English 779.01 Introduction to Graduate Study in Rhetoric
Classical to Early Renaissance

Objectives | Requirements | Books | Schedule | Assignments

Course Description

An introduction to the study of Western rhetorical theory from Classical times to the early Renaissance, English 779.01 offers students an opportunity to study rhetorical theory, practice, and pedagogy in the context of Western cultural and intellectual history. Further, it provides a foundation in rhetorical theory for students engaged in graduate study of composition, literature, and criticism. Rather than attempting a comprehensive survey in ten weeks, English 779.01 will focus on key texts and contexts, critical problems, and research tools. In general, our objective will be to develop critical and historical perspectives, interpretive strategies, and research skills that can form the foundation of further study in rhetoric.

As one of my colleagues at another university puts it on his syllabus, "we will study the rhetoric of traditions as well as The Rhetorical Tradition," noting how historical accounts of rhetoric are themselves rhetorical-i.e., value-laden, persuasive, and historically situated in the cultural, social, and political matrices of particular communities.

Specific Course Objectives

• to read and analyze selected rhetorical theories from antiquity through the early Renaissance;
• to relate those rhetorical theories to their intellectual and social contexts--especially to rhetorical practices in those contexts;
• to examine key theoretical issues that have shaped the development of rhetorical theories and practices in the West and that inform recent histories of rhetoric;
• to become familiar with the forums, critical perspectives, and research tools that inform contemporary studies of rhetoric;
• to begin to construct your own theories and histories of rhetoric.

Course Requirements

• write two one-page (single-spaced) reading responses to primary readings of your choosing, and post these to the class, via e-mail or mailboxes, prior to class (15%);
• compile an annotated bibliography of six to eight books, articles, and/or other scholarly resources (print or electronic) related to an author, text, or topic of your choice (15%);
• write a two- to three-page explanatory annotation to a key passage/phrase/idea of your choosing in one of our primary readings, connecting the passage/phrase/idea to its intellectual or social context and, optionally, assessing its relevance to present-day intellectual and/or social issues (20%);
• write an eight- to ten-page research proposal on a topic of your choice--presumably the same topic on which you focused your bibliography and explanatory annotation (35%)
• participate in class discussion and take a collaboratively designed final exam (15%)

Book List

OR Aristotle. On Rhetoric: A Theory of Civil Discourse. Trans. George A. Kennedy. New York: Oxford UP, 1991. RT Bizzell, Patricia and Bruce Herzberg, eds. The Rhetorical Tradition: Readings from Classical Times to the Present. Boston: Bedford Books-St. Martin's Press, 1990. OCD Augustine, Saint Aurelius. On Christian Doctrine. Trans. D. W. Robertson, Jr. Library of Liberal Arts 80. Indianapolis, IL: Bobbs-Merrill, 1958. (May be a different edition.)

To supplement our primary texts, I have put a number of books on reserve in the Main Library, and I will place other materials on reserve in 421 DE throughout the quarter.

Course Schedule - Primary Readings

The primary readings outlined below will, I trust, prove challenging, rewarding, and manageable, allowing you time to pursue additional reading of secondary literature (more on that reading later). Please keep in mind that details of the schedule may change once the course gets underway, and note that the dates for readings are dates for discussion. See the class web site under "Reading Rhetorical Theory" and "Ariadne's Threads-Lines of Inquiry" for suggestions about how to prepare for class discussions.

Week 1-- Jan 6-8: Introduction
Tuesday:	Definitions, Issues, Strategies of Inquiry Bizzell and Herzberg, "General Introduction" (RT) Foucault, from The Order of Discourse (optional--RT) Blair, "Contested Histories of Rhetoric" (optional--Denney Reserve) Resources, Tools, (Web)Sites [Move to 316 Denney]
Thursday:	Greek Rhetoric: Initial Conditions, Alternative Rhetorics Bizzell and Herzberg, "Classical Rhetoric: Introduction" (RT) Gorgias, "Encomium of Helen" (RT)--cf. Kennedy 283-88 Isocrates, Against the Sophists and Antidosis (RT)

Week 2 -- Jan 13-15: Greek Rhetoric--Plato on Nature of Rhetoric
Tuesday:	Plato, Gorgias (RT) Poulakos, "Toward a Sophistic Definition of Rhetoric" (Denney reserve) Schiappa, "Sophistic Rhetoric: Oasis or Mirage?" (optional--Denney reserve)
Thursday:	Plato, Gorgias (RT) Jarratt, "The First Sophists: History and Historiography" (Denney researve)

NB: If you have not done so already, please schedule a 20-minute conference with me during the week of January 19-23.

Week 3 -- Jan 20-22: Greek Rhetoric--Plato on Nature of Rhetoric (cont.)
Tuesday:	Plato, Phaedrus (RT) Weaver, "The Phædrus and the Nature of Rhetoric" (RT)
Thursday:	Plato, Phaedrus (RT) Kauffman, "The Axiological Foundations of Plato's Theory of Rhetoric" (optional, Denney reserve)

NB: From here on, I've not listed specific secondary readings. You may want to consult our bibliography and reserve reading collection as necessary. I will also suggest optional supplemental readings as we go along.

Week 4 -- Jan 27-29: Greek Rhetoric--Aristotle on the Art of Rhetoric
Tuesday:	Aristotle, Rhetoric, Editor's Intro and Book 1 (Selections, OR) Annotated bibliography due
Thursday:	Aristotle, Rhetoric, Books 2 and 3 (Selections, OR)

Week 5 -- Feb 3-5: Roman Rhetoric -- Civic Rhetoric in the Republic
Tuesday:	Cicero, Against Catiline 1, Chapters 1-13 -- online [meet in 316 DE]
Thursday:	Cicero, Of Oratory (RT)

NB: If we have not had a second conference, please schedule a 20-minute conference with me during the week of February 9-13.

