Jan 9, 2008
Posted | 5 comments
In case you weren’t watching, reading or listening - or, more admirably, just didn’t care about the day-to-day manufactured kerfuffles in this two-year gestation period for Presidential nominees - Republican Mike Huckabee caused waves with an attack ad that he made, decided not to distribute and screened to the press corp anyway.
Here’s a quick recap:
(CBS/AP) Mike Huckabee said Monday he wouldn’t run a TV ad he’d prepared blistering Republican rival Mitt Romney as dishonest. Then he showed it to a room packed with reporters and cameramen.
Huckabee, who has sharply intensified his criticism of the former Massachusetts governor in recent days, tried to reclaim the high road in the midst of a news conference three days before Iowa’s presidential caucuses. He told reporters the event had been called to announce the hard-hitting new ad but he had changed his mind about running it on TV.
So, he made the ad and then showed the ad to show that he wouldn’t show the ad. Enemies cried foul, supporters pointed to his choice of the high-but-not-THAT-high road and pundits raised eyebrows. And, for 48 hours, it dominated political discussion from the networks to the blogosphere [though in the political dead zone that is the days leading up to the New Year, that's not remarkable].
But this is an education blog, not a political blog, so the cost/benefit analysis of Huckabee’s strategic move is of no interest to me here. I want to talk about paralipsis.
Every news-consuming American citizen should know about paralipsis by way of this story. Unfortunately, the undereducated media didn’t tell you. You either knew paralipsis before Huckabee’s press conference or you didn’t - and that didn’t change in the two days after.
Paralipsis is, in short, making a point by saying you won’t make the point. We use it all the time when we say, “Not to mention…” We say that we aren’t going to mention it but we mention it anyway. That’s paralipsis.
And paralipsis is exactly what Huckabee did with his Romney attack ad - it’s as low-hanging a rhetorical fruit as one might find. The media, however, didn’t use the word once in all the millions of words printed in the week after Huckabee’s press conference. Google News and Google Blogs, both fine trackers of what’s said electronically, return 0 results for “paralipsis” pertaining to Mike Huckabee in the last 30 days. The only real result that even addresses the rhetorical device is “What our lawyers won’t let us say” by the Christian Science Monitor’s Ruth Walker.
One can’t seem to invoke the classics or their literary/rhetorical devices without enduring charge upon charge of snobbery. Or, if one is lucky, one will be treated to the banal babbling of the progressive crusader who decries the worship of the Dead White Men. They’re right, though - most of those classical figures are indeed dead.
I learned of paralipsis at 15 while we read Cicero’s Cataline Orations in Latin 3. Catiline, having been charged with a conspiracy to undermine the Roman Republic, was famously taken to task by Cicero in the Orations. He besmirched Catiline, rightly and truthfully, when he said:
“I pass by, Catiline, what even your friends say, that you are an adulterer.”
Mike Huckabee, meet Cicero. Politicos, meet the high school education you somehow managed to avoid.
The point? That such a small, seminal and common rhetorical construct was introduced in a 10th grade New York State Regents course at an unremarkable rural public school. I didn’t pore over books in the penthouse of the Ivory Tower; it was more like reading the graffiti on a bathroom wall. There was nothing remotely unique about that education, yet we still managed to hit a topic like paralipsis that has shown itself about 5 times a day since.
There are two possible explanations - and likely a combination of both - that lead to the absence of this knowledge in news articles:
1. The media is, as a whole, undereducated. They themselves don’t know these things;
2. The media thinks that you’re too dumb and disinterested to appreciate them.
I asked a few news-reading college graduates if they knew the term for that “not to mention” device. None did. When I told them it was called paralipsis, their collective reaction was, “There’s a word for that? Huh.” Trivia, possibly, but they found it interesting.
This is just a drop in the bucket of problems with the media - and there are probably bigger fish to fry. It is, however, a fair indictment not just of the media’s lack of knowledge, but also of how they think of us: a disinterested bunch satisfied by a quick glimpse at a current event that includes not a bit of useful knowledge.
When President Bush so famously stated that he didn’t read newspapers, it likely didn’t occur to most people how little he was missing.
UPDATE at 1.09.08, 3.30pm:
Mike Edwards, a professor of English, noticed too. On Vitia.org he writes:
Mr. Huckabee, it would seem, knows his pseudo-Cicero, although I’m not quite as inclined as the New York Times is to call his recent performance in telling reporters that he would not air his negative ad about Mr. Romney (and then showing them the ad he wouldn’t air) “remarkable,†unless it’s in his savvy deployment of paralipsis / occultatio / praeteritio by proxy.
A word of warning to anyone in the media: the discussion about the most fitting term for Huckabee’s action just might make your head explode.
Prof. Edwards also has two adorable cats, one of which is appropriately named after a rhetorical device [I assume it's because of the colors].
Jan 7, 2008
Posted | 10 comments
I thought I’d ease into that workout called content by spreading a meme tossed my way by Going to the Mat.
