Unspeak: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Their Words

Two years ago, I picked up a book called Unspeak by Stephen Poole for my Language 338 class. In it, the author introduces the idea of Unspeak. Although "unspeak" is a very complicated concept that Poole addresses beautifully in his book, I shall endeavor to express what it means concisely. "Unspeak" describes how a phrase or even a word can "carr[y] with it a whole unspoken arguement."(Poole, 2006) This means that if the term is accepted by the listener, it essentially denies other viewpoints existence, and therefore no argument occurs and the term does not need to be justified. The text I would like to take a look at then is the use of the slogans of the Romney/Ryan, Obama/Biden 2012 Campaigns.

The Obama/Biden slogan, according to viewer experience, and the campaign wiki, is "Forward," continuing the Obama tradition of the one word campaign slogan. The word "Forward" itself is a very powerful word. Forward implies progress is being made because America moves forward into the 21st century. But on closer inspection, Forward can be connected to the Romney/Ryan campaign seeks to use financial plans that were similar to the Reaganomics of the 1980s, moving backwards, which to Americans implies that progress halts.

The Romney/Ryan slogan, according to the same previous sources, is "Believe in America." For one, Romney uses the word "America" which stirs the heart of every red blooded American. It's kinda like flying a 30ftx60ft American flag in verbal form. Next we get to the real problem in the slogan, the believe part. The word "believe" can be considered a very touchy word. to "believe" does not necessarily mean that there is empirical evidence to back up your belief, you can just "believe" in it and, to the believer, it is the truth. So, when Romney asks us to "Believe in America," he's saying "Never mind all this crap over here, the America is what we make it." Also, what are we supposed to believe about it? That it can succeed? That it is the best nation on earth? What Romney and Ryan are really asking us to believe about their campaigns is that they will solve our financial, social, and political problems, problems that were caused by people that were, or are, not as American as the GOP candidates are.

DOCTOR! MY BRAIN HURTS! (Plato reading)

                                         
Michael Palin: DOCTOR! DOCTOR! (thrashes desk violently) DOCTOR!
John Cleese: HELLO.
Michael Palin: ARE YOU THE BRAIN SPECIALIST!?
John Cleese: (pause) HELLO.
Michael Palin: ARE YOU THE BRAIIIN SPECIALIST!?
John Cleese: NO. NO, I AM NOT THE BRAIN SPECIALIST, NO. (pause)YES! YES I AM!
Michael Palin: MY BRAIIIN HURTS!
John Cleese: WELL, LETS HAVE A LOOK AT IT MR. GUMBY...
Michael Palin: NO, NO THE BRAIN IN MY HEAD!
John Cleese: HMMMM... (whacks head three times) IT WILL HAVE TO COME OUT!

Seriously, I still feel like Mr. Gumby after the Plato reading.
Here are some of my questions:
1) I'm so confused... I have a general idea of what Socrates is saying about rhetoric, but is there a clear place where he defines it in words a mere mortal can decipher?
2) Is there a particular reason why Gorgias seem so timid in the reading? It seems as though Plato paints all the other characters other than Socrates to extremes, timid or brash, they all seem so inferior to Socrates that I begin to question if Plato is using rhetoric the way Socrates seems to condemn.

Donald Draper is my hero.

This summer, I watched an incredible amount of a show called Mad Men, about the lives of the employees of Madison Avenue ad agencies. When I came back to school, I discovered that a good friend of mine also follows Mad Men religiously, and we began a dialogue about who are favorite characters are. In the program, the characters live lives of incredible excess, drinking, smoking, and having meaningless and/or adulterous sex constantly, with a few notable exceptions. It was then that I realized that some of the most interesting characters in the show were the ones that, for one reason or another(or for many, many, many, reasons) I hated as people. It makes for good drama, if not for a uncluttered, unencumbered, happy life.

So, for the sake of entertainment, I wish that I could say that I am more evil, and that unethical Don Draper is my hero. For sure, I have: Lied, cheated, stolen, manipulated, and lived under the thumb of vice- but I've always felt bad about it afterwords, and more often than not, try not to make the same mistakes and to make amends for the ones I commit. After that, I will also go on record to say that Donald Draper is a fucking asshole and I can't wait for him to die of lung cancer/liver failure/become incarcerated and become somebody's bitch in prison, but I hope that happens in Season 20 or so. What I'm leading to is this; I get a huge amount of pleasure by immersing myself in literature, and feel immense satisfaction in reading about interesting characters, whether they are like minded, or completely alien.

My academic focus is English teaching, and I'm really glad I've chosen that because I love talking about my feelings about characters and plotlines(see above) and really, really love hearing what other people have to say about them. One of my philosophies is this: what you take out of literature is not complete until you have shared what you think, and have, in turn, listened to what other people have to say about it. For this reason, I can seem bipolar in class; one day animated and talkative, the next brooding and silent.

I chose this class because I really want to be able to defie the idea of "empty" rhetoric. I hate chasing tails, wild goose chases, and manipulation, and I want to recognize this in my own writing as well as others writing.

Other than that, I'm a deadly ruthless Risk player. Go on, pick up the glove; I double dog dare you.

Cheers!
Tim Boo