These are the first few paragraphs of the first paper. Be Kind:
I Have My Ramage, Where’s My Passport?
Unlike the journey through Ramage of my peers, mine started a little behind. Not that I procrastinated on starting the reading, but one of the perils of adding into a class a few days into the semester is being behind on almost everything. And, as I have found out, being behind on reading John D. Ramage’s “Rhetoric: A User’s Guide” is far more detrimental to my learning process that being behind on reading something, for instance, by Jane Austen.
The day my journey with Ramage began, also presented a package in the mail, with my name on it. Inside lay my first passport. Of course the picture was a horrible likeness of me, but nonetheless, I was excited of the arrival. After stashing the passport away, I began my journey with Ramage. I wanted to level with the rest of my peers and become acquainted with Mr. Ramage and his musings on rhetoric, as the rest of them had a week before.
The most important item on my packing list: www.yourdictionary.com. Just to be sure, what the heck is rhetoric anyway? I had an idea, but why not be safe and feel confident in my own definition. I also pack my glasses, patience and some soda for a caffeine boost (as I hear I should be needing it), and then it was time to get on the long highway (so I’ve heard) of reading Ramage. During the first few pages of the primary chapter I started to wonder, “Why were my classmates moaning and groaning over Ramage’s writing? “. Firstly, I amusingly contemplated that the reason I comprehended this man was because I suffer slightly from A.D.D., and maybe so does he.
I worried, that what the title suggested was a long and loathsome journey, plagued with road bumps and many, many detours back to the aforementioned website. Conversely, the first few pages seemed to offer a bit different journey. These few lines in particular allowed me to think so: “Those quacks and mountebanks on late-night TV who flog fat-burning elastic belts practice rhetoric; those Sabbath gasbags” who pontificate endlessly on Sunday news shows practice rhetoric; those shameless mopes who phone during dinner and plead with us to buy a time-share in Orlando practice rhetoric; that ingratiating little weasel who sat next to you in French and got a C on the midterm but managed to wheedle a B- out of the teacher practiced rhetoric” (2-3). Humor? In discussing rhetoric? That was indeed a surprise, and a landmark I hoped to be revisiting much more throughout my trip through Ramage.
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