On Rhetorica this morning…
First, an anecdote. I asked my freshmen class (the one’s writing Pirate Blog) about Bill O’Reilly’s racist joke. After they read my entry, I said: “There’s one word in that quote that really disturbs me–anyone know what it might be and why?”
I thought I was asking a difficult question. I don’t introduce textual analysis until my sophomore class. But, then, I sometimes forget that we are all text analyzers (the blogosphere should be a constant reminder).
It took them about ten seconds. Their answer: The the plural possessive pronoun “our” before “hubcaps” reinforces and highlights the differences between the rich, white audience and the inner-city kids who had come to perform for them.
Still no word that Bill thinks he said anything untoward.
And now the housekeeping item: I promised you my analysis of Lee Bollinger’s task force statement today. It will be late today. I’m still swamped with papers to grade.
