November 26, 2007
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Notes to Self:
“First, postmoderism is best regarded as a widespread cultural development which has been taking shape during the last few decades and which is important because of its treatment of several interrelated themes; especially significant are the following: truth; languages and its relation to thought and to the world; reason, science, and technology; human nature and the self; the Other (an individual or group considered as different); power and oppression; and creativity and the aesthetic. Second, we think that postmodern thought makes sense only in contrast to an earlier Western cultural development which began to take shape during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and which continues to influence us today, a way of thinking about our situation in the world which can be called ‘modernism‘” (Linn xiii-xiv). [a teacher's introduction to POSTmoderism, Ray Linn, 1996, NCTE.]
rhet·o·ri·cian –noun
1. an expert in the art of rhetoric (the art or science of all specialized literary uses of language in prose or verse, including the figures of speech; the study of the effective use of language; the ability to use language effectively). 2. a person who teaches rhetoric. 3. a person who writes or speaks in an elaborate or exaggerated style. com·po·si·tion –noun
1. the act of combining parts or elements to form a whole. 2. the resulting state or product. 3. a short essay written as a school exercise. 4. the act or process of producing a literary work. 5. an academic course for teaching the techniques of clear, expository writing. 6. the art of putting words and sentences together in accordance with the rules of grammar and rhetoric. 7. the art of composing music. 8. Fine Arts. the organization or grouping of the different parts of a work of art so as to achieve a unified whole.
