Mirror, Mirror

When I compare the content of my blogs to those of more daring students, like the esteemed Mr. Fimbres, Ms. Solis or Mr. Luckett (I never knew the world of medieval monks could be so fascinating!), I’m struck by the self-confidence and exploratory nature of their blogs, and, by contrast, the play-it-safe conventionality, of mine.  I appear to have a need to “color within the lines” compared to some more freewheeling writers, who may or may not feel impressed to address the readings head-on.  I suppose that, after diving into the readings rigorously, I use the blog to sum up my impressions in a sometimes predictable fashion, compared to those who use the blog as launch pad, testing the boundaries of the genre.  While I admire these artistic and philosophical departures, I don’t see myself moving in that direction any time soon.  If the shoe don’t fit . . .
    When it comes to speaking back to the writings, if I speak out too negatively, I find myself wondering if I’ve taken too much license, letting my emotions cloud my judgement, to extent that I might have missed essential content.  Yet, when I read Gabriela’s blog last week, as she lambasted a few of the readings, I cursed myself for missing the rhetorical points she found so jarring and objectionable; her points were so insightful, I wondered for a moment if we’d read the same articles.  Nonetheless, while I was writing, I was certainly sincere in my enjoyment of the articles, especially those building curricula from happenings on the Web. 
    I’ve often thought of myself as reading the world with a critical eye, a bit like the late George Carlin questioning everything he would see.  But this class is informing me that I have a long way to go in terms of truly analyzing rhetorically.  In my second rhetorical analysis, for example, while I feel I’ve come a good distance since my first paper, my weak spot is not extrapolating far enough, not exploring, in Gerald Graff’s words, the “So What?”  I guess there’s no better exercise to build that “muscle” than rhetorical analysis and revision.  And blogging in good company.