So this is Ramage

I believe I had a bit of an unfair advantage coming into the enlightenment of reading Ramage. I added this class after the rest of you got started and was well prepared for the long-winded intensity of the first chapter (which went surprisingly well, by the way). There were several components of this chapter that I agreed with, a few I did not and many I questioned the relevance of. Ramage seems to have good (though sometimes pompous) intentions, it's in his follow through were things begin to crumble. He may have thought that separating Rhetorical People and Serious People as he did would aid his points but I found that it primarily placed Rhetorical People above the less imaginative, average-thinking, no fun Serious People. This was my biggest qualm. Also notably detracting from the chapter was his reduntant stating of obvious points and use of big, showy words.
There were some informative notes, however, I particularly enjoyed the statement about Rhetorical People "smudging boundaries and mixing and matching incongruous pairings just to see what one thing looks like in terms of another." I also enjoyed the connection with the slow food movement as I am a cook and thoroughly enjoy the intricacies and components of cooking well.

Looking toward the identity issues discussed in Chapter 2, I found this segment of the book much more readable and applicable to everyday life. As a 21 year old, I can specifically relate to the notion Ramage mentions of finding oneself, the true self that may not be entirely evident. After having read both Plato's and Freud's views on identity, which Ramage references, it was interesting to read Ramages take on the different components of identity. I particularly enjoyed his take on consumer readymade identities, especially considering how materialistic our culture is and how so much of a person's identity in America is based on what they own. The concept of identity being so language driven was also interesting. It brought to mind dinner parties or social events where you meet someone new and form a perception of who they are based on the small talk you both have shared. I suppose P-dog is a good example of unconstructed identity, but I think the use of a dog as this subject would've seemed a little less desparate if it weren't Ramage's own.

So my name is Manasseh Franklin for those of you who don't know. I'm a junoir prowriting major/international studies minor. I recently took a semester off to do the finding oneself bit and I did so by driving across the country, camping for two months while working in the back country of national parks and then road tripping for a little while. But now I'm back in Kutztown, with you folks, getting to know Ramage. I enjoy college but not it's constricting nature, there needs to be more freedom to float, and more time in the mountains. I'll get back there again when my days here are finished.