Like playing a musical instrument or baking a cake, writing is an art but also a skill. Join Andrew as he explains principles from rhetorical theory, creative writing, linguistics, and philosophy in order to empower you with practical techniques and principles that will help you to be a better writer. Whether you're writing a paper for school or working on a creative project, you're bound to find something useful.
Excellent, helpful video! Thanks! Your section on “The Intellect”reminded me of a quote by Jonathan Sacks: “Science takes things apart to see how they work. Religion puts things together to see what they mean.”
My favorite ad break yet! I was presented questions about the book of Genesis intended to pique my curiosity and challenge my preconceptions about Biblical genres, promising me insight to understand a full third of the Hebrew Bible by learning Hebrew poetic forms in a Genesis class at Hillsdale College. The ad promised revelation of ancient knowledge hidden in plain sight through literary form, which---ironically, considering the beginning of Genesis---was pretty tempting.
A nice video. This stirred up a memory of my older brother, when he was still in high school, decades ago, once wrote a 17-page poem all about the color of Green. I recall very little about it, based as it upon Alexandrines, which yet led to another step with your limnet, to look up Shelly's poem, To a Skylark I leapt. I would also like to recommend Mary Kinzie's book A Poet's Guide to Poetry. Truly wonderful & thought-expanding. Now, here's the poem. To a Skylark By Percy Bysshe Shelley Hail to thee, blithe Spirit! Bird thou never wert, That from Heaven, or near it, Pourest thy full heart In profuse strains of unpremeditated art. Higher still and higher From the earth thou springest Like a cloud of fire; The blue deep thou wingest, And singing still dost soar, and soaring ever singest. In the golden lightning Of the sunken sun, O'er which clouds are bright'ning, Thou dost float and run; Like an unbodied joy whose race is just begun. The pale purple even Melts around thy flight; Like a star of Heaven, In the broad day-light Thou art unseen, but yet I hear thy shrill delight, Keen as are the arrows Of that silver sphere, Whose intense lamp narrows In the white dawn clear Until we hardly see, we feel that it is there. All the earth and air With thy voice is loud, As, when night is bare, From one lonely cloud The moon rains out her beams, and Heaven is overflow'd. What thou art we know not; What is most like thee? From rainbow clouds there flow not Drops so bright to see As from thy presence showers a rain of melody. Like a Poet hidden In the light of thought, Singing hymns unbidden, Till the world is wrought To sympathy with hopes and fears it heeded not: Like a high-born maiden In a palace-tower, Soothing her love-laden Soul in secret hour With music sweet as love, which overflows her bower: Like a glow-worm golden In a dell of dew, Scattering unbeholden Its aëreal hue Among the flowers and grass, which screen it from the view: Like a rose embower'd In its own green leaves, By warm winds deflower'd, Till the scent it gives Makes faint with too much sweet those heavy-winged thieves: Sound of vernal showers On the twinkling grass, Rain-awaken'd flowers, All that ever was Joyous, and clear, and fresh, thy music doth surpass. Teach us, Sprite or Bird, What sweet thoughts are thine: I have never heard Praise of love or wine That panted forth a flood of rapture so divine. Chorus Hymeneal, Or triumphal chant, Match'd with thine would be all But an empty vaunt, A thing wherein we feel there is some hidden want. What objects are the fountains Of thy happy strain? What fields, or waves, or mountains? What shapes of sky or plain? What love of thine own kind? what ignorance of pain? With thy clear keen joyance Languor cannot be: Shadow of annoyance Never came near thee: Thou lovest: but ne'er knew love's sad satiety. Waking or asleep, Thou of death must deem Things more true and deep Than we mortals dream, Or how could thy notes flow in such a crystal stream? We look before and after, And pine for what is not: Our sincerest laughter With some pain is fraught; Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought. Yet if we could scorn Hate, and pride, and fear; If we were things born Not to shed a tear, I know not how thy joy we ever should come near. Better than all measures Of delightful sound, Better than all treasures That in books are found, Thy skill to poet were, thou scorner of the ground! Teach me half the gladness That thy brain must know, Such harmonious madness From my lips would flow The world should listen then, as I am listening now.
If I were a kid (I'm an old man) why would I want to go to Book Week? 1) 4:10 Look! It's a play ground! Different toys and ways to play on now. Gone are the slides, and swings, and Jungle Jims and things. I think it's a "playground." Replacing those fun toys are larger-than-life size books, but are they fun? I dunno if I'm a kid, BUT look at but those kids having fun! It may not be about books (to a kid watching), but I've got to be there. Let's go! I simply think the playground motif alone is what will drive the kids. Only two books have pics, and the rest are just titles--I'm not sure if the kids would be THAT excited about the pics, but then again I'm way too old to truly know. Today (2024) I would say the kids MAY see a call to explore books in Book Week, BUT I'm inclined more to say they would still want to go but to see BIG SCREEN animation!😝 In any event the kids will be there, which was the npoint all alone. 2) How would it motivate the parents? I think this one involves some politics. Yeah, even then. ESPECIALLY THEN! Note the very muted colors. Of course you could have a pic of an original cover from a 67 year old book which could explain. But no vivid red, not even a single red letter in the book title meant to address kids, except for a small cap and shirt? Fishy huh, or poor marketing-rhetoric? Kids have always loved red, haven't they? Since this is 1957 I suspect we were in, or near the McCarthy era peak on hunting down communists. Then, it was called The Big Red Scare (or something). Red? Books? Targeting kids in 1957? Must be liberals and communists planning to take over the world starting with the kids. Maybe that sounds hysterical in 2024, but not so in 1957. Beware! I suspect the people promoting Book Week back then felt they had to be extra careful targeting kids during Book Week to not run afoul of the witch hunters. We could also jump to the other side and say that the promoters were right-wing anti communists or John Birchers who made it clear through code no principal red usage. Wild huh? Remember this is 1957. In any event I think the secondary audience as you said is the parent, and you-- the promoter of Book Week had better show some evidence you ain't no commie. This is fun! Bring more!
