Well, I think I was in utero during the OJ Simpson trial, so this is a trip down memory lane for some of my readers and ancient history for me.

I am taking a very enjoyable class on rhetoric. Let me preempt your joke about Washington gridlock. The class goes back to rhetoric as it was studied up to the last century, with its basis in Aristotle’s treatise called, appropriately enough, Rhetoric.  We also read sample speeches to discuss their use of rhetorical techniques. One of these is the defense’s closing statement from the OJ case, delivered by Mr. John Cochran.

Our midterm exam was yesterday; part of this exam involved identifying representative quotes from the readings. I was doing well, feeling pretty good, and then I spent 15 of 35 minutes the test took staring at one of the last quotes. Knowing I had only a few speakers from the syllabus remaining who I had not identified already, I decided to go with  Mr. Cochran, knowing this was wrong. 

Even if it didn’t fit, at least I didn’t quit.