Blog post 1 of 12

The argument Robert Hass is making is that poetry, like other forms of writing, is limited by the language in which it's written, and that sometimes it's important that we are aware of this situation.
Hass is making the point that poets normally try to convey through words experiences of another nature (visual, auditory, emotional).  The limits of the written word force poets to equate two elements that might have no obvious link at first, therefore forcing the reader to make new connections and relations in his or her mind.  By explaining scientifically why the tree does what it does, Hass goes to show that if poets were used to presenting facts in that manner, they would not have been able to cause the desired effect on the reader.  Instead, by saying "the tree danced" the poet creates a vivid, clear image in the reader's mind.

Dance with me, dancer. Oh, I will.  This line represents the relation between the poet and the reader.  This is the poet telling the reader to join him in his journey, to suspend disbelief and to take rhetoric moves for what they are: ways of using written words to communicate through images.  Oh, I will is a willing reader that has accepted the poet's challenge and joins him in this literary dance floor.

Quiz 4

1. Truth value is the defining characteristic of a proposition.  It is this intrinsic quality that allows us, as recipients of the information expressed on a sentence, to make a judgment on the validity of the information we have received.

2. It is not necessary that a visual claim be linguistically explicable.  This is what happens in advertisements all the time.  The claim of the producers or directors of an ad is basically universal: buy our product because it is the best of its field.  To express this, they rarely use what we would call traditional logic. They mostly appeal to the viewers’ emotional side, by linking their products or services to images that produce a positive effect on the audience’s psyche.  For example, in Peru there is a television ad for flue medicine that consists of showing babies dressed up with animal costumes.  Though extremely cute indeed, it is appealing to our emotions and not to our logic to sell us the product.

3.  Going off on what I explained on the previous paragraph, it is a well-known fact that visual productions play on the audiences’ emotions.  Instead of having to read a say whole paragraph, visual productions have the ability to convey the same dramatic effect in a single 15-second clip.  Furthermore, and just like in literal productions, there are some clichéd forms and constructions.  But unlike their literal counterparts, these are not limited by the barrier of language, which makes them even more universal.

First thoughts - rhetorical moves

I keep thinking about my project 3, and I'm pretty sure my next rhetorical move will be to add or work on the metaphors I already have.  Making up metaphors is not an easy task, so I'll probably go back, read them over and decide whether they really convey what I want to say.