Week 6 -- Feb 10-12: Roman Rhetoric -- Rhetorical Education
Tuesday:	Rhetorica ad Herennium, Book IV (RT)
Thursday:	Quintilian, Institutes of Oratory (RT)

Week 7 -- Feb 17-19: Christian Rhetoric--What hath Jerusalem to do with Athens?
Tuesday:	Bizzell and Herzberg, "Medieval Rhetoric: Introduction" (RT) Augustine, On Christian Doctrine, Books 1 and 2 (RT) Explanatory annotation due
Thursday:	Augustine, On Christian Doctrine, Books 3 and 4 (RT)

Week 8 -- Feb 24-26: Medieval Arts of Rhetoric
Tuesday:	Boethius, An Overview of the Structure of Rhetoric (RT) Anon., The Principles of Letter Writing (RT)
Thursday:	Robert of Basevorn, The Form of Preaching (RT)

NB: If we have not had a third conference, please schedule a 20-minute conference with me during the week of March 2-6.

Week 9 -- Mar 3-5: Renaissance Rhetoric -- The Humanist Tradition
Tuesday:	Bizzell and Herzberg, "Renaissance Rhetoric: Introduction" (RT) de Pisan, The Treasure of the City of Ladies (RT) Cereta, Letter to Augustinus Aemilius, Letter to Bibulus Sempronius (RT)
Thursday:	Erasmus, On Copia (RT)

Week 10 -- Mar 10-12: Renaissance Rhetoric -- Antiquity Embraced and Rejected
Tuesday:	Wilson, The Arte of Rhetorique (RT)
Thursday:	Ramus, Arguments in Rhetoric against Quintilian (RT) Research proposal due Final exam workshop

NB --> Thursday, March 19, 3:30-5:18 p.m. - Final Exam

Assignments

In keeping with the purpose of this course--to introduce students to graduate study in rhetoric--I've constructed assignments that involve the basic practices of scholarship in this field: reading primary texts critically, constructing and testing interpretations in discussion with colleagues, reading texts in(to) their intellectual and social contexts, and identifying significant scholarly problems/discussions and means of inquiring into those problems. In the spirit of collaborative inquiry, all of your work will be shared with other members of the class, either in print or electronically (via e-mail or the World Wide Web). I will discuss the format and goals of these assignments further in class, but please don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions about them at any time.

Reading responses (2). Your one-page reading responses must be posted to the class e-mail reflector or placed in mailboxes at least two days before the class meeting on which we are scheduled to discuss the text to which you are responding (we will schedule the responses in class). The specific topic of these responses is up to you, but I ask that you develop your response according to one of the following approaches:

• a reflective commentary on some interpretive problem you faced while reading a passage in one of our texts and the reading strategies that you used to interpret that text;
• a nomination for the most significant or the most problematic passage in an assigned reading, including a rationale for your nomination;
• a comparative reading of two passages that raise some interpretive issue that you would like the class to consider;
• an application of a rhetorical concept articulated in one of our texts to some current issue (such as hate speech) or communicative context (such as the college classroom).

Though you might consult outside sources in the course of writing your response, such research is not necessary; the point of these responses is to focus and direct our initial responses to a text. Please follow MLA conventions for providing page references for all quotations and a list of all works cited, including our course texts.

Annotated Bibliography. I will provide you with some bibliographical "starting places" for locating scholarship on your chosen topic. Your job will be to assemble an annotated bibliography of eight to ten citations in MLA format. The abstract accompanying each citation should be approximately 50-75 words long and should identify the problem addressed by the article, the author's method of inquiry, and the author's findings. I have in mind, then, largely descriptive abstracts.

Explanatory annotation. By contrast, your two- to three-page (single-spaced) explanatory annotation should reach beyond the text of one of our primary works, weaving it into its intellectual and/or social context and, optionally, assessing its relevance to contemporary rhetorical theory/practice/culture. The basic question I ask you to address is "What does one need to know about the cultural context of this work to understand its relation to that context?" To do this assignment, then, you will need to do some contextual research and reading. As with the reading responses, please follow MLA conventions for providing page references and a list of all works cited, including our course texts.

Research Proposal. Building on the research you undertook for your annotated bibliography (and, perhaps, for your explanatory annotation) this ten- to twelve-page research proposal should pose a significant problem or question in rhetorical theory, practice, and/or culture in the context of other scholarly work and your own review of primary materials, then propose a line of inquiry into the problem/question. What evidence do you need to consider? Where can you find it? How would you analyze that evidence? What do you hope such a study would contribute to the study of rhetoric? The topic and method of inquiry you pursue are up to you, but they should engage in, respond to, disrupt, challenge, extend, or otherwise clearly relate to a critical conversation that you discover--and document--in the secondary literature.

Participation and Exam. This class is designed around collaborative problem posing and inquiry-it will not succeed unless everyone comes to class prepared for active participation. The most important element of that preparation will be your careful reading of our primary texts (see the following pages for suggestions), but I also expect that you will take advantage of secondary work (some relevant scholarship is on reserve in the library and listed in a bibliography I will give you at the beginning of class). The final exam is meant to provide some tentative closure to our class discussions, so we will compose the prompt(s) or question(s) together. You will write the exam individually.