In his Rhetoric, Aristotle taught that analogies such as metaphors and similes function as ways to “get at something fresh” (as one translation puts it). They have a cognitive, teaching function that could be used to instruct and persuade an audience if used correctly.
Author Archives: guest
Well, that’s one way to do it
Last week a man in my ward was driving with a coworker (the coworker was actually driving) between areas here at the military base where we live and work. They were driving a long stretch of road – straight, unpopulated, no stop signs. One of the security vehicles followed them closely for a few miles. They didn’t think much of it because there aren’t exactly a lot of options for getting from one area to another; there is usually just one road, so they figured the security guy was just going to the same place.
Eventually the flashing lights on the security vehicle went on (I’m not sure if he also used his siren). The coworker expressed dismay because he was going the speed limit and couldn’t imagine what he had done, but they pulled over.
The security guy got out of his vehicle and approached them. The coworker asked the security guy what he had done.
“Oh, I don’t want to talk to you. I want to talk to him,” the security guy – who also happens to be the first councilor in the bishopric – said, pointing to the passenger, who was the man in my ward. “I wanted to know if you and your wife would speak in church this Sunday.”
Top Talks?
If you nose around the BYU Radio website for a while, you’ll come across a fun little page, with a rather straight-forward title: the Top Talks list, which shows you the most popular Church talks (mostly BYU devotionals) offered for download on the site. There’s both a list for the week so far (the top three as of 3pm EST today were by John Bytheway, President Kimball, and Elder Bednar,) and for all time* (the top three, again as of 3pm EST, were by Elder Bednar, John Bytheway, and Elder Holland.)
The First Endowments
Today marks the 165th anniversary of the first endowments being given in the latter days. At that time, the Nauvoo temple was still far from completion. Baptisms for the dead were conducted in the cellar font, but there was not yet a place for the endowment. The upper room of the Red Brick Store in Nauvoo would have to suffice. “Although on one occasion Joseph Smith stated that in the days of poverty the Saints could obtain their endowments on a mountain, there were no mountains in the vicinity of Nauvoo. Moreover, the surrounding prairie offered insufficient privacy for the administration of temple ordinances…. Apparently the one place where he felt he had enough control of access to insure the required privacy was in his own store.” (1) On 4 May 1842, Joseph Smith gathered nine men (2) and gave them the endowment.
Mitt Romney’s favorite novel!
I really have to work on my dissertation, and the “Romney thing” is become increasingly tepid and overdone in the ‘Nacle –
BUT – (this is way too good to pass up) – Romney just revealed his favorite novel, and suddenly I just might vote for him after all (okay, not really). Find out what it is below the fold: