Comm. 5340 (Contemporary) Rhetorical Methods

Thursdays 6-9pm

Instructor: Brian Lain

Phone (o)- 940-565-4534

(c) 940-453-2359

Email:

Blain@unt.edu

Office 246 Terrill Hall

Office Hours: Tuesdays 2-4 and by appointment

Materials for the Course:

Black, Edwin. (1965). Rhetorical Criticism: A Study in Method.

Sillars, Malcolm O. and Gronbeck, Bruce E. (2001). Communication Criticism Rhetoric, Social Codes, Cultural Studies. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.

A Packet of Photocopied articles, available in two places (1) CopyPro at Hickory and Fry (566-1151) and 2) in Communication Studies Office during business hours.

One package of 5x8 index cards.

Goals of the Course:

This course is designed to be an introduction to the methods of contemporary rhetorical criticism. No attempt is made to provide a comprehensive or exhaustive picture of the field of rhetorical studies. Rather, the readings and assignments use a variety of different authors, perspectives, and methods to introduce what are a number of ongoing research questions in rhetorical studies.

Through the readings, class discussions, and writing assignments, we will:

Begin to address the nature and relationship of object (text), rhetor, method, audience, and critic

Work to understand the nature of rhetorical criticism, where rhetorical criticism has come from, and, most importantly, where rhetorical criticism is headed

Examine pieces of rhetorical criticism not only as examples of a method or commentary on issues but also as articulations of scholarly arguments (this means we will pay attention to not only the content of the articles but also to the moves authors make in order to establish their point).

Discover ways to synthesize rhetorical theory and rhetorical criticism

Investigate the implications of different rhetorical perspectives on individuals, audiences, and the social

Build a vocabulary of different rhetorical terms

Develop a system for organizing major claims from major rhetorical theorists

Practice professional scholarly presentations

Begin to conduct independent research and rhetorical analysis

 

Assignments:

Essay Cards: Over the course of the semester, each participant will produce an "abstract" for each essay we read (excluding the Sillars and Gronbeck). All abstracts should be written (or typed) on a 5x8 index card. Each card should present the following information in this order:

A. Author and Title of the Essay

B. The Central Question(s) raised in the Essay (or Conversation)

C. The Central Claim/Main Point/Thesis of the Essay

D. Crucial Subordinate claims of the essay

E. Relationships to other critics and theorists

F. On the back of the card: list potential points of contact with or implications for your particular project.

Class Presentations: Each participant is required to make three 15-minute presentations to the class on one or more of the assigned readings for that day. Each presentation should: (1) provide a short, cogent exegesis of the essay(s), (2) Contextualize the essay(s) as a part of a conversation, (3) critique the essay(s), and (4) present some discussion questions (photocopied for the class) to prod discussion in a particular direction.

Research Paper (a play in three acts): At the end of the course, you will be responsible for a thoughtful, provocative essay in rhetorical analysis which exhibits independent research, good writing, and, perhaps, even passion. You can focus on a rhetorical text of your choosing that could be a single speech, an image, a series of discourses (which might include speeches or images), or even events.

Choose your text carefully as it will be the focus of your research for the whole semester. You can certainly work with texts that you have worked on, or are working on, for other courses or projects. However, your analysis must be informed by the concepts and readings explored in this course.

The final paper will be broken down into a series of components that should help build toward the final assemblage:

Justification of the text selected/Initial questions (no more than 4 pages)

Historical/Contextual analysis (no more than 7 pages)

Justification of methodology selected (no more than 5 pages)

Longer descriptions of each section are forthcoming. At the end of the term, the final draft will include (substantial) revisions of all of these components, plus your detailed analysis of the text itself and your conclusions/lessons of the analysis for the field (no more than 20 pages plus notes). The final draft is due on the last day of classes (May 2) by 5pm.

Grading

Grades are based on: Reading abstracts and class participation (30%), the in-class presentations (30%), and final paper (justification of text/questions [5%], historical contextual component [10%], justification of method [10%], final draft [15%]).

In order to receive a passing grade for the course, all assignments must be completed. As a rule, incompletes are not an option for this course.

