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Read in Mirror!
The professor's blog for English 4304, the Writing and Culture Capstone Course for English Majors, Spring 2008. The topic for this capstone course is "Rhetoric(s) of Information, Reading, and Writing in a Digital World."
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Dr. Lilly
Read in Mirror!
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- ALT Chapters on Speaker and Text
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- Your midterm will be "open-book."
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- The Nature of Rhetorical Criticism (Lacey)
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3 comments:
Concepts: What is rhetoric and the process of studying rhetorical criticism
In the study of rhetorical criticism, one must begin with understanding what rhetoric is. Most think that rhetoric means "empty, bombastic language" or "ornamental speech that constains an abundance of metaphors."(p.4) Foss describes rhetoric here as "the action humans perform when they use symbols for the purpose of communicating with one another." (p.4) There are four important dimensions in visualizing rhetoric: 1) rhetoric is an action, 2) rhetoric is a symbolic action, 3) rhetoric is a human action, 4) rhetoric functions to enable us to communicate with one another. (p.4)
Rhetoric as an action is the conscious choice that we as rhetors make to communicate and how to do so from our communicative options. Foss explains rhetorical action with an example of a man who does not exercise regularly and plays tennis for the first time in a while. The man chooses to inform his opponent that he is out of shape. This was his choice to communicate this information, but his red face and labored breathing are not conscious choices made by him to communicate his condition. They are communicating to the other player that he is out of shape, but the changes in his bodily condition are not concious choices. (p.4)
Rhetoric as a symbolic action refers to the symbolic sign that is a human creation. It is indirectly connected to what it refers to, i.e. "chair" invented by someone to describe the object that one sits in. (p.4-5)
Rhetoric as a human action is when humans use non-rhetorical or natural objects to communicate something. Another aspect of rhetoric as a human action is that animal communication is not rhetoric. The term "rhetor" here is a human designer, creator, or producer of rhetoric, i.e. speaker, writer, architect, or filmmaker. (p.5)
Rhetoric enables us to communicate with each other through a variety of ways for a variety of reasons. We can use rhetoric to persuade others, as an invitation to understanding, and as self- discovery. Rhetoric is the process by which our reality comes into being. "Reality or knowledge of what is in the world is the result of communicating about it." (p.6)
So what is rhetoric limited to? According to Foss, rhetoric is any message, regardless of which form of communication it is, and may be studied critically. He lists examples of rhetoric such as architechture, dress, and furniture. Do you agree or disagree? What are other examples of rhetoric that he does not list?
Process of rhetorical criticism:
Process of investigating and explaining symbolic acts and artifacts in order to understand rhetorical processes.
3 primary dimensions:
1. Systematic Analysis- engaging in the natural process of encountering symbols and trying to understand how they affect us in a more systematic way
2. Symbolic Acts and Artifacts- act- "executed in the presence of the rhetor's intended audience"
artifact- "the text, trace, or tangible evidence of the act"(p.7)
The object of rhetorical study is often the artifact because the act is not something that can be easily studied.
3. Understanding Rhetorical Processes-understanding how symbols or artifacts are used rhetorically
What does the rhetorical artifact teach about the nature of rhetoric?
Rhetorical criticism contributes to rhetorical theory.
Rhetorical theory- theory-"tentative answer to a question posed by someone seeking to understand the world" (p.8)
Final outcome to the process of rhetorical criticism is not theory but the "contribution to the improvement of our abilities as communicators and consumers of symbols." (p.8)
The phrase, "rhetoric is symbolic action," comes directly from Kenneth Burke. I made a strategic decision that we would reach information overload long before we could take up the primary and secondary texts on Burke that I had in mind for the seminar, and so I have dropped them from the syllabus. Nevertheless, for the motivated or grad-school bound, he is a must read. Dr. L
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