The Top Thinkers of Beyond the Rhetoric

With traditional media like newspapers and magazines, communication was largely a one-way street. The columnist or journalist would write an article and that would mostly be the end of that. With online media like blogs, though, it’s far more of a conversation as readers can actively comment and engage with the material. And I like to refer to the people who comment on Beyond the Rhetoric as “thinkers.” To this end, the people who submit the greatest number of comments each month are the “top” thinkers. Looking at last month’s list, there are some repeat appearances for the month of July.

Standing at the top of the comment heap is Ray Ebersole. Between all the other work that he does, Ray has submitted his final research paper to complete his college degree. For this essay, he decided to do a literary analysis of The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. He discusses the symbolism and the hidden meaning behind the story.

Heading to the hills of Singapore, we find Betshopboy training for TMBT 2013. The Most Beautiful Thing is an ultra trail marathon that takes place on Mount Kinabalu in Borneo and it involves a lot of hilly terrain. That explains the current training program for our resident marathon runner. He also shared a great video that talks a little more about TMBT 2013 and what the race is all about.

Continuing with our journeys through Asia, we visit with AOA in China. His blog is mostly in Chinese, but there is a section dedicated to posts in English. Diving through the archives, we find the Learn Something New series where he explores some unique terms in English, like serendipitous. The post not only explores the meaning of the world, but also its storied origins in the title of a fairy tale: The Three Princes of Serendip.

There are teenagers who are wise beyond their years, just as there are people in their 30s and 40s who still act like schoolchildren. While the post from Lesley Chang stems (at least in part) from the dating scene, her description of the difference between a girl and a woman goes far beyond that. Have you ever thought about the fear of being alone? The creation of drama? The realization that you are not the center of the universe? Maturity doesn’t automatically come with age; it mostly comes from experience.

And finally, in the fifth and final spot we have Thom. He doesn’t have a blog… or at least he didn’t link to one, but I’d like to thank him for commenting on Beyond the Rhetoric anyway. 🙂