Re: theory and practice (tagmemics) -Reply

[bobbie silk <bsilk@keller.clarke.edu>]

Oh, Cliff, I'm ROTFL (for our new friends, that's internetspeak for
"rolling on the floor laughing")!  Your metaphor certainly gives me an
interesting perspective on what I teach in class.  I'm sure I do indeed
miss "much of the pile" and that all I can truly offer my students will be
"a synthesis of sorts."  I think my students might agree with your
metaphor, but I'm not sure they'd see themselves as red worms.  I
personally have no problem with it.

  --Bobbie
    bsilk@keller.clarke.edu

On Wed, 22 Jan 1997, The Writing Center wrote:

> Hey Bobbie,
> 
> I think what you said about theory makes good sense.  I'd go even
> further and claim that theory IS metaphor--no more and no less,
> subject to the same vagaries of interpretation.
> 
> And thanks for the compost metaphor--I often imagine humans as red
> worms, forcing our way (mostly blindly) through the world of
> compost--encountering, digesting, processing material (and, of
> course, missing much of the pile).  Leaving behind a synthesis of
> sorts.  Until someone comes along and turns the world upside
> down--just about the time that things begin to look familiar.
> 
> Cliff Barnett
> PSU Writing Center
> wrcenter@irn.pdx.edu
>