But surely not every good poem (or considered good poem) has an exigence, even though I realize most do. Take "The Bells" or "The Tyger" for example. What are their exigences?
I don't think we'd consider them good if they truly had no reason to exist. Exigences look different in different kinds of writing, but any piece of writing should probably make some kind of case for its existence (and the time it asks readers to spend on it)
First ad: Grammarly. It helped this guy with applying for residency so it will help you too. It helps you avoid repetitive words and has other wonderful features which will be so helpful to you. Ugh. I've been writing for school on the computer, so that's probably why I get these so much. As an aside, I once had a classmate come to me to proofread an assignment she had written, and I noticed there was the same mistake all over it: many times there would be a sentence break in the middle of a sentence. I told the kid and she said that's what Grammarly told her to do. Doesn't make me think highly of it. second ad: google ads? It was talking about how they give ads geared towards you. Amusing that's the ad I got, but I'm not sure what they're trying to get anyone to do --- do we have a choice to get ads? Plus, I usually skip ads.
This was so clear and easy to follow. Thank you. I'm used to engaging with critical thinking from a social science perspective, so looking at it from this perspective is very interesting.
I got a really long ad about how some person apparently succeeded in life because of some special method, (presumably, it was an ad for a self-help book), but it was so generic that I quickly got bored and skipped it.
Thank you, another well done presentation. You have honed the provisional skill of a meaty presentation without being loquacious. I appreciate you enunciating the utility of both philosophy and rhetoric, especially rhetoric as it does tend to get attached to sophistry. Regarding the duty of rhetoric, Aristotle makes clear the utilitarian function. He states, "in the hearing of persons who cannot take in at a glance a complicated argument, or follow a long chain of reasoning". You're doing a great service, highly recognized.
Awesome! Thanks for the great video. I loved the conclusion about not enough people having the superpower! The only thing I will say is that there was no ad in the video after your prompt for one (when I watched anyway).
It's like your read my mind ! Was literally about to recommend some kind of feedback weekly video of essay reviews. but, I was going to suggest famous essays but this is better!
Part of the reason I started the channel, actually, is because I don't feel like there are many good intros to rhetoric out there. Aristotle's Rhetoric is in the public domain, so you can find it all over (and I have a playlist talking through it), and there are some modern textbooks, but they're, you know, textbooks. I like Wayne Booth's "The Rhetoric of Rhetoric" reasonably well as a starting point, but it's also starting to show its age.
I am enjoying your very well done videos pertaining to rhetoric. Your're being very reasonable with your treatment on the subject. By this I mean, there is no dogmatism, you highlight the possibility for some possible wrong headedness and thought correction. Thanks Andrew!
Interesting video, with a valiant attempt at legitimizing the use and purpose of rhetoric. Perhaps I am premature in my assessment as subsequent presentations may bear out, but there is also much abuse in the use of rhetoric. I am pleased to see that certitude was clearly stated as not being constituent to rhetoric. Just because Socrates is wise, does not mean that he is inherently virtuous, he mad be wise and caddish. Also, the use of rhetoric could also be defined as "the practice of employing seemingly sound reasoning, in the defense of a conclusion that is inherently false or subjective by nature". It's an every day manifestation. It should be used responsibly but often times nefariously.
I read Aristotle as responding to philosophy's position that rhetoric was exactly that--"seemingly sound" manipulation--by pointing out that it is indeed useful in ways that philosophy isn't. He also complains that we only have the same word, "rhetoric," for both the good and bad. In the end, it's just a tool--but knowing how to use it will make you more alert to those who abuse it.
HI Andrew, Your suggestion on writing everything down won't help me because I am preparing for a writing exam, which will be timed. Do you have any tips?
For timed writing exams, I've learned that taking the extra time to write out an outline is time very well spent. It feels like an extra step, but it ends up saving you time in the long run because you won't have to stop and figure things out as you go. You could think of it as a more streamlined form of writing everything down--just making a plan for everything before you get started.
@@WritingwithAndrew I understand your point on writing an outline, but for someone who doesn't write fast, what should they do when time is not on their side? Writing out an outline could take up more time for them to write the essay. What's your thoughts and a strategy to get two essays completed with minimum errors, please. I am in the process of improving my writing skills and looking for good strategies for timed essay writing.
Do the outline 🙂 For a long time I thought it was just taking time away from writing the essay, but I eventually learned that taking a few minutes to put together a good plan ended up saving me a lot of time overall because I didn't have to stop after each sentence and paragraph to think about what to write next. Give yourself a quick plan that works, and you can be confident the essay will work too. You can also, of course, always practice--give yourself a topic to write about, set a timer, and see what works for you
How exciting! I'm so happy to see all the ways you've grown this channel over the years! Thanks for continually finding ways to engage with your loyal viewers and provide us with more. It's an incredible resource and I'm so thrilled that you always try to find ways and options that work for all types. Thank you for all that you do!
I'm here because of Burke, but I subscribed. Great channel. Also, your voice reminds me of the voices of many I used to watch on 60 Minutes or Sunday Morning: clear, compassionate, passionate about the message or narrative.
When's the last date for submission? Just asking because it isn't taking mine currently due to some technical issues ☹️ (I've tried like atleast thirty times so far) Edit: finally done!
