...Another shot at Rhetorical Precis.
Catherine L. Hobbs, in Learning from the Past: Verbal and Visual Literacy in Early Modern Rhetoric and Writing Pedagogy (2002), shows that instructors of the language arts have always utilized visual aids and theories while teaching. Hobbs supports her theory by offering numerous examples of teachers of antiquity, beginning with Plato and Aristotle, who included visual elements in their pedagogies. Her purpose is to make her readers aware that utilizing visual elements—for example, computers in the classroom, is not new to language arts instruction nor has it ever left the practice; thus, we should embrace technology as it integrates with our classes. She develops a trusting rapport with her audience, namely graduate students and scholars, through her impressive, concise, and encyclopedic knowledge of the history of the language arts.
On a commentory note, Hobbs convinced me with her detailed knowledge of language arts history that she brilliantly knows her stuff. Further, I felt enlightened after her essay, as if I had learned some foundational facts about our shared human history. Hobbs’ ending with Da Vinci’s quote masterfully utilized Quintilian’s theory that we must bring emotions to our audience and we must ourselves be moved by our themes (58).
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