Of Journeying the Benefits are Many

Of Journeying the Benefits are Many

-Sadi Gulistan

This semester, many of my friends are traveling abroad. From London to Luzerne, my best friends are scattered, experiencing new food, people, places, and cultures –in general, ways of life. Much like our classroom blog replacing the reader response journal of old, Webshots and e-mail have been substituted for travel memos and postcards. As I skimmed through their countless albums entitled, “London 2007” or “Arriving in Athens”, naturally I felt a twinge a jealousy; however, I was also excited for them. This idea of traveling and experiencing new ways of life reminds me of when Ramage brings up the Tao in chapter one of his book. “Tao” means the way, or “the way of the world, the laws and regularities that govern the physical universe, and its inhabitants…to achiev(e) happiness according to the followers of the Tao was to yield to these laws…forgo the futile quest to rise above or master them…The way became…a verb one did…a noun one subscribed to.” (Ramage 11.) So what does that mean? In the case of my wayfaring friends, does it mean they completely incorporate these new ways of living into their lifestyles, wholly abandoning their formers selves? In the case of Ramage readers, do we take everything he writs word for word and accept it, even thought a majority of us detest it? Thankfully, for rhetoric, the answer is no. My friends may return from their semesters abroad with a new liking for souvlaki, but I doubt they will adopt the toga and sandals looks as a daily fashion statement. For the many disgruntled readers of Ramage, he most likely won’t be the one we quote in our papers years from now, but his presentation of the principles and methods of rhetorical device are what will remain with us. My journey through Ramageland is a memoir of circumstance, and I’ve filled my suitcase with Ramage’s devices and strategies. It wasn’t always the most entertaining journey, but folks like P-Dog and the Harley Guys did make me smile. Like the Taoists, I did not fight or resist “the way” of the Ramage world; but, like a rhetorical person, I didn’t accept it completely, either.

Aristotle’s definition of rhetoric is where my “circumstantial” journey through the world of Ramage begins. Aristotle describes rhetoric as, “the capacity to find the available means of persuasion in a given circumstance.” (Ramage 6.) This seemingly simple definition has an endless number of highways and byways to wander down, the first being the term “circumstance.” Later in his book, Ramage makes the point, “circumstances alter cases,” or “one must look beyond the words on the page to the circumstances that gave rise to them and to the consequences that flow from them to understand and judge them.” (Ramage 24.) So, if circumstances alter cases, how can we look beyond them and to them at the same time? Easy, with rhetoric. Aristotle’s definition uses the phrase, “the available means of persuasion.” In other words, sift through the circumstances, or surrounding elements, of your case and use the ones most favorable to you and most disagreeable to your opposition. Sound unfair? It’s not, it’s rhetorical.

The second road of rhetoric’s definition that I meandered down is an offshoot of Circumstance Way and it connects to Existentialism. One of my favorite points Ramage makes in his book is his collective grouping of the existential philosophy under the banner of multiculturalism. This is one souvenir I’m taking home. “The once highly touted “situational ethic’…today flies under various banners such as ‘multiculturalism…’” (Ramage 6.) According to Existentialists, one does not look to any moral law or code when determining the right thing to do in a situation. “Every individual is free to pursue their own course according to the particulars of the situation.” (Ramage 6.) “Particulars of the situation” has a very reminiscent tone of “circumstances”. To describe multiculturalism as existential is clever and unique, for me personally. As a secondary education major, I am constantly hearing the praises of multiculturalism sung, with words like acceptance and unity wiggled into its chorus. However, the way Ramage reveals multiculturalism is a bit more solitary. The previous hand-holding around the campfire hymn is transformed into a one-man band that could care less whether you like his artistic vision or not. “Everyone finds their own way in their own situation” (Ramage 6.) Multiculturalism described like this rings more true and makes a lot more sense. One child’s bedtime story in the city of Guadalajara, Mexico, is going to be much different from the one told in Manhattan, New York. For one thing, it will be told in different languages. For another, the one in Guadalajara may be shorter, due to the warmer climate’s assistance in lulling the child to sleep faster. In Manhattan, the story may be told in a sixth story, air-conditioned apartment with the windows shut to keep out the noise of traffic. In Mexico, perhaps it is told in a first story bedroom with the windows open to allow in a cool breeze. No one story or method of telling is right or wrong. However, using rhetorical device by examining the circumstances of both “cases”, one could make a variety of persuasive points. For example, a critic of the Manhattan bedtime story could say, “With the windows shuts, the child won’t get enough fresh air, thus he won’t receive enough oxygen to the brain enabling him to truly absorb the story and master its concepts.” A critic of the Guadalajaran bedtime story could just as well say, “With the windows open, the child will become distracted by the heat. He will fail to grasp the story’s meaning due to this distraction.” One telling does not affect the other, however a rhetorical analysis, as well as the aforementioned Aristotelian pick-and-choose, of the circumstances surrounding both cases can strongly sway our perceptions of them.