Legal and Logistical Things:

1. Attendance

Students are expected to attend each class session, to have read and synthesized the material to be covered that day, and to be prepared to participate actively and intelligently in class discussions. It is impossible to participate intelligently if one has not completed the reading assignment for the day. Therefore, you must attend and must be prepared to participate. Students also are expected to understand the characteristics of good writing (see the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association , 5th ed., 2001), should be capable of conducting independent research, and should be capable of reporting the results of research in appropriate form.

2. Disability Accommodation

The instructor will cooperate with the university's Office of Disability Accommodation to provide reasonable accommodation to students who need it. Students who wish to self-identify and request assistance under this policy should register in room 318A of the University Union by the second-class day.

3. Assignments and Requirements

All assignments are due on the date specified and must be submitted prior to or during class (not by the end of the day). Late assignments are not accepted, and, excepting authorized absences, make-up assignments will not be scheduled. When a reading assignment is listed in the syllabus for a given day, you should complete the reading assignment by that day.

4. Completing the Course

Students are expected to complete all assignments for this course during the semester. Assigning a grade of "incomplete" is rare, and in order to request an "I," the student must meet these requi rements: a) The student must have completed at least 75% of the course assignments; b) The student must be passing the course; c) There must be an unforeseen and compelling reason why the course cannot be completed on time; and d) The student must present a plan for completing the assignments within the time period specified in the catalog.

5. Student Conduct and Academic Honesty

All students shall adhere to the Code of Student Conduct regarding academic dishonesty, including acts of cheating and plagiarism. Copies of the code are available in the Center for Student Rights and Responsibilities (Union 319). You should make yourself aware of the university’s policy on academic dishonesty and plagiarism, and you should know that any infractions of this policy will be dealt with seriously, including an F on a project/assignment, and a report to the Dean of Students for disciplinary action.

This syllabus is not a contract. It is a guide and may be changed by the professor at any time without prior notice.

Tentative Reading Schedule

 

January 16- Intro to the Course/Intro to Rhetorical Criticism

January 23- What is Rhetorical Criticism?

Herbert Wichelns, "The Literary Criticism of Oratory" 1925

Ernest Wrage, "Public Address: A Study in Social and Intellectual History" 1947

Edwin Black, "Chapter I: The Meaning of Criticism," and "Chapter II: The Practice of Rhetorical Criticism" 1965

Sillars and Gronbeck, Ch. 1

January 30- What is a Rhetorical Text?

Please Review:

Michael McGee, "Text, Context and the Fragmentation of Contemporary Culture" 1990

Michael McGee, "Fragments of Winter" 1992

Carole Blair, Marsha Jeppeson and Enrico Pucci, "Public Memorializing in Postmodernity: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial as Prototype" 1991

Jacques Derrida, "No Apocalypse Not Now" 1984

Sillars and Gronbeck Ch. 2

February 6- From Neo-Classical to Textual Criticism

Justification of Text/Initial Questions Component Due

Wayland Maxfield Parrish, "The Study of Speeches" 1954

Forbes Hill, "Conventional Wisdom – Traditional Form—The President’s Message of November 3, 1969" 1972

Michael C. Leff and Gerald P. Mohrmann, "Lincoln at Cooper Union: A Rhetorical Analysis of Text" 1974

Michael C. Leff, "Textual Criticism: The Legacy of G. P. Mohrmann" 1986

Sillars and Gronbeck Ch. 6

February 13- The Ideological Turn

Cards Collected

Edwin Black, "Chapter III: Rhetoric and General Criticism" 1965

Karlyn Kohrs Campbell, "A Rejoinder" 1972

Philip Wander, "The Ideological Turn in Rhetorical Criticism" 1983

Sillars and Gronbeck Ch. 12

February 20- A Different Kind of Poli(texts)

Robert L. Ivie, "Metaphor and the Rhetorical Invention of Cold War "Idealists" 1987

Steven Perry, "Rhetorical Functions of the Infestation Metaphor in Hitler’s Rhetoric" 1983

