Rhetorical Criticism


Book Description

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 th




Rhetorical Criticism


Book Description

Over multiple editions, this transformative text has taught the lively art of rhetorical criticism to thousands of students at more than 300 colleges and universities. Insights from classroom use enrich each new edition. With an unparalleled talent for distilling sophisticated rhetorical concepts and processes, Sonja Foss highlights ten methods of doing rhetorical criticism—the systematic investigation and explanation of symbolic acts and artifacts. Each chapter focuses on one method, its foundational theories, and the steps necessary to perform an analysis using that method. Foss provides instructions on how to write coherent, well-argued reports of analytical findings, which are then illustrated by sample essays. A chapter on feminist criticism features the disruption of conventional ideologies and practices. Storytelling in the digital world is a timely addition to the chapter on narrative criticism. Student essays now include analyses of the same artifact using multiple methods. A deep understanding of rhetorical criticism equips readers to become engaged and active participants in shaping the nature of the worlds in which we live.




Rhetorical Criticism


Book Description

Offers students an excellent example of the diversity & breadth of rhetorical criticism.




Purpose, Practice, and Pedagogy in Rhetorical Criticism


Book Description

This edited volume fills a void in the literature concerning the purpose, practice, and pedagogy associated with performing rhetorical criticism. Literature regarding these issues—predominantly purpose—exists primarily as scattered journal articles and as sections within chapters of textbooks on rhetorical criticism. This book brings together 15 established rhetorical critics, each of whom offers well thought out and argued opinion pieces that stress the more personal nature of criticism. The purpose of this book is to serve as a disciplinary resource, and as a teaching and learning aid. Accessibility across areas of expertise and experience is stressed in this book. Critics range from junior faculty to emeritus, and represent a broad spectrum of views on criticism. In this sense the book offers a snapshot of the views of a wide swath of successfully practicing, contemporary rhetorical critics.




Rhetorical Criticism


Book Description

"Sonja Foss, who has an enviable talent for synthesizing complex rhetorical concepts and processes into clear explanations, presents nine methods of rhetorical criticism. She carefully explains and illustrates the theory behind each method with abundant examples of applications. Interesting and lively essays, some written by students, encourage readers to develop their critical skills. Useful bibliographies list additional samples for each type of criticism." "Rhetorical criticism is not a process confined to a few assignments in a rhetorical or media criticism course. It is an everyday activity we can use to understand our responses to symbols of all kinds and to create our own symbols to generate the responses we desire."--BOOK JACKET.




Modern Rhetorical Criticism


Book Description

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.




Reading Rhetorical Texts


Book Description

This book is designed to orient the beginning student to the nature and function of rhetorical criticism, to acquaint the student with those elements in the rhetorical situation that warrant serious attention, and to teach the student a useful strategy with which to begin to practice criticism ... The focus of this book is clearly on public speeches ... Along with mastering basic concepts, the beginning critic will also be given the opportunity ... to begin grappling with fundamental and enduring critical issues ... [The authors] have included in this book texts and examples of how critics have studied those texts. [They also] offer two historical texts along with [their] own critical readings of those texts ... [The book then] presents two texts and illustrations of the various critical responses to these texts ... The first [text is] Richard Nixon's "Address on the Vietnam War, [and the second is] Jesse Jackson's "Common Ground and Common Sense" ... Finally ... several examples of critical readings by rhetorical scholars illustrate different ways to approach texts.-Pref




The Rhetorical Power of Popular Culture


Book Description

Can television shows like Stranger Things, popular music by performers like Taylor Swift, advertisements for products like Samuel Adams beer, and films such as The Hunger Games help us understand rhetorical theory and criticism? The Fourth Edition of The Rhetorical Power of Popular Culture offers students a step-by-step introduction to rhetorical theory and criticism by focusing on the powerful role popular culture plays in persuading us as to what to believe and how to behave. In every chapter, students are introduced to rhetorical theories, presented with current examples from popular culture that relate to the theory, and guided through demonstrations about how to describe, interpret, and evaluate popular culture texts through rhetorical analysis. Authors Deanna Sellnow and Thomas Endres provide sample student essays in every chapter to demonstrate rhetorical criticism in practice. This edition’s easy-to-understand approach and range of popular culture examples help students apply rhetorical theory and criticism to their own lives and assigned work.




Rhetorical Criticism


Book Description

Covering a broad range of rhetorical perspectives, Rhetorical Criticism: Perspectives in Action, third edition presents a well-grounded introduction to the basics of rhetorical criticism and theory in an accessible manner for advanced undergraduate courses and introductory graduate courses. Throughout the text, sample essays written by noted experts in the field provide students with models for writing their own criticisms. In addition to covering traditional modes of rhetorical criticism, the book introduces less commonly discussed rhetorical perspectives as well as orientations toward performing criticisms including close-textual analysis, critical approaches, and analysis of visual and digital rhetoric. The third edition includes the following features: New chapters on visual rhetoric and digital rhetoric Potentials and Pitfalls sections analyzing individual perspectives Activities and discussion questions in each chapter Glossary of important terms




Rhetorical Criticism


Book Description

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.