The Badenov Files: Teaching Students Self Advocacy Through Rhetoric

I just completed a special project in my English 102 courses, the Badenov Files. In this project, students receive a letter from their landlord, Boris Badenov. Their landlord tells them that their rent is going to increase by 500 dollars a month at the end of the month, when their leases are about to expire. Students get a fact sheet on their landlord. They also receive a rhetorical tool kit, which introduces them to tools from rhetoric such as ethos, pathos, and logos; Bitzer's rhetorical situation; and Chaim Perelman's concept of rhetorical communion. Then students had to plan a strategy to respond to Boris. Playing Boris, I responded to them.

Playing Boris was quite fun; the episode brought out my inner sadist in a few situations. More important than this fact was that students learned that rhetoric isn't just about writing a paper or two; it's a tool that can help them succeed in life and advocate for themselves. A lot of the students seemed shocked to realize that they could indeed respond to Boris and make a positive impact on their own lives.

I am going to be publishing about this project, which I think could help instructors across the nation help their students to develop both their self-confidence and their rhetorical acumen.

Strange Encounter with James Fell: NPD and writers

I normally blog about higher education and personal finance. But I had an online encounter that was so bizarre that I have to write about it.

Since the age of 22, I've worked with writers, ranging from famous science fiction writers (my teachers) to textbook authors to students to critique partners. A lot of these folks have very strong personalities. As a textbook editor for a major company, I worked with authors who made millions. They could be very difficult to work with. As a writer, I've worked with pretty strong editors. I've also had my work taken apart by readers when I wrote for the Chronicle of Higher Education.

So, I'm not faint of heart. But I recently encountered a Canadian fitness writer whose writing to me seemed to be filled with signs of narcissistic personality disorder. We met in a very weird way. A couple of people asked me to comment on his website. I did so. I was honest but not vindictive. What I got back from James Fell was absolutely horrifying: being called a douche bag. When I objected and said that seemed rather petulant and that I'm a professor as well as a writer and that I'm pretty educated, I got a torrent of abuse, unlike anything I've ever seen. I've seen a lot, but  I've never seen a writer who, apparently, has so little respect for human beings and who has so little tolerance for difference.

When I looked up his work, there were signs of NPD all over the place, an obsession with his body, bragging about his straight A kids, an obsession with stars and being famous, calling other people douche bags, bragging about his doctor wife, who, he told me, unlike me, is a "real doctor." Whatever. I was told by Fell that I don't have a life, just an existence. He told me I would be jealous of his most recent advance. I'm not. But I thought to myself: thinking that others are jealous of you screams NPD. Every job he talks about is executive this and executive that.  Yuck. I don't know him at all. Apparently a failed science-fiction writer, he bills himself as not being PC. I'm not PC. There's a difference between hating PC and being a vindictive jerk. Apparently, he got into some trouble saying that some personal fitness trainer didn't have the education she said she did. There was some kind of battle.

You never know what you're going to encounter in cyber world. Sometimes you run into full blown personality disorders. These folks are horrible to work with. I wish Fell well, but I shake my head at people like him. I do not envy his editor.

Blogging about James Fell

Most of the time, I blog here about higher education. Today, something very funny happened. I encountered somebody so obnoxious that I'm going to have a little bit of fun in a week or so. Let's get ready to have some fun in the next couple of days.