Rhetoric Ignored and Blocked Progress - but 'NewView' Writing Principles Enhance

Progress
Those who promote Rhetoric as the system to follow in teaching writing have igno
red major scholarship advances on Rhetoric in the Twentieth Century. And histori
cal evidence shows Rhetoric blocked progress in the Roman Empire and was a major
part of its fall.
Provo, UT, March 08, 2010 -- Bill Drew, the CEO of NewView Options, recently pub
lished his new e-book, The Secret DNA of Writing Essays - And Everything Else, w
hich has been well received in Amazon's Kindle store. Drew says his book helps s
tudents create content for their writings, unlike Rhetoric, which works only wit
h form. Drew claims that, not only is Rhetoric focused mainly on form and not co
ntent, but that the followers of Rhetoric have ignored scholarly progress in the
ir own field. He also claims there is historical proof to show that Rhetoricians
have blocked the progress of western civilization.
When pressed to explain how followers of the Rhetoric camp have ignored progress
in their own field, Drew explained, "Believe it or not, one of their own has sa
id so. One of the most distinguished and popular of modern proponents of Rhetori
c has been Wayne C. Booth, Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Ch
icago. In his book The Rhetoric of RHETORIC (2004), Booth frankly states: 'Perha
ps the most influential of all those [Rhetoricians] discussed here, [Chaim] Pere
lman is by now sadly neglected.' If 'sadly neglected' doesn't mean ignored, then
I'm clueless as to what it really does mean."
Booth was referring to Perelman's book, The New Rhetoric (1969), which was a rea
l answer to the growing demand for a 'New Rhetoric' in the field of Rhetoric and
writing. "Perelman's ideas stressed the importance of audience and values in Rh
etoric, which have been underemphasized for centuries. Perelman's emphasis fits
perfectly with my own NewView principle of writing, 'What's new to the reader,'
which also emphasizes audience and values."
Drew continued his explanation by pointing out another book that has been largel
y ignored, Rhetorical Traditions and the Teaching of Writing (1984), by scholars
C. H. Knoblauch and Lil Brannon. He said the authors showed conclusively that A
ristotle and other ancient sages did not provide any way for exploring new knowl
edge and new understanding, only for confirming already accepted knowledge. Knob
lauch and Brannon also pointed to Renee Descartes, John Locke, and Hugh Blair -
each a towering figure in the intellectual world - as stressing the importance o
f newness in thinking and in writing as being interrelated. "So why haven't Knob
lauch's and Brannon's ideas made it into the mainstream of writing theory? In al
l fairness, I can only conclude that they have simply been ignored by the writin
g community - which I believe has been one of the reasons for the current crisis
in writing in public schools.
Drew also claimed that Rhetoric played an important role in the fall of the Roma
n Empire. He points to several historians - H. Idris Bell, Michael Rostovzeff, D
io Chrysostom, and William Gordon Holmes, among others - who recorded that Rheto
ric corrupted the morals of the masses to the point where all they wanted was to
be entertained. By the fifth century A.D., there was no inventiveness and no ne
w thought in the Roman Empire. And without new thought or new insight, there was
no new growth, just an aimless desire for passive pleasures, Drew pointed out.
"On the other hand," said Drew, "my new e-book, The Secret DNA of Writing Essays
- And Everything Else ( http://secretdnaofwritingessays.com/ ), does just the o
pposite: it encourages creativity by providing a process for being creative. Not
only does my NewView system show you how to write, but it also shows you a crea
tive way for analyzing essays, short stories, novels, and everything else. Both
students and teachers love NewView because it goes to the heart of content."
"And that's a far cry from what Rhetoric has traditionally done," continued Drew
, "in its monotone insistence on nothing but forms - and ancient forms at that,
handed down from the days of the Greek Empire, which died off over two thousand
years ago. Rhetoric couldn't handle progress and newness then, and Rhetoric can'
t handle newness and progress now. Same old story, over and over."
Drew's e-book, The Secret DNA of Writing Essays - And Everything Else, is availa
ble now online ( http://bit.ly/BuySecretDNABook ) for $12.50. It is also availab
le on Amazon.com as a Kindle e-book for $9.50. The companion software, NewView E
ssay Services, which automates the thesis-making process in Secret DNA, is avail
able on his website ( http://bit.ly/SecretDNASoftware ) on a subscription basis
for 3-, 6-, and 12-month terms ($15.50, $20.50, $30.50). Drew's newest e-book, T
he Secret DNA of Analyzing Short Stories, will soon be available for $6.50 on hi
s website ( http://bit.ly/BuySecretDNABook ).
About NewView Options:
Founded in 2008, NewView Options is a Provo, UT, firm specializing in the teachi
ng and training of writing, for both beginners and the more advanced. The compan
y is focused on promoting its propriety NewView approach to writing, communicati
ons, and teaching. NewView Options provides Education Discount rates for school
districts. Call 1-801-373-0447, visit http://secretdnaofwritingessays.com/ or e-
mail billdrew@richcontent.com
Contact:
Bill Drew
NewView Options
Provo, UT USA
801-373-0447
billdrew@richcontent.com
http://secretdnaofwritingessays.com/