July « 2011 « Living Rhetorically in the Real World

26Jul/110

In the Media: writing tips

How cute are the graphics on Ragan.com?!

One of the women I work with recently sent out a few articles, and now I'm completely hooked on Ragan.com. Here are some neat tips you might find useful for your own writing:

- 5 ways to write an e-newsletter people will read

- Keep yourself covered with these 8 proofreading tips

- Who vs. whom: a simple trick for determining when to use each word

- Infographic: do you misuse these 8 words?

- Seven common linguistic peeves

Have you come across any great articles recently, or do you know of any sites that offer fantastic tips for writing and communications work? Share in the comments section below!

Tagged as: common peeves, commonly misused words, e-newsletter tips, how to proofread, how to write a newsletter, infographics, ragan.com, rhetoric, tips on writing, who vs. whom, writing websites No Comments

19Jul/110

Forms of Rhetoric: Handwriting Analysis

When I was younger, I received a book as a gift entitled The Handwriting Analyst's Toolkit: character and personality revealed through graphology. This book is fantastic in that it has beautiful pictures and it examines just about every part of handwriting imaginable, deciphering your personality and mood at the time of writing based on how you slant your writing, how you dot your "i," the type of punctuation you use and so much more. Obviously even at the time I took it all with a grain of salt, and it's fun just to flip through it once in a while. I really enjoy these types of books that analyze the type of person you are based on things like your handwriting or when you're born or if you're the youngest or eldest child and so on.

I had rather forgotten about the book until recently when I was perusing my bookshelves and came across it. I started skimming through it and thought that some of you might enjoy hearing a couple parts of it. Here are some of the things you can analyze about your own handwriting or another person's (again, with a grain of salt, of course ):

How to tell if someone is sincere (page 90):

- Closed tops to "a" and "o" letters.

- A fairly fast speed with a distinct slant to the right.

- An even baseline.

- Signature should be the same size as the rest of the missive.

How to tell if someone is really happy (page 76):

- Rounded loops in the upper or lower zones.

- Steady or regular rhythm within the script.

- Defined extensions on the end strokes - but not too long.

The meaning of doodles (page 83):

- Arrows: an ambitious nature.

- Ladders: a social climber.

- Stars: a determination to succeed.

- Patterns: organizational abilities and power.

Size of script (page 18 - 19):

- Average script: practical, realistic, largely conventional, down-to-earth.

- Large script: inner need to be recognized, expansive nature, inability to concentrate, selfish, lack discipline, restless, optimistic.

- Small script: careful, shy, attention to detail, reliable, loyal, independent, strong and calculating inner drive.

- Variable size script: careless, indecision, moody, wear emotions on their sleeves.

What do you think? Is there any truth to this handwriting analysis? Have you ever analyzed handwriting before? Do you think that what handwriting looks like says something about the person?

Tagged as: analyzing handwriting, are you happy, are you sincere, dotting the i, handwriting analyst's toolkit, large script size, old books, perusing bookshelf, what your handwriting says about you, writing small script No Comments

12Jul/112

Lifestyle Editing: Books I read in June 2011

Books that I both began and finished reading in June 2011:

- Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. I started this book a couple months ago, but finally finished it - and a truly fantastic book it was. I loved it. There were tears in my eyes at the end when she describes holding the turkey hen's egg in her hand and it's starting to hatch. Kingsolver makes me want to be a better person. I'm so excited to go to the farmer market this week

- Nonprofit Kit for Dummies. I'm a big fan of the "for Dummies" books, and this one is right up there with the others I've read. I was really impressed with the vast amount of easy-to-understand, important information that was provided. Granted, it was for American nonprofits, but I still got a lot of valuable information from it. It also led me to know what types of questions to ask and what I should be preparing for/actively doing with The Food Label Movement to attain nonprofit status and how to really make it go places.

- Unsinkable by Sonia Ricotti. Ehhhh. I got this book as a product review and I'm not really into the self-esteem books when they're not related to food issues But I have to say that Ricotti does a decent job of this book - I read the entire thing, and normally I stop reading after the first couple chapters of these kinds of books. Sometimes I might skim the rest, but that's about it. She actually had my interest peaked right until the end. The entire book is a string of stories, which keeps things interesting, so even though the book wasn't really applicable to me, I think it would be really useful for anyone who's going through a tough time in their life and need the inspiration to keep on going.

Books that I started reading in June (or a couple months ago) and have yet to finish:

- The Complete Idiot's Guide to Marathon Training by David A. Levine and Paula Petrella. This book makes me want to run a marathon. Seriously. And I'm no runner! I've taken up a little bit of running because the boyfriend loves it and we'd like to be able to take part in the same activities. I still have a long way to go in terms of endurance, speed and enjoyment, but I find that as long as I run semi-regularly, at a slower pace and not for too long, I really do enjoy running and I start to (little bit by little bit) improve. Reading this book is helping a lot with keeping me motivated, and it has great advice for proper running technique and such. I'm looking forward to, at some point in the (probably distant?) future, running a marathon myself.

- How to Start a Home-based Business by Bert Holtje and Susan Shelly. I like this book. Practical info for anyone starting up their own business! It has lots of things to think about and also advises who you need to talk to in order to being your own business.

Tagged as: animal vegetable miracle, books by barbara kingsolver, guide to marathon training, motivational author, nonprofit book, nonprofit kit for dummies, self esteem book, self help book, starting a home-based business, training for a marathon, visiting farmer market, working from home 2 Comments

5Jul/113

Analyzing Everyday Rhetoric: Hidden messages in logos

Being the nerd that I am, I get such a kick out of logos that contain hidden messages. Click here to read an article all about hidden messages in everyday logos!

A couple of my favourites are the hidden kiss between the K and the I in the Hershey's Kisses logo:

...the arrow in the FedEx logo:

(We learned about this one in one of my rhetoric courses a couple years ago, and I've had a special place in my heart for this particular logo ever since. The arrow is between the E and the X if you're having trouble finding it ).

...and the conductor in the London Symphony Orchestra logo:

(Very stylized).

Know of any other logos with hidden messages? And can anyone else find the fish in the Presbyterian Church logo (I can see all the other symbols, but can't for the life of me figure out where the fish is!)? Share in the comments section below!