SPCH/ENGL 387: INTRODUCTION TO RHETORIC Instructor: Anthony Stagliano Email: staglian@email.sc.edu Classroom: Gamb 148 Office: Humanities Classroom Building, RM 321 Office Hours: T & Th 10-11
COURSE DESCRIPTION The term rhetoric, particularly in contemporary political discourse, is often used to mean empty speech (as opposed to meaningful action) designed to dress things up to look better than they are (deception about actual conditions or issues). Rhetoric, however, has a rich, complex, and important history that distinguishes responsible discourse from that which is deceptive, shallow, and unethical. Rhetoric can furthermore be characterized as an orientation, a way of seeing, a way of knowing. This course examines this robust field of rhetoric in three dimensions: the history of rhetoric as a set of practices, pedagogies, and ways of encountering the world; rhetoric as a critical practice of reading, interpretation, and intervention; and finally as the site of various contemporary theories and debates on the relation between persuasion and knowledge, the nature of language and its influence, and how everyday culture and experience perform important political and social functions. LEARNING OUTCOMES At the end of the course students should be able to:
Articulate a strong understanding of some major figures and ideas in rhetoric’s history Critically apply theories from antiquity forward to contemporary instances of rhetoric Discuss and write about rhetoric in an informed and grounded manner
COURSE MATERIALS Patricia Bizzell and Bruce Herzberg The Rhetorical Tradition: Readings from Classical Times to the Present, 2nd Ed. Bedford St. Martens, 2000. Many of the readings for this course will come from this text (in the schedule BH refers to pages in this text), and it will be the only book I have you buy. Other texts will be included, though. When I add those readings, they will be made available through Blackboard in folders labeled with the particular topic and class date. Responsibilities and Policies Required Readings About one hundred pages of readings are required for each week. This course covers more than 2,500 years of the rhetorical tradition around the world, and there is no way around actually reading a lot of material from that tradition. Most of the readings will be relatively easy. Some will not be, though, for different reasons. On the one hand, many of the texts are quite old, and appear in a style of language that is no longer common; this often presents a difficulty for readers. On the other hand, some of the recent works are in contemporary philosophy, and are conceptually dense and make counterintuitive claims that make for a challenging read. Nevertheless, you are expected and required to keep up with the reading load for this course. There will be two major exams, as well as in class discussions each day, and reading responses as opportunities to demonstrate your familiarity with these texts.
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