Language Intelligence

Romm's Language Intelligence presents the essentials of rhetoric necessary to survive in a culture that values frames over facts. In a society where creating a compelling narrative trumps reality, where “politics is sport is war,” these rhetorical tools of using simple language, repetition, or extended metaphor (among others)are weapons of both defense and attack.
The illustrations he chooses make his argument compelling. Classical verse, Biblical passages, the plays of Shakespeare, speeches of Churchill and Lincoln–as foreshadowed in the title–reinforce the need for these strategies. I've been considering how effective this book would be as a reading in a high school composition class...and I have reservations. I've studied Shakespeare, read the Bible (less studiously than I did the Bard), and thrived on political debate for decades. Romm's illustrations resonate with me, but I'm not sure how accessible they would be to younger persons with different experiences. He does make passing reference to the most recent political campaigns, and the illustration of Lady Gaga's success emanating from her use of repetition and extended metaphor seem a bit forced.
There is not too much new here. Luntz and Lakoff have plowed much of this ground. Romm does collect it all into one basic handbook, and that should be sufficient, especially for his stated goal to help scientists recover control of the climate debate. He does make clear that to be proficient, one must study and practice these strategies, and he does provide the direction and motivation for that undertaking.