Course Description: This course provides an intensive study of rhetorical analysis (or criticism). As a student in this class, you may expect to learn how to do a majority of the nearly dozen forms of rhetorical criticism from neo-classical analysis to the analysis of visual rhetoric. Texts analyzed may include short stories, poems, editorials, speeches, ideological tracts, visual art, lyrics, film and more. Over the course of the term, you will find that rhetorical criticism is devoted to assessing the persuasive effect of situated discourse (i.e., oratory, literary texts, etc.) as it focuses on discovering and appreciating how speakers, writers, and producers of texts adapt ideas to particular audiences in particular contexts. After beginning the term with a unit on the purposes of rhetorical criticism, we shall cover units on neo-classical criticism, generic/genre criticism, narrative criticism, fantasy theme analysis, metaphoric criticism, dramatistic criticism, ideological criticism, feminist criticism, social movement criticism, and postmodern criticism.

Go to Course Syllabus 

Required Texts

Burgchardt, Carl. Readings in Rhetorical Criticism. 3rd ed. State College, PA: Strata, 2005.
Foss, Sonja K. Rhetorical Criticism: Exploration and Practice, 3rd ed. Prospect Heights, Illinois: Waveland Press, 2004.
Additional readings will be provided in class.

Learning Objectives/Outcomes

• Students will demonstrate an understanding of how language operates in Western classical, modern, and contemporary rhetorics, as well as an awareness of the historical and cultural contexts that engendered such distinctions.
• Students will understand and appreciate the significance of a particular language theorist's/language theory's unique contributions within the context of language studies.
• Students will understand and appreciate the significance of a rhetor's unique contribution to rhetorical theory and/or practice, as well as comprehend the relationship of such contributions to rhetorical traditions.
• Students will understand and appreciate the connections, influences, and interdependence of language studies and rhetorical studies.
• Students will be capable of critically analyzing select specific discourses in terms of the linguistic, historical, cultural, and/or ideological contexts that generated them.
• Students will understand language and rhetoric as distinctively contextual, ever-changing ways of knowing.
• Students will demonstrate fluency in the metadiscourse of rhetorical studies in analyses of a variety of texts.
• Students will demonstrate discipline-specific critical facility through the preparation of sustained, thesis-driven, effectively supported, appropriately expressed documents.
• Students will be capable of conducting independent research on issues in English language studies and/or in rhetoric and be able to synthesize findings in the form of oral presentations and/or documented arguments.

Requirements:

Regular attendance and engaged participation: Regular attendance and engaged participation : Regular attendance is a must. Poor attendance, simply put, manifests itself in poor performance on course assignments. Complete all reading and writing assignments on time. Such engagement with the course and its material, you will find, leads to the liveliest discussions in class. 20%

Individual facilitation: Each of you will facilitate discussion on one article from our course readings. Think of this as a presentation in which you may have your peers work with you to answer difficult questions in a selected reading. You may be creative during such facilitations as you have the class participate in activities, listen to guest speakers, or watch appropriate video segments. These facilitations should, however, demonstrate key features: 1) summary of the article you are facilitating, 2) summary of the article's subject and the context surrounding the subject (e.g. a particular speech or text and its context), 3) clear comprehension of the material, 4) potential problems or applications to other rhetorical texts and/or scholarship. 20%

Mid-term paper (8-10 pages): Demonstrate comprehension of one of the many methods of rhetorical criticism discussed to this point in the term. Apply that method of criticism to a rhetorical text of your own choosing. A formal assignment sheet will preface this assignment and we shall conference on potential topics as the term progresses. 15%

Mid-term exam: The mid-term exam will test material covered up to mid-term. 15%

End-of-term paper (8-10 pages): Demonstrate comprehension of one of the many methods of rhetorical criticism discussed since mid-term. Apply that method of criticism to a rhetorical text of your own choosing. A formal assignment sheet will preface this assignment and we shall conference on potential topics as the term progresses. 15%

Final exam: The final exam will test material covered during the last half of the term. 15%

Campus E-mail: I shall use your UTC email address (firstname-lastname@utc.edu) for e-mail and Blackboard communication. (See http://onenet.utc.edu for your exact address.) Please check your UTC email on a regular basis. If you have problems accessing your email account, contact the Help Desk at (423) 425-4000.

Late Work: All of your work is to be turned in on time.   If, for emergency reasons, you are unable to uphold this course policy, please inform me immediately.  I would prefer that you contact me 24 hours prior to when an assignment is due so that we might make necessary arrangements.

Revision Policy: The goal for all assignments is for you to revise work prior to deadlines and evaluation.  As you revise your work, I encourage you to take advantage of my office hours, to e-mail me with questions, or to schedule appointments with me. One graded paper (excluding exams) may be revised after a final grade has been assigned if you are unsatisfied with your performance. Such a revision may, of course, yield a better grade; however, this second grade will be averaged with your original grade on the assignment.

Students with Disabilities:  If you are a student with a disability (e.g. physical, learning, psychiatric, or otherwise) and think that you may need assistance or accommodation in this class, call the Office for Students with Disabilities/College Access Program at 425-4006 or stop by their office at 110 Frist Hall.

Resources

Local
English Department Office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425-4238
UTC Bookstore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425-4107
Lupton Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425-4506
Writing Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .425-1774

Professional Organizations and Websites
American Rhetoric (see the Speech Bank)
American Society for the History of Rhetoric
Fact Check.org
The Forest of Rhetoric
International Society for the History of Rhetoric
PresidentialRhetoric.com (see the Speeches section/tab)
Rhetoric Society of America
Kim Pearson's site on African-American Rhetoric (College of New Jersey)
John Louis Lucaites’ site on Democracy and Deliberative Rhetoric (Indiana University)