi returned to the student's earlier statements about Bla... |
And where did he think those people get their ideas about Black Americans? Probably American Whites, the student said. His mind seemed open, so I jumped on in. So if African Americans went to Ghana, consumed British racist ideas about Ghanaians, and started expressing those ideas to Ghanaians . . . What would you think... |
Thanks, Prof. -IBRAM X. KENDI, How to Be an Antiracist Examining your own stance and motivation is equally important outside the classroom. Suppose you're urging fellow members of a campus group to lobby for a rigorous set of procedures to deal with accusations of sexual harassment. On one level, you're alarmed by the ... |
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