From the Classroom
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Mystery and Rhetoric in Burke’s Rhetoric of Motives
I am taking a course this semester entitled “Foundations of Composition and Rhetoric.” As far as I understand things (and I might not since I missed the first class due to Ellie’s early arrival), this course is an examination of some of the intersections between Composition (the act of writing) and Rhetoric (the art of Continue reading
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My Problem with Bad Writing
I must confess something: I am intellectually biased toward coherence, clarity, and order. I not only dislike reading unclear academic prose, but it frustrates me. It frustrates me because I assume that the ordinary purpose of language is to communicate meaning, and unclear academic prose inhibits the communication of meaning. And, most of the time, Continue reading
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Learning to Love and Pray (at the Same Time): The Beginning of a Synthesis
I recently finished G. K. Chesterton‘s The Everlasting Man, and I am now about a third of the way through Kathleen Norris‘s Amazing Grace. My intellect, long the center of my approach to the world and to faith, has finally found its interest in robust, historical, liturgical Christianity matched by an emotional and artistic delight. Continue reading
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The Strangest Story Ever Told
I’m almost finished with Chesterton‘s The Everlasting Man. And I have not read a more beautiful book. It’s Chesterton, so it’s witty and quirky and impatient and poetic. But it’s more. It delves down, beyond conscious thought. It brings forth truths that cannot be proven by appeals to logic or rationality, but are themselves artistic. Continue reading
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Against Ideology and Hegemonic Discourse: Toward a Rhetoric of Love
This is the essay I wrote for my Comprehensive Exam for my MA this past spring. It contains a lot of ideas relevant to how I understand my purpose in relationship to the church and the academy. One central idea, arrived at toward the end of the essay, is the idea that liturgy (while encompassing Continue reading
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On Being an Old Curmudgeon
To some degree, I’m a walking anachronism. While I’m obviously a member of, and conversant in, this generation’s culture, technology, and worldview–I nevertheless do not fit in in a variety of ways. Most of these ways have to do with technology in one way or another, though, of course, it goes beyond that. At times Continue reading
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Why I Will Teach (with an aside)
I am a Master’s student in Composition and Rhetoric. My field holds together the academic study of composition (the act of writing) and rhetoric (the means by which humans make meaning). The academic field of rhetoric analyzes “texts” in order to understand 1) the ways in which those texts persuade and 2) the “effect” that Continue reading
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Exorcising the Devil from Christian Political Discourse: Toward a Rhetoric of Love (Part 2)
Welcome to the second post in my series on Christian political discourse. Last week I set out my theoretical assumptions and outlined my posting itinerary for the next several weeks. My goal for this series is to, in the end, articulate a roadmap toward a rhetoric of love. As a Christian, I am convinced that Continue reading
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Exorcising the Devil from Christian Political Discourse: Toward a Rhetoric of Love (Part 1)
Anyone who has been around me for very long, or been around the blog for any length of time, is aware of my interest in politics, theology, and the use of language. My undergraduate thesis (to be published in a revised form in CCTE Studies) was titled Glenn Beck, Jim Wallis, and the Debate on Continue reading
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And Could Politics Ever be an Expression of Love?
This is a presentation I gave to my American Literature class over the book Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. * * * Milton Moskowitz, in an article entitled “The Enduring Importance of Richard Wright,” recounts a conversation between Richard Wright and James Baldwin. Moskowitz writes, “’All literature is protest,’ said Wright. ‘You can’t name a single Continue reading
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Myths, Legends, Fairy Tales, and the Bible: reading scripture as mythology part 7
Welcome to the seventh, and final, post I am doing for the mythology and the bible series. You can view the other posts here. Last week I recapped where we had been, discussed the myths of the Beginning and the End held by a segment of contemporary Christians, and told you that this week I Continue reading
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Myths, Legends, Fairy Tales, and the Bible: reading scripture as mythology part 6
Welcome to the sixth post in the series that I am doing about mythology and the bible. A reminder: I am not attempting to read the stories of the bible in their theological, historical, scientific, or literary contexts. I am interested in the way they function for particular audiences, making this a rhetorical project. Let’s Continue reading
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Myths, Legends, Fairy Tales, and the Bible: reading scripture as mythology part 5
Welcome to the fifth post in the series I am doing about mythology and the bible. You can see the other posts in the series here. I will reprise my caveat from last week: I am not attempting to read the stories of the bible in their theological, historical, scientific, or literary contexts. I am Continue reading
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Myths, Legends, Fairy Tales, and the Bible: reading scripture as mythology part 4
Welcome to the fourth post in a series I am doing about mythology and the bible. You can find the earlier posts here. I feel it necessary to mention, again, that I am not attempting to read the stories of the bible in their theological, historical, scientific, or literary contexts. I am interested in the Continue reading
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Myths, Legends, Fairy Tales, and the Bible: reading scripture as mythology part 3
This is the third post in my series about mythology (myth, legends, and fairytales) and the bible. In the first post, I explained my interest and intentions for the series. I briefly laid out some of my theoretical underpinnings for how I understand myth. In the second post, I took a longer look at my Continue reading
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Myths, Legends, Fairy Tales, and the Bible: reading scripture as mythology part 2
Welcome to the second post in the series I am doing about fairy tales and the bible. Last week, I explained what my interest was, why I am interested, what my theoretical basis is, and said that I would be, more or less, applying Tolkien’s fairystory cannons to the bible this week. After giving it Continue reading
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Myths, Legends, Fairy Tales, and the Bible: reading scripture as mythology part 1
For the past several Thursdays—which is the day, on the blog, that I share something academic—I have posted rehashings of papers I have written for my classes. I don’t particularly enjoy this sort of blogging because there is no unifying theme. Yet, I am compelled by my New Year’s resolution to blog every day. For Continue reading
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John Hagee, Israel, and American Exceptionalism
This was written for my Literary Theory and Faith class last semester. One of our textbooks was David Jeffrey’s People of the Book. * * * David Jeffrey, in ninth chapter of People of the Book, discusses the relationship between the Bible and the American myth. Specifically, he traces the notion of American exceptionalism from the Continue reading
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The Blood of the Martyrs
I wrote this for the Rhetoric and Belief class I am taking this semester in which we are studying the rhetoric of sacred space: * * * “Lord, forgive us,” I murmured as tears carved canyons down my cheeks. Kneeling, I crossed myself and wept quietly, conscious of the others behind me. I had been Continue reading
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Going to Church with Marx
Below is a reflection I wrote at the beginning of my Literary Theory and Faith class last semester. We had read Breakfast with Socrates and were assigned to do a miniature version of the book in which we reflected on the way Theory pervaded our everyday lives. When I wake up in the mornings, I do so in Continue reading
About Me
Gregory C. Jeffers
Anglican Christian | Husband | Father | Teacher | Scholar | Poet
G. C. Jeffers 