Rhetorical Criticism

Now in its second edition, Rhetorical Criticism: Perspectives in Action presents a thorough, accessible, and well-grounded introduction to contemporary rhetorical criticism. Systematic chapters contributed by noted experts introduce the fundamental aspects of a perspective, provide students with an example to model when writing their own criticism, and address the potentials and pitfalls of the approach. In addition to covering traditional modes of rhetorical criticism, the volume presents less commonly discussed rhetorical perspectives, exposing students to a wide cross-section of techniques.

Rhetorical Criticism: Empowering the Exploration of "Texts" encourages students to analyze texts of various sorts--speeches, advertisements, memory sites, and more--to gain a clear understanding of what the text has to say and how it persuades or otherwise affects its audience. The book clearly and succinctly helps students build the skills required to easily and effectively practice rhetorical criticism. The book begins with a chapter that defines "rhetoric," "criticism," and "text," demonstrates how theory-based rhetorical criticism can be exciting, and emphasizes that there are many diverse lenses through which to illuminate texts. The proceeding chapters explore various types of rhetorical criticism, including classical, The Chicago School, Burkean, fantasy theme, narrative, genre, mythological, Bahktinian, ideological, feminist, and constitutive. Each chapter begins by explaining the theory in which the critical approach is based. It then explains how a critic utilizing that particular type of rhetorical criticism manages the critical process and offers the reader an extended example of the critical approach in use. Conversational in nature and inclusive of a wide range of critical methods, Rhetorical Criticism is ideal for undergraduate courses in rhetoric-oriented courses.

A comprehensive and up-to-date introduction to the analysis of public rhetoric, Modern Rhetorical Criticism teaches readers how to examine and interpret rhetorical situations, ideas, arguments, structure, and style. The text covers a wide range of critical techniques, from cultural and dramatistic analysis to feminist and Marxist approaches. A wealth of original criticism demonstrates how to analyze such diverse forms as junk mail, congressional debates, and traffic regulations, as well as literature. This long-awaited revision contains new coverage of mass media, feminist criticism, and European criticism.

Winner, Speech Communication Association Award for Distinguished Scholarship This is a book that, almost singlehandedly, freed scholars from the narrow constraints of a single critical paradigm and created a new era in the study of public discourse. Its original publication in 1965 created a spirited controversy. Here Edwin Black examines the assumptions and principles underlying neo-Aristotelian theory and suggests an alternative approach to criticism, centering around the concept of the "rhetorical transaction." This new edition, containing Black's new introduction, will enable students and scholars to secure a copy of one of the most influential books ever written in the field.

New Testament Interpretation through Rhetorical Criticism provides readers of the Bible with an important tool for understanding the Scriptures. Based on the theory and practice of Greek rhetoric in the New Testament, George Kennedy's approach acknowledges that New Testament writers wrote to persuade an audience of the truth of their messages. These writers employed rhetorical conventions that were widely known and imitated in the society of the times. Sometimes confirming but often challenging common interpretations of texts, this is the first systematic study of the rhetorical composition of the New Testament. As a complement to form criticism, historical criticism, and other methods of biblical analysis, rhetorical criticism focuses on the text as we have it and seeks to discover the basis of its powerful appeal and the intent of its authors. Kennedy shows that biblical writers employed both "external" modes of persuasion, such as scriptural authority, the evidence of miracles, and the testimony of witnesses, and "internal" methods, such as ethos (authority and character of the speaker), pathos (emotional appeal to the audience), and logos (deductive and inductive argument in the text). In the opening chapter Kennedy presents a survey of how rhetoric was taught in the New Testament period and outlines a rigorous method of rhetorical criticism that involves a series of steps. He provides in succeeding chapters examples of rhetorical analysis, looking closely at the Sermon on the Mount, the Sermon on the Plain, Jesus' farewell to the disciples in John's Gospel, the distinctive rhetoric of Jesus, the speeches in Acts, and the approach of Saint Paul in Second Corinthians, Thessalonians, Galatians, and Romans.

Bringing together 50 key readings on rhetorical criticism in a single accessible format, The Rhetorical Criticism Readerfurnishes instructors with an ideal resource for teaching and practicing the art of rhetorical criticism. Unlike existing readers and textbooks, which rely on cookie-cutter approaches to rhetorical criticism, The Rhetorical Criticism Reader organizes the field conceptually, allowing teachers and students to grapple with the enduring issues and debates surrounding criticism over the past 50 years. The readings are organized into four sections, each representing key conceptual issues and debates in rhetorical criticism: critic/purpose, object/method, theory/practice, and audience/consequentiality. Each section is preceded by an introductory essay that puts the readings into context. For added flexibility, an alternative table of contents is also included for instructors and students to customize their teaching and reading. Intended for upper-division undergraduate and graduate courses in rhetorical criticism, The Rhetorical Criticism Reader uniquely lends itself to thoughtful discussion of the role of the critic in the critical process. It assists readers not only in learning the tools of criticism, but also in reflecting on the values that underlie the critical endeavor.

A Companion to Rhetoric offers the first major survey in two decades of the field of rhetorical studies and of the practice of rhetorical theory and criticism across a range of disciplines. Assesses rhetoric’s place in the larger intellectual universe. Focuses on the practical side of rhetoric, looking at specific works, problems and figures. Provides examples of rhetoric from ancient times to the present day. Written by leading scholars from a variety of different fields.