Introducing Students to Rhetoric

Date: Wed, 18 May 2016 15:50:58 +0000
From: Blake Scott Subject: 
Re: Introduction to English: Rhetoric portion 

 Whitney and others, Here at UCF in our core Rhetoric & Civic Engagement course, which builds on what students learn about rhetoric in first-year composition but often still begins with more introductory readings, some of us have used (in various sections) excerpts from the Leith, Herrick (esp chapter 2), and Crowley and Hawhee (esp chapters 1-3) texts already mentioned, as well as the following: Haser’s Introduction to Rhetorical Theory (esp chapters 1-3); Palczewski, Ice, and Fitch’s Rhetoric in Civic Life (esp chapters 1, 6, 7, and 8); Sheridan, Ridolfo, and Michel’s The Available Means of Persuasion (esp chapters 1 and 4); some “primary” texts by Burke, Aristotle, Isocrates, and the sophists. I also recommend the “In Defense of Rhetoric” video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYMUCz9bHAs) and some of the “Mere Rhetoric” podcasts created by the University of Texas RSA student chapter (http://mererhetoric.libsyn.com/). 

Best regards, Blake

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I'm a fan of Sam Leith's introductory text Words like Loaded Pistols: Rhetoric from Aristotle to Obama. It uses the five-canon format to set up the discussion rather clearly and does a great job of using popular culture concepts to make the ideas really accessible to students. It's not the most academic of texts, but for an introduction, I think it provides a coherent representation of the study of rhetoric that could be used to demonstrate rhetorical analysis (via its "champions of rhetoric" sections) and a history of rhetoric approach. My biggest critique of the book is that it's a bit gender biased (an unrepentant masculinist tone and approach, as indicated by the title), but students have in general not found that problematic as they feel that it's accessible, 'fun,' and that the list of terminology at the end of the book is useful.

Robert Terry, PhD
Assistant Professor, Languages, Literature and Philosophy
Coordinator, Professional Communication and Leadership
Armstrong State University

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In addition to the excellent resources already mentioned, I'm a big fan of James Herrick's History and Theory of Rhetoric. The first chapter is a great introduction, and very thought-provoking for students.

Michael McCamley