I love general conference. Watching 10 hours of prophets, apostles and other Church leaders give talks is fantastically edifying (seriously though, no sarcasm intended). Typically, though, when I'm watch general conference, analyzing the rhetors' strategies is not high on my list of learning strategies. However, because my mind is being expanded by my university experience, I had to put on my Writing 150 cap and look out for a talk that exhibited some rhetorical technique.
Luckily for me, I was able to dedicate my attention to other strategies after the first talk, because the opening discourse of the Saturday morning session was a prime specimen, not to mention a fantastic talk by all other metrics. It was given by President Uchtdorf, a member of the first presidency of the Church, and thus an orator who enjoys natural ethos by virtue of his office. However, there are other aspects of his stye which further add to the ethos which, to me, is the bed rock of his rhetor.
First, President Uchtdorf is from Germany, not the USA. He has a different background than the typical general authority. He represents diversity, equality, and internationality in a Church which is led by a small group of American men (many of whom are not only American, but Utahn!). An aside: I in no way mean that this is an "American" or "Utah" church. I am quite proud of the fact that the majority of Church membership lives outside of the United States and is well represented in so many areas of the world. I love our international brothers and sisters and pray that the restored gospel will continue to reach new areas of the world. I would anticipate that being an "international" general authority will become the norm, rather than the exception in coming decades.
For now, however, President Uchtdorf represents a minority, and at least from my perspective, it builds his ethos as a rhetor.
President Uchtdorf is also fond of story telling, and this talk is no exception, though he refrains from telling as many aviation stories as we all know he'd like to. The two main personal experiences he share are his learning struggles with technology and his attempts to share the gospel.
The former casts President Uchtdorf in a very human light. Despite being one of only 15 people on the planet to whom God has entrusted possession of all contemporary priesthood keys, President Uchtdorf still has struggles which we all can identify with on a daily basis. We see him as a human, not as a robot or as some type of strangely and totally infallible spiritual being. Because we can identify with him, we trust him and are put at ease. At the same time, we see Presidennt Uchtdorf as a seventy year old man who has, despite all odds, learned to use "an email address, a Twitter account, and a Facebook page," and "owns a smartphone, a tablet, a laptop, and a digital camera." By beginning with this experience, President Uchtdorf prepares us to more effectively receive the rest of his message.
The second story I'll mention (sharing the gospel) lends him ethos because it portrays him as a missionary in a normal setting. We further identify with him and his missionary struggles, and admire him for his efforts.
While the ethos alone does not lead to any action or spiritual experience (we don't listen to general conference just so we can admire Church leadership!) it does enable President Uchtdorf to bring ethos and logos together as he reminds us of the Plan of Salvation of our God in order to edify and encourage his audience to be more grateful and appreciative of God's love as we strive every day to become more like Him. And that is why we listen to general conference.
Sunday, October 16, 2016
Friday, October 14, 2016
3. Research Paper Initial Research
In my Writing 150 class, we are writing research papers. The assignment is to find a story from our family history, develop a research question around it, and research it.
I initially chose to research the missions of my great-great-great-grandfather, Simon Christensen, who emigrated from Denmark after his first mission but later returned on two subsequent missions. As I researched, however, I because more and more curious about Simon's family.
Simon Christensen was born on August 13, 1846 in Bindslev, Hjorring, Denmark, to Christen Simonsen, of nearby Tversted and Ane Jensen of Bindslev. Four years later, on October 27, 1850, Christen died, leaving Ane alone to care for their three children: Simon (age 4), Marie (age 2), and Christen, who according to FamilySearch data was born the day before his father's death.
I was immediately curious about what my grandmother did with her three young children. I have done some research among my family, but I have so far not found record of Ane's story. Did she continue life as a widow? Remarry? Move back in with her parents? With her late husband's parents? There is nothing to suggest an answer to any of these questions.
My curiosity was further piqued when I reviewed the story of Simon's conversion to the LDS faith, which I had read in conjunction with the stories of his missions.
