Modern rhetoric refers to the study and practice of effective communication in contemporary contexts. It encompasses a broad range of techniques and theories related to persuasive language, argumentation, and discourse across various mediums, including spoken, written, and digital formats. Key aspects of modern rhetoric include: 1. **Theoretical Foundations**: Modern rhetoric builds on classical rhetorical theory, which includes principles formulated by ancient scholars like Aristotle, Cicero, and Quintilian.
"On the Sublime" typically refers to a philosophical and aesthetic treatise titled "On the Sublime" (or "Peri Hypsous" in Greek), attributed to Longinus, a Roman or Greek writer from the 1st century AD. The text discusses the concept of the sublime, which refers to a quality of greatness or grandeur that inspires awe and admiration.
In rhetoric, a parenthesis is a figure of speech that involves inserting additional information, commentary, or an explanatory remark into a sentence. This insertion is typically set off by punctuation—commonly parentheses, dashes, or commas—and serves to provide extra context or clarification without interrupting the main flow of the sentence.
"Pensée unique" is a French term that translates to "unique thought" or "single thought." It is often used in political contexts to describe a situation where a specific ideology or set of beliefs dominates the discourse, leaving little room for dissent or alternative viewpoints. The concept is frequently associated with the idea of political correctness or ideological conformity, where any deviation from the prevailing thought is discouraged or marginalized.
"Icebergs" can refer to several different concepts depending on the context: 1. **Natural Ice Formations**: Icebergs are large masses of freshwater ice that have broken off from glaciers or ice shelves and float in open water. Most icebergs are found in polar regions, particularly in the Arctic and Antarctic. They can vary significantly in size and shape, and the majority of their volume is submerged underwater, with only a small portion visible above the surface.
Pro-war rhetoric refers to language, arguments, and messaging that advocate for military action or support the idea of engaging in war. This type of rhetoric is often used by political leaders, government officials, activists, and various organizations to promote military interventions or justify armed conflict.
"Psychobabble" is a term that refers to the use of psychological jargon or language in a way that is often vague or misleading. It may involve the superficial application of psychological concepts, sometimes to manipulate or influence others rather than to provide meaningful insight. The term can also describe conversations or discussions that employ psychological terminology in a casual or casual manner, often without a solid understanding of the actual concepts being discussed.
Recitation generally refers to the act of reading or repeating something aloud, often in a formal or structured setting. This can pertain to different contexts: 1. **Literature and Poetry**: In this context, recitation involves reading a poem or excerpt from a literary work with expression and often with an emphasis on clarity, emotion, and interpretation. This is common in educational settings where students may be required to memorize and recite works.
The rhetorical situation is a framework used to analyze how various elements interact when communication occurs. It helps to understand the context in which a message is conveyed and received. The main components of the rhetorical situation include: 1. **Speaker/Writer**: The individual or group conveying the message. Their credibility, perspective, and purpose shape how the message is delivered. 2. **Audience**: The individuals or groups for whom the message is intended.
Sarcastaball is a fictional sport that originated from an episode of the animated television series "South Park." It first appeared in the episode titled "A Scause for Applause," which is the 13th episode of the 16th season. In the episode, the characters create Sarcastaball as a parody of traditional football, incorporating exaggerated and nonsensical rules that reflect a satirical take on sports culture, consumerism, and the idea of making sports overly politically correct.
A semantic argument refers to a type of argument that focuses on the meanings of words and phrases, as well as the relationships and implications between them, in order to support a particular claim or conclusion. In various fields, such as philosophy, linguistics, and logic, semantic arguments are often used to clarify ambiguities, resolve disputes over meaning, or analyze the implications of certain phrases or expressions.
A "talking point" refers to a key idea, fact, or argument that is used to support a particular position in discussions, debates, or presentations. Talking points are often crafted to be concise and persuasive, helping individuals or groups communicate their message effectively and ensure consistency in what they say. In politics, for example, talking points might be developed by party leaders or strategists to guide communication among representatives and ensure that everyone conveys a similar message on a specific issue.
