Category Archives: rhetoric

A Teacher’s Response to Wayne LaPierre and the NRA

politics, rhetoric, teaching 2012.12.21 Sean Shannon Leave a comment

NRA Newtown response: National program to place armed security in schools (Yahoo! News) One of the most vivid memories of my teaching career came a few days before I taught my first composition class as a graduate assistant at the University of Toledo. I’d been a research assistant my first year, but for some reason I was put in the meeting with the second-year TAs before the start of the term despite my lack of practical teaching experience. We brought our planned syllabi to the…

Flip the Michigan Republican Table

politics, rhetoric 2012.12.16 Sean Shannon Leave a comment

Michigan right-to-work law viewed as domino redefining Rust Belt (Bloomberg News) Michigan Emergency Manager Bill Passed By State Senate (Huffington Post) I’ve never been one to use emoticons all that much, probably because I’m a person of words and I prefer to use those to describe how I’m feeling about something. That said, I can appreciate a good emoticon, and one of my favourite is the table-flipping Japanese emoticon (or “emoji”). When used in the right places it can make me laugh, and it’s one…

.musecast Episode 10: Starting the Gun Talk

musecast, politics, rhetoric 2012.12.15 Sean Shannon Leave a comment

Now that the term is over I should be able to get back to biweekly .musecasts at least for the next little while. I’d planned to do a different topic for today, but after the tragic events in Connecticut yesterday I felt compelled to discuss them, particularly my frustration at how the far right of this country does everything in their power to prevent us from even starting to discuss things they don’t want questioned. I realize a lot of you are burnt out on…

Don’t Know the Meaning of Defeat

politics, rhetoric 2012.12.01 Sean Shannon Leave a comment

Why the GOP refuses to make a counter offer in fiscal cliff negotiations (Daily Kos) The past few weeks it seems like I’ve been getting frustrated more easily than usual. Cold weather never brightens my mood, and perhaps the stress of my teaching load ballooning last October is finally taking its toll on me, but I think a good part of the blame can be laid on the Republican party and their reaction to last month’s elections. At times I have to hold myself back…

Strike Now

politics, rhetoric 2012.11.22 Sean Shannon Leave a comment

Hostess to Pay $1.75 Million in Executive Bonuses After Blaming Unions for Bankruptcy (thinkprogress.org) Black Friday’s Labor Strike May Hit Wal-Mart Where It Hurts (AOL DailyFinance) It can be quite bracing to see all the attention paid by most Americans to the Hostess bankruptcy compared to, say, the recent spate of bombings in the Middle East. Perhaps it would be more tolerable if these people were focused on the political issues surrounding the Hostess bankruptcy, but let’s face it; most people are just worried about…