The History of Rhetoric

English 691.01

Fall 2009

The History of Rhetoric:

Enlightenment through Contemporary

Thursday 6:30-9:20

MHRA 3204

Instructor:

Stephen R. Yarbrough

Professor

3105 MHRA

334-3970 (Office)

292-1186 (Home)

Office Hours: TTh 11:30-12:30 and by appointment.

Texts:

Conley, Thomas M. Rhetoric in the European Tradition. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1990.

Foss, Sonja K. Contemporary Perspectives on Rhetoric. 3rd ed. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, 2002.

Bizzell, Patricia and Bruce Herzberg. The Rhetorical Tradition: Readings from Classical Times to the Present. 2nd ed. Boston: St. Martins Press, 2001.

Links to online texts are in the schedule.

Course Requirements:

1. You will write two brief (approximately 10 typed pages) research papers or one full-length (approximately 20 page) research paper. You should think of these as being on-the-way to publication: they should be forays into new turf of some sort—new material, new methods applied to old material, new questions about old issues, a new perspective on old or current arguments, etc.

These papers should be well written and documented appropriately in either MLA or Chicago style. Prior to their due dates, as stated on the schedule, you should submit to me a one-page description of your project for approval. (Short papers, 25% of your total grade, each; long paper, 50% of your final grade.)

Note: Master’s students (only) may substitute one 8-10 page annotated bibliography on one of the assigned authors for one of the short papers.

2. This is a seminar. For two class sessions, you will be primarily responsible for the class discussion, or share the responsibility with another student. Be prepared to focus upon difficult passages; key issues; historical context; current scholarly opinion; philosophical, political, religious, etc. ramifications; textual, especially interdisciplinary connections; and any other relevant considerations. This is your chance to tailor the topic to your own special interests and concerns. However, it is your responsibility to make sure that all members of the class have copies of, or easy access to, any additional material you wish us to consider or be familiar with at least one week prior to the class meeting. A Blackboard site has been set up for this purpose.

When it’s your turn to take responsibility for the class, think of me as a “co-facilitator” only, or maybe as an unusually long-winded student who has taken this course before that you can count on to fill up the “dead space.” I hope to be able to write each of you excellent teaching recommendations, as well as scholarly recommendations, as a result of your participation in this class. (Discussion leadership, 25% of your total grade.)

3. Class participation is very important, and when it’s your turn to keep the class going for three hours, you’ll see just how important it is. The success of a course like this one depends upon everyone’s informed involvement. (Participation, 25% of your total grade.)

Schedule:

Week 1 (Aug. 27): Introduction to the course

Sign up for discussion leaderships.

Readings:

CPR pp. 1-18

Week 2(Sept. 3): 18th Century—John Locke; David Hume

Readings:

RET pp. 188-94

RT pp. 814-27; 828-40

Wilbur Samuel Howell, “John Locke and the New Rhetoric.” Quarterly Journal of Speech 53.4 (1967):319-333. (See Blackboard Course Documents.)

John H. Patton, “Experience and Imagination: Approaches to Rhetoric by John Locke and David Hume.” Southern Communication Journal 41.1 (1975): 11-29 (In Blackboard Course Documents.)

Week 3(Sept. 10): 18th Century—Giambattista Vico; George Campbell

Readings:

RET pp. 216-20

RT 862-78; 898-946

John D. Schaeffer, “The Use and Misuse of Giambattista Vico: Rhetoric, Orality, and Theories of Discourse.” In H. Aram Veeser, ed. The New Historicism. New York and London: Routledge, 1989. 89-101. (See Blackboard Course Documents.)

Week 4 (Sept. 17): 18th/19th Centuries—Hugh Blair; Richard Whately

Readings:

RET pp. 220-25; 235-41

RT 947-79; 1000-1030

James A. Berlin, “Richard Whately and Current-Traditional Rhetoric.” College English 42.1 (Sept. 1980): 10-17. (See Blackboard Course Documents.)