A third destination I would like to revisit isn’t too far from circumstance or Existentialism, it is identity. The bridge to Ramage’s “tripartite division of identity” is a one-way. If you try to go back over it the way you came from Existentialism, you’re going to bump heads with another Ramage reader, and that hurts. They just aren’t compatible, or are they? We may just have to slip on those rhetorical-rimmed lenses again for a closer look, but that’s for later on.

Ramage’s identity triumvirate is as follows, “the given, the readymade, and the constructed (or homemade).” (Ramage 42.) Ramage describes the given as “inherited” or “acquired.” The readymade is “prefabricated by others…(and) on offer through the workplace, the marketplace, and the cultural space we occupy.” The constructed is based on available models “within limits” which we can choose to accept or reject. (Ramage 42.) Ramage begins to describe the identity trio with a reference to “however much he may desire to be an NBA center,” extraordinary height is not in his DNA so the dream cannot flourish. To make this clearer, I’ve chosen the lead singer of the band Weezer as my example in presenting the identity trio. Ramage’s remark about DNA and height reminded me of a random anecdote about Cuomo I discovered on Wikipedia. The artist was born with “his left leg 44mm shorter than the other.” (Wikipedia.) He underwent a painful surgical procedure which he likened to “crucifying” his leg in order to correct the difference in length. The medical malady is a part of Cuomo’s given identity. He was born with it. The disproportion of his limbs is an inherited, genetic trait. His desire to correct the physical flaw can be attributed to his readymade identity. Attending high school in the late 80s, early 90s America, one can assume his readymade self-conscious identity can be attributed to the aesthetically obsessed society he matured in. Perhaps a cruel joke or rude concentration on his deformity planted to self-conscious stigmatic root in his cultural readymade identity. After Weezer’s financial success with the release of their first album, “The Blue Album”, Cuomo opted to have the experimental leg-stretching surgery. Did he choose to have the painful procedure because his defect didn’t coincide with his constructed, chosen “rock-star” identity? Or, did the decision have to do with his given identity? Did the genetic makeup of his vocal chords that enabled him to be a successful singer make it financially possible for him to have the surgery? Ramage’s “tripartite division of identity” is more of a lattice work than a division. While the three elements are significantly different, they are also critically intertwined. If what Ramage says is true, that the given identity is affected by our surrounding circumstances, our readymade identity is affected by the prefabrication of consumer offerings, and our constructed identity is affected by available models within limitations, why didn’t the isolated existentialists get the memo? They did, however, the tool of rhetoric has reared its persuasive head, yet again. “Every individual is free to pursue their own course according to the particulars of the situation.” (Ramage 6.) “Particulars of the situation” is just a fancy way of saying circumstance. The interweaving of the identity trio is cut from the same cloth of circumstance as Existentialism is; because “Circumstance alters every case,” right? So while you may not be able to charge across the one way bridge to Existentialism from identity, the stream underneath is shallow and you could certainly, though carefully, wade across.

There you have it, my detailed account of my jaunt through Ramageland. Like Beveridge’s Alaska, I’ve experienced the various geographies of the vast countryside and picked up some interesting chachkas specific to my circumstances along the way. Though I didn’t return a Ramage-phobe, I certainly have incorporated a bit of his culture into my own writing and discourse. Would I recommend this journey to others? Sure, the benefits are many.