Monday, October 27, 2014

All ABOARD the Ramus Hate Train.

   It's not that I hated Ramus. As Ian mentioned in his blog, there were some points he made against Quintilian that I found to be in line with comments I had made while reading earlier in the semester. However, I agree with Cicily in her idea of Ramus as "cocky," in that his hatred towards some of these rhetoricians was so great I had a difficult time following his argument.

   Wait! What was that I just said!?!

"I had a difficult time following his argument."

   Could it be that RAMUS -- the very rhetorician who grilled Quintilian on his lack of clarity -- is struggling with clarity??? Of all people, I know what it is to struggle with clarity. In case you haven't noticed -- I have an issue with tangents. I like them. Speaking of which -- Wednesday I'm going to Disney World with the Writing Center and all I can think about is, "THANK GOD, Ramus won't be in my audience, critiquing my clarity, because SHIT!"

   Anyways, one of my favorite lines of Ramus's was on the last page, where he says, "For, good God, why should there be such a great, mixed-up confusion, when the whole matter is very clear and easy?"(697). Something tells me that he wasn't very good with the ladies. Sigh. Poor Ramus. 
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3 comments:

  1. UnknownOctober 27, 2014 at 7:13 PM

    Poor Ramus? POOR RAMUS!? I have to agree with Cicily, he was ridiculously cocky and until he finally started to offer what he thought should be included in Quintilian's text, I didn't really want to continue reading.

    ... but I did.

    I joined the Ramus hate train. How about you?

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    Replies
    1. UnknownOctober 29, 2014 at 11:06 AM

      I'm surely on that train... riding front row.

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  2. Mandy H.October 29, 2014 at 10:42 AM

    Weirdly, I kind of liked Ramus. Much of what I read in Ramus's diatribe against Quintilian mirrored my own internal dialogue while reading Quintilian. But, yes, he was a bit of an asshole, too. What this particularly drove home for me is that it wasn't necessarily what he said, but rather the way he said it that was a bit off-putting; sort of fitting for a guy who rails on about style...

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