Dilip Goankar, "Epilogue: The Oratorical Text: The Enigma of Arrival" 1989

Dilip Goankar, "Object and Method in Rhetorical Criticism: From Wichelns to Leff and McGee" 1990

February 27- Formal Criticism/Narrative Criticism

Historical/Contextual Analysis Component Due

Please Review:

Walter Fisher, "Narrative as Human Communication Paradigm"1984

Karlyn Kohrs Campbell and Kathleen Hall Jamieson, "Form and Genre in Rhetorical Criticism: An Introduction" 1978

B. L. Ware and William A. Linkugel, "They Spoke in Defense of Themselves: On the General Criticism of Apologia" 1973

William F. Lewis, "Telling America’s Story: Narrative Form and the Reagan Presidency" 1987

Barbara Warnick, "The Narrative Paradigm: Another Story" 1987

Sillars and Gronbeck Ch. 10

March 3- Ideographs, Resistances and Getting Critical

Please Review:

Michael McGee, "The Ideograph: A Link between Rhetoric and Ideology" 1980

Raymie McKerrow, "Critical Rhetoric: Theory and Praxis" 1989

Kent Ono and John M. Sloop, "The Critique of Vernacular Discourse" 1995

John L. Lucaites and Celeste M. Condit, The Rhetoric of<Equality> and the Expatriation of African-Americans, 1776-1826"

Marouf Hasian, "Anne Frank, Bergen-Belsen, and the Polysemic Nature of Holocaust Memories"2001

Lisa Flores, "Creating Discursive Space through a Rhetoric of Difference: Chicana Feminists Craft a Homeland" 1996

Barbara Biesecker, "Michel Foucault and the Question of Rhetoric" 1992

March 13- Feminist Criticism

Cards Collected

Please Review:

Karlyn Kohrs Campbell, "The Rhetoric of Women’s Liberation: An Oxymoron" 1973

Celeste M. Condit, Opposites in an Oppositional Practice: Rhetorical Criticism and Feminism" 1993

Bonnie J. Dow and Mari Boor Tonn, "Feminine Style and Political Judgment in the Rhetoric of Ann Richards" 1993

Barbara Biesecker, "Coming to Terms with Recent Attempts to Write Women into the History of Rhetoric" 1992

March 20- Spring Break- Go to Miami

March 27- Visual Rhetoric

Justification of Method Component Due

Carole Blair and Neil Michel, "Reproducing Civil Rights Tactics: The Rhetorical Performances of the Civil Rights Memorial" 2000

Barbara Biesecker, "Remembering World War II: The Rhetoric and Politics of National Commemoration at the Turn of the 21st Century" 2002

Robert Hariman and John L. Lucaites, "Performing Civic Identity: The Iconic Photograph of the Flag Raising on Iwo Jima" 2002

Bryan C. Taylor, "The Bodies of August: Photographic Realism and Controversy at the National Air and Space Museum" 1998

April 4- National Debate Tournament—No Class

April 10- Rhetoric and Performance

Dwight Conquergood, Ethnography, Rhetoric and Performance" 1992

Elizabeth Bell, "Weddings and Pornography: The Cultural Performance of Sex" 1999

Carole Spitzack "The Spectacle of Anorexia Nervosa" 1993

April 17- Corporeality and Rhetoric

Gerard A. Hauser, " Corporeality and Cultural Rhetoric: A Site for Rhetoric’s Future" 1998

Carolyn Marvin, "The Body of the Text: Literacy’s Corporeal Constant" 1994

Frederick C. Corey and Thomas K. Nakayama, "Sextext" 1997

April 24- Psychoanalytic Criticism

Slavoj Zizek, "Chapter 1: From Reality to Real" and "Chapter 2: The Real and its Vicissitudes" 1998

Barbara Biesecker, "Rhetorical Studies and the "New" Psychoanalysis: What's the Real Problem? Or Framing the Problem of the Real " 1998

James McDaniel, "Fantasm: The Triumph of Form (An Essay on the Democratic Sublime" 2000

May 1- Class Presentations/Course Wrap-up

All Cards Collected

 

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