Hjorring is a very sparsely populated and agricultural area even today (Bindslev, for example had a population of 1,101 in 2014). Simon began working on a neighboring farm when he was 17 (roughly 1864). This in itself brings new questions. Did the Christensens have a farm? What about Ane's parents? Had she been managing the farm that Christen may have left with her at his death? If any of these answers are true, why did Simon leave the family farm in order to work?
During his time there, Simon met his first Mormons: neighbors to the farm where he was working. There was much opposition to the new religion at the time, but the family that owned the farm where Simon worked were open enough to listen to them present their new religion. With time, Simon came to accept their doctrine as the true gospel of Jesus Christ, and was baptized in June of 1867. The fact that Simon was also involved in the conversations between his employer and their neighbors leads me to believe that he was also living with them. Otherwise, I find it unlikely that he would have been present during the time that they would have been talking about it - probably on Sundays or during any leisure time. This is also supported by the fact that no other member of Simon's family was baptized.
Only two months later, Simon was called to serve a mission for his new faith, which he did for the next 4 years. At the conclusion of his mission, he barely got enough money together to travel from his mission field in Alborg to Copenhagen, and used loaned money to board a ship bound for America.
This makes it seem unlikely to me that he returned home to his family, or had much contact with them.
My research question at this point remains unclear. There are several things I'd like to know: did Ane remarry? How did she survive as a widow? Did Simon stay in contact with them? Were they angry because he joined the Church? Did he ever see them again during his subsequent missions?
I initially chose to research the missions of my great-great-great-grandfather, Simon Christensen, who emigrated from Denmark after his first mission but later returned on two subsequent missions. As I researched, however, I because more and more curious about Simon's family.
Simon Christensen was born on August 13, 1846 in Bindslev, Hjorring, Denmark, to Christen Simonsen, of nearby Tversted and Ane Jensen of Bindslev. Four years later, on October 27, 1850, Christen died, leaving Ane alone to care for their three children: Simon (age 4), Marie (age 2), and Christen, who according to FamilySearch data was born the day before his father's death.
I was immediately curious about what my grandmother did with her three young children. I have done some research among my family, but I have so far not found record of Ane's story. Did she continue life as a widow? Remarry? Move back in with her parents? With her late husband's parents? There is nothing to suggest an answer to any of these questions.
My curiosity was further piqued when I reviewed the story of Simon's conversion to the LDS faith, which I had read in conjunction with the stories of his missions.
Hjorring is a very sparsely populated and agricultural area even today (Bindslev, for example had a population of 1,101 in 2014). Simon began working on a neighboring farm when he was 17 (roughly 1864). This in itself brings new questions. Did the Christensens have a farm? What about Ane's parents? Had she been managing the farm that Christen may have left with her at his death? If any of these answers are true, why did Simon leave the family farm in order to work?
During his time there, Simon met his first Mormons: neighbors to the farm where he was working. There was much opposition to the new religion at the time, but the family that owned the farm where Simon worked were open enough to listen to them present their new religion. With time, Simon came to accept their doctrine as the true gospel of Jesus Christ, and was baptized in June of 1867. The fact that Simon was also involved in the conversations between his employer and their neighbors leads me to believe that he was also living with them. Otherwise, I find it unlikely that he would have been present during the time that they would have been talking about it - probably on Sundays or during any leisure time. This is also supported by the fact that no other member of Simon's family was baptized.
Only two months later, Simon was called to serve a mission for his new faith, which he did for the next 4 years. At the conclusion of his mission, he barely got enough money together to travel from his mission field in Alborg to Copenhagen, and used loaned money to board a ship bound for America.
This makes it seem unlikely to me that he returned home to his family, or had much contact with them.
My research question at this point remains unclear. There are several things I'd like to know: did Ane remarry? How did she survive as a widow? Did Simon stay in contact with them? Were they angry because he joined the Church? Did he ever see them again during his subsequent missions?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)