Week 5
What are the topoi, basically, and why are they important in what you teach or where you work?What key idea are you thinking about tackling for your 10-minute video? (Send Dr. Rice confirmation sometime soon).
See if you can work out your topic for your final paper/presentation. You might share a thesis, and perhaps an introduction. What you write is subject to change, of course.
According to the site "Silva Rhetorica" , topoi means places in Greek. The topoi are connected to the process of invention or "finding something to say." They are the topics of invention such as cause and effect, comparison, etc. These categories became those things which one turns to when generating ideas for argument. Certain topics are appropriate to certain purposes and specific aspects of time (past, present, future).
The first thing I thought about when I finally understood (I think) what topoi is was grant applications. Many grantwriters have specific categories of information which they turn to when they are completing a grant application. They will use the information from that category according to the specifications of the grant application. So a grantwriter at a particular institution only has to develop those categories once and then the information from that category can be used multiple times. This also reminded me of the idea of copia which we discussed earlier. The more information that one has in each category the more choices one has for selection once one needs to "invent" or write something.
How is topoi important in what I teach? Most of us work within either a preestablished set of categories or some which we establish ourselves. For example, when I teach a course I think about the goals and objectives which I think are important for that course and then think about the goals and objectives which the institution (in which I work) has established for me. Then I have to navigate between the two. I have been fortunate to work in institutions where my choices (categories) were not questioned.
I am thinking about discussing the concept of delivery and online teaching for my presentation. I was thinking about doing something fun like discussing how Dr. Phil uses dialectic but then I figured I better choose something that is related to my final paper. I want to show how the delivery of instruction online, what some are calling the rhetoric of online instruction, is an important consideration when designing an online course. The goals are important; similarly considering the tools one has available to make the delivery more effective is crucial.
My final paper will discuss the idea of pathos and how that can be applied to online education. One of the arguments against online education has been that something is "lost" when one teaches or learns online. I will argue that what many say is lost is the power of the pathetic appeal which is closely linked to the canon of style with its concern with audience and affective appeals. Then I will look at the tools and delivery methods online educators are using to regain the affective connection with students which is lost because of the distance.
My ideas and questions connect with those Gillian is also considering, so I think she and I should work on a paper together using the ideas we present in this class.
posted by Prof Santoy @ 8:51 PM
3 Comments:
Looking forward to seeing your take on this, Janie.
Janie,
You are very correct to note that grant writing is one area with some specific topoi. Some of my classmates in "Theories of Inventions in Writing" last fall also felt grantwriting was a great place to turn for understanding of Topoi. They felt the topoi for grantwriting strongly related to audience and more specifically to ethos, pathos, and logos.
I liked their argument that the topoi chosen for the grant reflects how much logic, emotion, or ethics you use to appeal to the people evaluating the grant application. So you might find the concept useful, as well.
I'd stick with the Dr. Phil idea. Might as well have some fun where ya can!
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