Rhetorical Theory (Fall 2024) (original) (raw)
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Theories of Rhetoric (Graduate)
An in-depth study of rhetorical theories which (sic) have had significant impact on the research, teaching, and practice of communication behavior. Students must write a lengthy research paper and complete two essay exams in order to successfully complete this course.
The topic of rhetoric and stylistics in philosophy opens up the broader question for the Western tradition of the relationship between rhetoric and philosophy. Rhetoric can be considered in two ways: either as a separate form of discourse, used by certain individuals at certain times for certain distinct purposes (persuasion), or as a general feature of all discourse insofar as every linguistic act unfolds in a style and aims to produce an effect on the receiver (move, instruct, entertain, deceive, convince. Philosophy likewise has gone through periods of institutional and societal isolation from other forms of discourse as well as periods where it reigned as queen over all other sciences and modes of expression. In short, both can have either particular applications or universal significance. This article will pursue the different modes of interaction between rhetoric and philosophy, first historically and then in terms of systematic and conceptual issues.
Rhetorical analysis (text for teaching, 2006)
The key question in rhetorical analysis concerns the relationships that the speakers (or writers of texts) construct between themselves and the audience with their texts. Who is the speaker in the text? Who does the text address? How does the "matter itself", the topic of the text, function as part of the addressing? How does the text carry the opportunities for social relationships, links and distinctions, harmony and discord? Ultimately, we are dealing with the political aspects of a text: how does it invite you to act?
Rhetoric is a powerful tool, perhaps the preeminent capacity of our sentient species. In this paper, I seek to: (1) Define rhetoric in some of its various associations and usages, (2) depict ways in which it is increasingly used in our modern day with destructive and calamitous consequences, and (3) discuss its ideal manifestation through examination of the works of the father of rhetoric, Marcus Tullius Cicero, and emphasize its use as a tool for the up leveling of humanity. I propose that human beings have a solemn responsibility to make an exacting examination of rhetoric. I propose that the deterioration of language leads to the devolution of humanity. I further propose that the cultivation of expansive vocabulary, the study of great rhetoricians both past and present, and a focused application of the principles of persuasive language will reorient our species towards its evolutionary path. The tyranny of space limitations in this paper makes this a daunting task. In the end, I hope to reveal some touch points that will lead the reader to further seeking and understanding.
Contemporary Rhetorical Theory (G)
Contemporary Rhetorical Theory prepares students to participate in ongoing conversations within rhetorical studies. The seminar is organized into two parts. Part I examines foundational texts in twentieth century rhetorical theory that address, in various ways, the emergent communicative, cultural, and institutional problematics of modernity. We will closely examine four of these intellectual strains coursing through twentieth century rhetorical theory: the antimodern impulse, the modern argumentation tradition, dramatistic theory, and theoretical developments that fall under the rubric of “postmodernism.” Part II focuses on key ideas and terms that continue to animate scholarly debates: rhetoric’s scope and function, the rhetorical situation, publics and counterpublics, the rhetoric of science, agency, and materiality. The organizing assumption of this part of the seminar is that by reading texts in direct conversation with each other, students will gain an appreciation for and ability to intervene in the theoretical struggles that continue to shape rhetorical theory. We will couple readings on these foundational issues in contemporary rhetorical theory with scholarship from the emerging literature on posthumanism and new materialism. This seminar will encourage a robust consideration of how posthumanist and new materialist perspectives might unsettle received theory and provide new horizons for theorizing rhetoric anew—or, alternatively, how these materials might arrange with us to help us sense differently and produce things!