Tag Archives: rhetoric

‘You Have No Authority Here, Jackie Weaver’

Posted on February 6, 2021 by JMN

… I was momentarily stirred to hear there were some handbags between Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer in one of parliament’s corridors after prime minister’s questions on Wednesday… According to some reports, the Labour leader was “puce” and “rattled”… I … Continue reading →

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Dada Besmirched

Posted on February 4, 2021 by JMN

It is radical in its inanity, a legislative chamber designed by dadaists. No, Ezra Klein! Comparing the U.S. Senate to a Dada design sullies Dada and its legacy. There’s a better comparison elsewhere in Klein’s essay: In 2012, Steven Teles, … Continue reading →

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Away with Wayward Words!

Posted on January 30, 2021 by JMN

In a dispute with the EU, AstraZeneca’s CEO insists their contract requires only “best reasonable efforts” to meet delivery schedules. Lawyers disagreed over the language of the E.U. contract, which was only partly made public.(Steven Erlanger and Matina Stevis-Gridneff, “E.U. … Continue reading →

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‘Style Is Character’

Posted on January 29, 2021 by JMN

Didion once wrote, “Style is character…” Rhetorically, a “this is that” assertion that plops two abstractions around a copulative can be a facile expedient for simulating profundity. Nathan Heller comments that Didion’s observation about style has to do with “the … Continue reading →

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‘Symphony of Tufts and Touches’

Posted on January 21, 2021 by JMN

How is this doggyphile and wannabe painter not to love the rendition of a master? The art expert Frédérick Chanoit said the painting, measuring 32.5cm by 24.5cm, had been produced in 20 minutes and is an example of Manet’s technical … Continue reading →

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On a Parlous Trek the Ground Slopes East

Posted on January 17, 2021 by JMN

The gap between China and the United States is shrinking as China is the only major economy expected to report economic growth for 2020 despite the pandemic. And brawling with itself at some crossroad truck stop far over the horizon … Continue reading →

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The Rhetoric of Figments

Posted on January 12, 2021 by JMN

A classic mnemonic for spelling “graffiti” is that it “doesn’t have two fucking titties.” And the classic graffiti on locker room urinals is “A lot of pricks hang out here.” These durable tropes capture the sophomoric tenor of Chris Malone’s … Continue reading →

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The Other Virus

Posted on January 8, 2021 by JMN

The cartoon by Brendan Loper is tagged “Very good people.” The tagline evokes the Unite the Right “Tiki-torch” rally of August 12, 2017, held in Charlottesville, Virginia. A self-declared white supremacist rammed his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing … Continue reading →

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‘The Flag Is Also Waving You’

Posted on January 3, 2021 by JMN

Someone who studies flags is a “vexillologist.” There’s a North American Vexillological Association for persons devoted to this study. In the 18th and 19th centuries, a flag was not so much a symbol as a practical way to tell from … Continue reading →

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‘I Belong to Brazil’

Posted on December 30, 2020 by JMN

The 1940s debut novel of Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector (1920 – 1977), “Perto do Coração Selvagem” (“Near to the Wild Heart”), is described as the “reflections of a young female protagonist determined to live freely in a world ordered by … Continue reading →

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