Week 5(Sept. 24): 19th Century—Sarah Grimké, Alexander Bain; Ralph Waldo Emerson

DUE: Proposal for the first 10-page paper if you are doing the two 10-page paper option.

Readings:

RET pp. 242-53

RT pp. 1045-1060; 1141-1144

Emerson, “Quotation and Originality” ; “History” “Experience”

Sheldon W. Liebman, “The Development of Emerson’s Theory of Rhetoric, 1821-1836.” American Literature 41.2 (May 1969): 178-206. (See Blackboard Course Documents.)

Week 6(Oct. 1): 19th Century—Herbert Spencer; Friedrich Nietzsche

Readings:

RT 1152-67; 1168-1179

RET pp. 250-51

Steve Whitson and John Poulakos.”Nietzsche and the Aesthetics of Rhetoric.”Quarterly Journal of Speech 79.2 (May 1993): 131 – 145. (See Blackboard Course Documents.)

Marie J. Secor, “The Legacy of Nineteenth-Century Style Theory.” Rhetoric Society Quarterly 12.2 (Spring 1982): 76-94. (See Blackboard Course Documents.)

Week 7(Oct. 8): 19th / 20th Century—Charles Sanders Peirce; George Herbert Mead

DUE:First 10-page paper if you are doing the two 10-page papers option.

Readings:

Peirce, “How to Make Our Ideas Clear”; “The Fixation of Belief”

Mead, “A Behavioristic Account of the Significant Symbol”

Mead, “Social Consciousness and the Consciousness of Meaning”

Week 8(Oct. 15): 20th Century—Mikhail Bakhtin; ; Richard Weaver

DUE: Proposal for 20-page papers (for those not doing the 10-page papers option).

Readings:

RET pp. 277-81

RT pp. 1206-1245; 1348-71

CPR pp. 155-86

Week 9(Oct. 22): 20th Century—I. A. Richards; Stephen Toulmin

Readings:

RTpp. 1270-1294; 1410-1431

RET pp. 260-67, 291-95

CPR pp. 19-50, 117-154

Week 10(Oct. 29): 20th Century—Jürgen Habermas; Ernesto Grassi

Readings:

RET pp. 299-303

CPR pp. 51-80; 233-64

Habermas, Communicative Ethics.

substitute for:

Habermas, The Idea of the Theory of Knowledge as Social Theoryfrom Knowledge and Human Interests.

Grassi, “Rhetoric and Philosophy” Janus Head (Spring 2000 3.1) /3-1/egrassi.cfm

Week 11(Nov. 5): 20th Century—Chaim Perelman and Lucie Obrechts-Tyteca; Kenneth Burke

Readings:

RET pp. 268-77; 296-299

CPR pp. 81-115; 187-232

RTpp.1295-1347; 1372-1409;

Week 12(Nov. 12): 20th Century—Jacques Derrida; Michel Foucault

DUE: Proposal for the second 10-page paper if you are doing the two 10-page papers option.

Readings:

CPR pp. 339-78

RT pp. 1432-1470; 1471-1490

Gary A. Olson, “Jacques Derrida on Rhetoric and Composition: A Conversation.”Journal of Advanced Composition, v10 n1 p1-21 Jan-Feb 1990.

Week 13(Nov. 19): 20th Century—Jean Baudrillard; Stanley Fish

DUE: 2nd 10-page paper if you are doing the two 10-page papers option.

Readings:

CPR pp. 299-338

RT pp. 1605-1627

Baudrillard, “Simulacra and Simulations,” from Jean Baudrillard, Selected Writings, ed. Mark Poster (Stanford: Stanford UP, 1988), pp. 166-184.

Week 14(Dec. 3): 20th Century—Bell Hooks; Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

DUE: 20-page paper (for those not doing the 10-page papers option).

RT pp. 1543-1581

CPR pp. 265-298

Interview by Gary A. Olson, “bell hooks and the Politics of Literacy: A Conversation.” JAC 14.1 (Winter 1994):

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