Victor Villanueva can refer to different individuals depending on the context. One prominent figure is Victor Villanueva, an American scholar known for his work in rhetoric and composition studies. He has contributed to discussions on language, identity, and the politics of writing in educational settings.
A prime quadruplet is a set of four prime numbers that are closely spaced together in such a way that the first number is usually followed by three numbers that again are all prime. The most common form of a prime quadruplet is in the pattern: \[ (p, p+2, p+6, p+8) \] For example, the prime quadruplet (3, 5, 7, 11) fits this pattern because all four numbers are prime.
"Wooden language" typically refers to a style of communication that is overly formal, bureaucratic, or filled with clichés, often lacking in clarity or emotional depth. This term is often used to describe political speech, corporate communication, or academic writing that is laden with jargon, euphemisms, and vague expressions. The phrase evokes the idea of communication that is rigid, lacking in flexibility or nuance, much like a piece of wood that doesn't bend or adapt.
The Potato Paradox is a thought experiment in mathematics and logic that often serves as an example of counterintuitive results in probability or statistics. It derives from a scenario involving potatoes that are typically about 99% water by weight when freshly harvested and then lose some of that water upon sitting.
String girdling Earth, often referred to as "Earth girdling," is a concept or thought experiment that involves visualizing the Earth encircled by a string or a belt. This is typically used to illustrate concepts in geometry, physics, or mathematics related to circumference and radius. A common use of this idea considers how much shorter the string would need to be to create a circle that is elevated above the surface of the Earth by a given height.
The "Problem of Points" is a historical problem in probability theory that deals with the question of how to fairly divide the stakes in a game when it is interrupted before the conclusion. The problem is often framed in the context of two players who are playing a game of chance, such as flipping a coin or rolling dice, and one player is ahead but the game is cut short due to an unforeseen circumstance.

Pinned article: Introduction to the OurBigBook Project

Welcome to the OurBigBook Project! Our goal is to create the perfect publishing platform for STEM subjects, and get university-level students to write the best free STEM tutorials ever.
Everyone is welcome to create an account and play with the site: ourbigbook.com/go/register. We belive that students themselves can write amazing tutorials, but teachers are welcome too. You can write about anything you want, it doesn't have to be STEM or even educational. Silly test content is very welcome and you won't be penalized in any way. Just keep it legal!
We have two killer features:
  1. topics: topics group articles by different users with the same title, e.g. here is the topic for the "Fundamental Theorem of Calculus" ourbigbook.com/go/topic/fundamental-theorem-of-calculus
    Articles of different users are sorted by upvote within each article page. This feature is a bit like:
    • a Wikipedia where each user can have their own version of each article
    • a Q&A website like Stack Overflow, where multiple people can give their views on a given topic, and the best ones are sorted by upvote. Except you don't need to wait for someone to ask first, and any topic goes, no matter how narrow or broad
    This feature makes it possible for readers to find better explanations of any topic created by other writers. And it allows writers to create an explanation in a place that readers might actually find it.
    Figure 1.
    Screenshot of the "Derivative" topic page
    . View it live at: ourbigbook.com/go/topic/derivative
  2. local editing: you can store all your personal knowledge base content locally in a plaintext markup format that can be edited locally and published either:
    This way you can be sure that even if OurBigBook.com were to go down one day (which we have no plans to do as it is quite cheap to host!), your content will still be perfectly readable as a static site.
    Figure 5. . You can also edit articles on the Web editor without installing anything locally.
    Video 3.
    Edit locally and publish demo
    . Source. This shows editing OurBigBook Markup and publishing it using the Visual Studio Code extension.
  3. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ourbigbook/ourbigbook-media/master/feature/x/hilbert-space-arrow.png
  4. Infinitely deep tables of contents:
    Figure 6.
    Dynamic article tree with infinitely deep table of contents
    .
    Descendant pages can also show up as toplevel e.g.: ourbigbook.com/cirosantilli/chordate-subclade
All our software is open source and hosted at: github.com/ourbigbook/ourbigbook
Further documentation can be found at: docs.ourbigbook.com
Feel free to reach our to us for any help or suggestions: docs.ourbigbook.com/#contact