First, a few words about that site - if you haven’t added it to your reader or bookmarked it, get on it. Going to the Mat is one of the most prolific blogs I’ve read. It was one of the first education-related blogs I started reading and the valuable content has never dried up. It’s tough to pump out worthwhile content day after day, but Going to the Mat’s unique blend of education, law and politics - all delivered by a smart, broadly-educated writer - make it one of my first reads of the day.
And now for the meme rules:
- Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
- Share 7 random and or weird things about yourself.
- Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
- Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
Though I can’t stand this notion of “random,” I’ll do what I can to shake it up.
1. Despite listening primarily to Guns ‘n Roses, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Hank Williams, Jr. and 1950s-1970s country music, I find the Backstreet Boys’ “Incomplete” a wonderful song.
2. My cat, Princess Pia, The Minion of Evil, has logged over 10,000 travel miles. She’s from Victoria, British Columbia and has made countless car trips from Boston to Cooperstown. Though a fine Road Warrior, she loses most of her battles on Kittenwar.
3. I currently have over 20 flavors of coffee. Today I drank Jack Daniel’s Oak Barrel Roast. It’s bold/robust but not overpowering.
4. Lunch was a half-pound of bacon covered with chipotle cheddar cheese. Simple, quick, crispy, awesome, but likely not healthy.
5. I’m currently reading Elizabeth Kantor’s “Politically Incorrect Guide to English and American Literature.” It’s quite good so far - I just wish it was more comprehensive. 288 pages just can’t address everything I want to know, but I understand that it’s meant to be a quick primer, not an exhaustive opus. As a side note, Ms. Kantor contributes to the Human Events online Right Angle blog - it’s worth a read regardless of your political affiliation.
6. I abhor cheating in sports and, as a baseball fan, have followed the latest steroid issue closely. Having said that, when people talk about asterisks and penalties, it’s important to realize that every day we compare decades-old records to modern performances that are aided by quick arthroscopic debridement, cortisone injections and the odd barometric chamber nap. We do it without thinking twice [or even once].
7. I’m still surprised at how many e-people decide on their own to change my name. I’m constantly referred to as Matt as if everyone shortens their name. I go by either, so it doesn’t much matter - I just always go with the name I see [for example, in the domain or plastered everywhere on a site like mine] without changing it. I also get the occasional Mike or Mark. I wonder how often Sherman Dorn gets called Sherm?
And now for 7 unfortunate victims:
- Beartwinsmom [response]
- eduwonkette [response]
- Neil Ahrendt
- Discriminations
- James Cronen [response]
- Repairman
- The Mature Kid [response]
I look forward to those 7 things, everybody.
Jan 7, 2008
Posted | 2 comments
I’m rested up and back - let the content commence. Hopefully everyone had a relaxing holiday season and that we’re all ready for a new year.
In going through the seemingly-billions of RSS feeds to which I subscribe, I’ve noticed that several sites have changed addresses. I’ve tried to update the Smart Blogs but have probably missed a few changes. If I’m pointing people to an old address - or if you’ve got a new site to suggest - just drop a line at [email protected].
And no, I didn’t win that Hemingway lookalike competition. Maybe next year.
Nov 27, 2007
Posted | 3 comments
RELATED ARTICLES:
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A heads up to those who will be in the South Bay area on December 5th - Two Million Minutes will be screened at Landmark’s Aquarius Theatre in Palo Alto for a limited audience of 300:
Both Bob Compton, Executive Producer, and Tim Draper, Managing Director of Silicon Valley venture firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson (an expert in the film, quoted as saying, “America is the one country in the world that doesn’t seem to recognize that it’s in competition for the great minds and the capital of the world,â€) will be screening the film and participating in a roundtable discussion afterwards.
Details are as follows:
WHEN: Wednesday, December 5th at 7:30pm
WHERE: Landmark’s Aquarius Theatre
430 Emerson Street
Palo Alto, CA 94301
If you’d like to attend, you can contact Meg Charlebois at Dittoe Public Relations [e-mail: [email protected] ; phone: 317.202.2280, ext. 11] for an invitation. Seating is limited to 300 - spouses/guests welcome - so I assume that reserving a spot sooner rather than later would be wise.
There are several reasons to attend this screening:
It’s remarkable and provocative. You can get a taste of 2MM by reading my early thoughts on the film and browsing the latest news on 2MM’s What Should America Do? blog. Check out Neil Ahrendt’s blog, too - he’s one of the two American students featured in the film.
It generates discussion. And not the typical mealy-mouthed education discussion, either. Read The Christian Science Monitor’s report on the Nov. 2 Harvard screening of 2MM - I expect the Menlo Park screening to bring lively discussion with plenty of informed, accomplished figures in business, technology, finance and education.
Aquarius Theatre is a fine place to watch a film [Note - venue change from Guild Theatre]. If the seriousness of purpose that 2MM carries doesn’t do it for you, the venue should. Aquarius Theatre, a staple in Palo Alto since 1969 - whose credits include debuting Francis Ford Coppola’s early offerings - exhibits a rare, simple charm [not unlike Brookline's Coolidge Corner Theatre]. You can get directions to the Theatre here.
If you attend the screening, drop me an e-mail - we can talk a bit about what you’ve seen, what you discussed and what you think we should do next.
