Personal Essays

Words and Police Brutality

There has been a lot of discussion in America recently on police brutality. Much of the rhetoric has centered around “structural racism” versus a “few bad apples.” As portrayed in political circles, the constructs behind these seem irresolvably opposed to each other. Structural racism contends that problems need to be solved through reforms in the system while others say that police officers should be filtered through means of enhancing personal responsibility. I do not have…

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Writing-Communication

Review: Verbal Judo: The Gentle Art of Persuasion

Thompson has an interesting professional biography. He earned a PhD in rhetoric, taught at a community college, decided he didn’t like academe, and went into police work. I have never met anyone who has combined police work with rhetoric, but Thompson seems to have been successful at this task. His main content consists of teaching about rhetoric – or less pretentiously, verbal communication. However, he entertains by filling in with stories about police work, family…

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