ENGL 4521
Wednesday, January 22
and
Friday, January 24
Housekeeping
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Syllabus Updates...Sorry.
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Virtual Classes: I'll post a video or slideshow. All you need to do is complete the assigned reading, look at the video or slideshow, and complete any required assignment. Easy.
- The Blog is ready to go, you should have received an invitation.
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Are there any questions about the Blog Response or Respondent Assignments?
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For Friday:
- The first reading quiz will be available at noon.
- We'll discuss Aristotle's Rhetoric (focus on chapter 2).
- Plato's Gorgias is optional (there's a link on Moodle).
Keith and lundberg
Rhetoric has to do with "discourse" and "persuasion"... it is "the study of producing discourses and interpreting how, when, and why discourses are persuasive" (4).
What do you make of Keith and Lundberg's assertion that identity and power are linked through rhetoric (9)?
What do we commonly think about Detroit? Why?
How does this ad make use of our common assumptions?
Does the ad meet Hart and Daughton's requirements for an argument? Can we apply Killingsworth's equation?
The history of rhetoric
Any questions about our very brief histories of rhetoric?
Key Issue:
Logos v. Doxa (Opinion) and Techne (Craft)
How would you characterize the relationship between language and "truth" in this history? How does this relationship shift and change? Why is it (potentially) threatening?
Modern rhetorical theorists have asserted the importance of the Sophists to the rhetorical canon? Why do you think they are so popular now?
The history of rhetoric
The Sophists (and many that followed them) were interested in the idea of the citizen-orator. This idea has, throughout history, been challenged by the reality of social class. Do you think we are coming back to an age of citizen-orators? How so?
Gorgias "Encomium of Helen'
#FreeHelen
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Questions? Comments?
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Do you "like" this text? Why or why not?
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Why does he begin the way he does? What is the rhetorical mission of the first paragraph?
- What are the 4 "reasons" for exonerating Helen? In explaining the seductiveness of language, what rhetorical maneuvers can you see Gorgias employing? How does he make this argument convincing (sections 8-15)?
Aristotle Rhetoric Book I
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Key terms and concepts:
- Aristotle's Definition for Rhetoric
- 3 "Proofs" (or Pisteis)
- 3 Types of Speeches
- The Enthymeme
The Enthymeme
Derived from the Syllogism (a logical argument in 3 parts):
A Major Premise...All men are mortal
A Minor Premise...Socrates is a man
A Conclusion...Socrates is mortal
The Enthymeme removes one or more pieces of the Syllogism. It relies on the reader understanding what is missing and how the missing part completes the idea (i.e. the Enthymeme relies on pre-existing knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, or understanding).
The Enthymeme...Examples
"We cannot trust this man, for he has lied in the past."
What is missing?
Others:
- "If the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit."
- "With a name like Smucker's, it has to be good."
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"But Brutus says he was ambitious; And Brutus is an honorable man."
- "Where there is smoke, there is fire."
- "Nothing relieves pain faster."
For Monday:
Read Foucault's "Discourse on Language"
ENGL 4521
By Scott Rogers
