Dewey, Burke, Berlin, and the Power of the Pen

As I was reading the handout Erin gave us to supplement her presentation, I saw several threads connecting John Dewey to Richard Burke. But the most prominent thread by far was idea that society and its pressing concerns are the driving force behind the educator's rhetoric. Both men held the pragmatic belief that our rhetoric should be shaped by what benefits our world. Dewey said in his Pedagogic Creed that "the only true education comes through the stimulation of the child's powers by the demands of the social situations in which he finds himself." Burke "attempts to solve the problems of education that, he believes, eventually lead to Cold War competitions" (Enoch 278). Both men believed that rhetoric had the power to change society, and that it should be used for the good of all people (it helps that Burke explicitly made the connection between himself and Dewey, saying that he had a "Deweyite emphasis" [Enoch 278]).

In her article, Jessica Enoch makes sense of the often complicated mess that is Burke's philosophy and draws out some outstanding applications for the composition classroom. Teachers should help students learn how to examine both sides of controversial issues before making judgment calls. "Burkean debate" has students writing for both sides of an issue and then write a third piece that simply and objectively analyzes the rhetorical techniques used to persuade.

Most people don't realize what a rhetoric-saturated world they live in. Advertisements jump to mind first--and they are indeed ubiquitous--but consider also political speeches, sermons, songs, class lectures, textbooks, novels (yep, narratives wield a mighty rhetorical power as well!) your elderly neighbor trying to convince you to get rid of your pink flamingo lawn ornaments, and yes, even this blog. The problem, and often the tragedy, is that we allow ourselves to be affected by it without recognizing it for what it is, analyzing it for effectiveness and evaluating it for accuracy. Even the simple act of saying to yourself, "This person/ad/book is trying to persuade me," has the power to objectify you as audience and enable you to make a more reasonable decision about whether or not to allow yourself to be persuaded. Burke's theory of critical reflection goes beyond such a simple statement and presents a complex means of diffusing the inflammatory power of rhetoric. I loved the idea of giving students the tools to take a step back from writing and observe the various aspects of the rhetorical situation carefully (purpose, audience, tone, etc.). He advocates the cultivation of a "distrustful admiration," a phrase which I loved, and a healthy fear of the power of language. I think that getting students into the habit of analyzing before they evaluate--carefully weighing the techniques and merit of both sides of an argument before deciding which side they agree with--would benefit every area of society, from politics to the stock market to the workplace.

James Berlin in his essay "Rhetoric and Ideology in the Writing Class" presents some very similar ideas. "A rhetoric can never be innocent," he writes (Norton 667). He argues that all rhetoric is ideological. Burke would agree and add, "So we need to teach students to evaluate the rhetoric before agreeing with the ideas." Dewey would agree and add, "So we need to find the ideas that work in our social context." All three of them would see the pen as both an invaluable tool and a potent weapon of destruction.