First Paragraph
John Duffy has been reviving the classical concept of ethics for incorporation into the teaching of writing for the past several years for good reason: a short time ago, what we were calling “incivility” in public discourse has devolved into something worse, evident in our political leaders’ and their supporters’ language use (and actions) built on lies, white supremacy, dehumanization, gaslighting, and purposeful, hard-to-look-at denial of facts, evidence, and reality generally speaking. While normally, “rhetoric” is always already lambasted by pundits and political observers, at the present moment—because of the weight and horrible repercussions of our worst leaders’ worst examples—almost all language use is up for lambasting, even the most honest and earnest persons’ actual attempts to speak reasonably to resolve misunderstandings or solve problems. For me and other colleagues in our field, the last few years have been an unnerving and baffling time in which to teach writing and rhetoric
Citation Information
Type of Publication: Review
Author: Jamie White-Farnham
Year of Publication: 2020
Title: “The New ‘Available Means’: Rhetoric, Ethics, and the Teaching of Writing“
Journal: Comp Studies 48(3)
Page Range: 140-146