ENGL/SPCH 4020
A History and Theory of Rhetoric
Like words in sentence, we are useless without each other.
I.A. Richards
The art of rhetoric has a long and diverse history in western culture.
Finding its beginnings in political advocacy and education we can follow
rhetoric’s historical progression as a history of persuasion and, in the
process, a study of the human animal as a languaged being destined to make and
re-make a secure cultural environment through the processes of symbolic action
and terministic dialogue. From its recognized beginnings in ancient
From a practical perspective, this course is designed for students who will
use and/or teach rhetorical strategies and structures in the professional
world. From speech and communication theory to the teaching of critical
and interpretational writing and reading, an understanding of rhetoric’s
place in the history of ideas will help you see the “big picture”
of rhetorical studies and the relative historical chain of events that has
brought us into the political and deeply dialogic world we live in.
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On line materials:
PBS Frontline
Series
Required Texts and Materials:
The History and Theory of Rhetoric. James A Herrick. Allyn
and Bacon, 2001.
The Rhetorical Tradition. Herzberg and Bizzell.
An active UWP Email account.
Assignments
Process Response Journal: A Commonplace Book
Each student will be required to maintain a current reading journal.
Rather than simple summary, I will expect you to maintain a progressive
conversation of your ever-changing view and understanding of rhetoric relative
to assigned readings and class discussion. All entries will be one full
page single-spaced.
Midterm Exam
Midterm exam will be a take-home essay assignment. I will supply a clear
assignment guide with rubric.
Final Exam
Final research essay will serve as the final exam
Papers -- Two papers will be required:
Paper one will comprise a dialogue on the nature of truth between the Sophists,
Plato, and Aristotle. All references will be taken from our readings and
handouts. Length: 5 to 7 pages.
Paper two will be a persuasive research-supported essay that will discuss
a rhetorical problem from the perspective of at least three of our featured
rhetoricians. Length: 8 to 10 pages
Graduate Credit:
Students taking this course for graduate credit will submit a research project
of no fewer than 15 pages. Projects will offer a deep study of a
particular rhetorical school or rhetoric's application to the student's field
of study. All topics must be discussed with me in conference for
approval.
Evaluation Schedule:
I Week one
An Overview of Rhetoric
Herrick: 1-23
Rhetorical Tradition 19-24
Writing:
One page journal entry: Your response to what to what you see as pertinent in
our reading assignment and class discussion. Be sure to use references
from your text and/or class notes.
II Week two and three
The Origins and Early History of Rhetoric
Herrick 31-47
Rhetorical Tradition
Writing:
1. One page journal entry: Discuss your understanding
of the sophistic view of truth with regard to advocacy. Be sure to use
references from your text and/or
class notes
2. Write a one pager that addresses one of our three readings
III Weeks four and five
Plato V the Sophists
a. Socrates v Polus: Rhetoric as Power
b. Socrates v Callicles:
c. Is Plato Fair to the Sophists?
d. Rhetoric in Plato’s Phaedrus: A True Art?
e. Components of a Techne of Rhetoric
History
53-68
Rhetorical Tradition
Phaedrus
(Plato) 113-143 (I would prefer you read the Fowler translation in our
text)
Writing:
One page journal entry: Your response to Plato’s Socrates’
(Phaedrus) view of rhetoric with regard to sophism. Be sure to use
references from your text and/or class notes
IV Weeks five and six
Aristotle on Rhetoric
a. Rhetoric and Dialectic
b. The Rhetorical Settings:
1. Deliberative
2. Epideictic
3. Forensic
c. The Artistic Proofs
1. Logos
2. Pathos
3. Ethos
d. Topoi
Reading:
History
72-87
Rhetorical Tradition
Selected excerpts from Aristotle’s Rhetoric TBA
Writing:
One page journal entry: Note and discuss the differences between
Aristotle’s and Plato’s rhetorical positions. Be sure to use
references from your text and/or class notes
V Week seven
The Romans
a. Historical – Cultural Overview: The Rhetoric
of Politics, Power and Education
b.
c. Quintillian
Reading:
History
93- 114
Rhetorical Tradition
Excerpts from:
De Oratore (
Institutes of Oratory (Quintillian) 318-30 Pagination may differ: (Chp XIV to Chp XX)
Writing:
One page journal entry: Choose one of the rhetoricians from our
readings and identify/discuss how your rhetor represents a Roman
World-View. Be sure to use references from your text and/or class notes
VI Week eight
Rhetoric in Christian Europe
The Renaissance
a. From the medieval era to the Renaissance: An Overview
b. Women and Renaissance Rhetoric
c. Italian Humanism
d. The Turn Toward Dialectic: Rhetoric and the Critics
1. Agricola
2. Peter Ramus
Reading
History
121-131 and 145 - 164
Rhetorical Tradition
From the Advancement of Learning (Bacon) 625 - 630
Writing: Choose one
1. One page journal entry: Why were things so quiet in
the medieval era? Be sure to use references from your text and/or class notes.
2. One page journal entry: Discuss how the Renaissance
revived rhetoric. Be sure to use references from your text and/or class
notes.
VII Week nine
The Enlightenment: The move toward a rhetoric of the written word
a. An Overview – Defining the Enlightenment
c. British Rhetoric – 18th century
Scientism – Campbell
Belletrism -- Blair
Neo-Classical – Whately
Reading:
History
170-188
Rhetorical Tradition
Excerpts from:
Campbell 749 – 755
Blair 796 - 802
Whately 828 - 836
Writing:
One page journal entry: Align one of the rhetoricians discussed in this
chapter with the general consensus of Enlightenment thought. Be sure to
use references from your text and/or class notes
VIII Week ten
The Rhetoric of Situation, Drama, Narration
a. Rhetoric and Social Context
1. Kenneth Burke and Rhetoric/Language as Symbolic Action
a. Terminstic Screens
b. The Pentad
c. Form
b. The Rhetorical Situation
1. Lloyd Bitzer
Reading:
Lakoff and Johnson: from Metaphors We Live By
Luntz Playbook
Lakoff
- Simple Framing
Lakoff - Framing
the Dems
History
224-242
Rhetorical Tradition (and Handouts)
Selections from Kenneth Burke:
Language as Symbolic Action 1034 - 1041
Definition
of Man (handout)
The Psychology of Form
Lloyd Bitzer
The Rhetorical Situation (handout)
Writing:
One page journal entry: Discuss how Kenneth Burke’s rhetorical
theory addresses the ideas put forth by Bitzer and his concept of the
rhetorical situation. Be sure to use references from your text
and/or class notes
Optional assignment: Discuss how Burke and Bitzer represent Greek
rhetorical ideals.
IX Weeks eleven and twelve
The Feminization of Rhetoric: Women in 20th Century Rhetoric and Rhetorical
Studies
a. Anne Berthoff
b. Patricia Bizzell
c. Andrea Lundsford
d. James Berlin
Reading:
Selected handouts TBA
X
Revisiting the History and Culture of Rhetoric: A Review
Research workshop
Journal reviews
Peer response
Outcomes seminar: how much did we learn?
A final word
Reading:
Handout: James Berlin: Rhetoric and Ideology in the Writing
Class.