Katherine Dr. Heenan English 472 Spring 2007 January 16, 2007 INTRODUCTION TO RHETORIC AS A TOPIC OF STUDY Communication is an astonishing achievement. Coming to understand others or the world by means of signs or symbols, words or gestures seems a most improbable feat, and misunderstanding a far more likely outcome. Yet, it is apparent that communication happens all the time. This is to me a source of wonder. The field of rhetoric provides an especially satisfying account of communicative processes and possibilities. As a mode of inquiry, rhetoric is expansive in scope, supple enough to be applied in the study of various media and multiple contexts of interaction. As an art, rhetoric is manifest in settings ranging from the professional to the political, personal to public. As a theory, it cannot break with the "real world," being especially sensitive to the manifold contingencies constraining human choice and outcomes. But rhetorical inquiry is practical and critical as well as theoretical. It discovers techniques for the production of discourse and formulates methods of critical analysis. Much of rhetoric is driven by pragmatic and pedagogical impulses. It aims not only to assess how communication is used but also to suggest ways it might be improved. The study and teaching of rhetoric has a long, rich, and valuable history. Any given rhetorical system gives insights into the social, political, and literary culture of its age. But the history of rhetoric also reveals the understandings of past ages on questions that still confront us today. The study of this history can enrich contemporary pedagogy and invigorate contemporary theory and criticism. 1. What are we going to study?
The history of Rhetoric as a topic consists of more than 2,500 years of communication practice, theorizing as to how that practice works, and teaching as to how to best produce it. In other words, a body of literature about MODELS, PRACTICE, and THEORIES. The study of MODELS-- speakers, speeches, and written discourse--is generally done in courses perhaps titled "history of [X type of] public address," The study of PRACTICE-- communication production--takes place in public speaking, oral interpretation, interpersonal, small group, listening, and writing courses. This course focuses on the study of Rhetorical THEORY-- by examining the historical personages, literature, and social circumstances which produced our understandings of how communication operates. This study includes interest in learning about to how to transfer theory into practice through models: approaches to pedagogy. Communication Theory examines these questions from a social scientific point of view. Rhetorical Theory examines these questions from a humanistic point of view. 2. How may we define the topic?
What is rhetoric? Currently it is one of the most overused and mis-understood words in our political and cultural vocabulary. Over the course of 3000 there have been numerous definitions
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and applications for the term "Rhetoric"; some of which are not so positive. For example, from the American political or legal systems, or in the media, you may have heard someone say, "I want more than rhetoric," or "That's just a lot of rhetoric." These comments imply that rhetoric is empty, merely words without substance or content. This interpretation negative of rhetoric is not entirely new. In fact, Plato and many of the early Greek philosophers would probably agree with those who use the word "rhetoric" in this way. Let's note four main approaches, the details and significance of which we will examine in greater detail throughout the course. --Rhetoric is the art of discovering all the available means of persuasion in any given case (Aristotle) --"Wherever there is persuasion, there is rhetoric, and wherever there is rhetoric, there is meaning." (Bryant) NEW SLIDE --Rhetoric is an instrumental use of language.... . . . Rhetoric is communication that attempts to coordinate social action. For this reason, rhetorical communication is explicitly pragmatic. Its goal is to influence human choices on specific matters that require immediate attention. (Hauser) --"Rhetoric is the art, practice, and study of human communication." (Andrea Lunsford) 3) Let's summarize that which Rhetoric is probably not. (Imagine 3 circles: widest is Communication, with Persuasion and Rhetoric inside, overlapping) It's probably not equivalent to "communication": that is generally treated as a more broad term. It's probably not equivalent to "persuasion": that is often treated as a more narrow term. While all persuasion is communication and all rhetoric is communication there is certainly communication which is neither persuasive nor rhetorical and there may be rhetoric which is not persuasive. The key thing to remember here: various theorists size these circles differently. The majority view tends to equate rhetoric and persuasion. 4) Although it has sometimes been treated as such, Rhetoric is not western civilization's key devil term. You may hear that --it is empty talk --it is the ornamental use of overly fancy words --it is the linguistic substitute for action not taken --it is the substitution of irrationality for reason --it primarily involves appearances rather than reality
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