Professor Ostrom

University of Puget Sound

Office: Wyatt Hall 336. Hours: T-Th, 10:00-11:30 a.m. and by appointment. Please drop by during office hours and chat about rhetoric.

Telephone: x3235 (English Department);x3434 (voice mail). Electronic mail: ostrom@ups.edu. 

Home Page: http://www.ups.edu/faculty/ostrom/ (I will post a copy of this syllabus on the home page.)

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"Rhetoric holds entire dominion over all verbal pursuits. Logic, dialectic, grammar, philosophy, history, poetry, all are rhetoric."

--Wayne Booth, The Vocation of a Teacher (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988), xi-xv.

As the University Bulletin 2001-2002 indicates, English 492 examines "important theories about writing and discourse from the time of the ancient Greeks to the present" (p. 88). We will study different definitions of "rhetoric" and try to come to a better understanding both of its history and of its functions in our lives, here and now.

Developing a good understanding of the continuity in rhetoric’s history is one objective of the course. Another is to provide an opportunity to study specific works and ideas deeply. The works and ideas of Aristotle, Cicero, Burke, Perelman & Olbrechts-Tyteca, and Toulmin (among others) deserve such scrutiny. Additionally, we will examine current ideas about rhetoric and composition, including those influenced by feminist criticism and other areas of contemporary theory. We will also enact and apply rhetoric in a variety of ways—reading, writing, speaking. If Wayne Booth is right in his assessment of how importantly ubiquitous rhetoric is, the course ought to reinforce other academic studies—in the English Department and elsewhere. Experience you gain in the course should also be useful to a wide spectrum of pursuits you may take up after you graduate. From its earliest days forward, rhetoric has bridged academic and extra-academic zones; therefore, we will use rhetoric to analyze academic texts, non-academic texts, visual media, and even architecture. Concepts of rhetoric have been used to produce cultural documents, such as speeches, poems, and television commercials, but also to interpret cultural documents—to "read" culture. In the course, we will use rhetoric in this two-fold way, locating, interpreting, and discussing as many cultural documents and products as we can.

Concerning February 6 and 8: Every few years, I attend a professional conference that takes place during the semester. This is one of those years. I’ve been invited to participate in "An International Symposium on the Art, Life, & Legacy of Langston Hughes" at the University of Kansas in early February. (Hughes’s 100^th birthday is in February, and he spent part of his youth in Kansas.) Consequently, there will be no class-meetings on February 6 and and 8.

George A. Kennedy, Aristotle on Rhetoric: A Theory of Civic Discourse. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991.

James A. Herrick, The History and Theory of Rhetoric: An Introduction. 2nd Edition. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2001.

Barry Brummett, Rhetoric in Popular Culture. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 1994.

Paul Heilker and Peter Vandenburg, editors, Keywords in Composition Studies. Portsmouth, N.H.: Boynton/Cook, 1994.

Attendance and Participation: 20 per cent

Two tests: 20 per cent, total, 10 per cent each.

Two essays: 40 per cent, total, 20 per cent each.*

One oral presentation: 10 per cent.

Rhetoric journal/notebook: 10 per cent.**

*One essay will concern classical rhetoric; the other will concern contemporary rhetoric

**In your rhetoric journal, you should 1) Record observations of and make comments about the rhetoric in your day-to-day life; and 2) View this rhetoric through the "eyes" of the specific rhetorical notions we are studying at the time you make your observations. Aim for about one entry per week (fifteen total entries). The writing should be informal. Bring the rhetoric journal/notebook to each class session. You may keep it in a standard-sized hard-backed notebook, or you may keep it on a PC, but if you choose to do the latter, make sure you print out what you have written and bring it to class.

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Schedule of Meetings

Wednesday, January 23. Overview of the course and your responsibilities. A look at the syllabus—and its rhetoric. Journal/notebook assignment for Friday.

Friday, January 25. Rhetoric Then and Now: Sicily, Athens, and the origins of rhetoric; now: deluged by "messages"? For today, read "Rhetoric" and "History" in Keywords, read pp. 3-6 in Rhetoric in Popular Culture, and read Chapters One and Two of Herrick.

Monday, January 28. Plato’s problem(s) with rhetoric. Philosophy "versus" rhetoric and other false dichotomies. Origins of prejudice against rhetoric. Rhetoric and education. For today, read Herrick, Chapter Three and, in Keywords, "Teacher," "Students," and "Epistemology." Also read, in Rhetoric in Popular Culture, 33-48 (part of "Rhetoric and the Rhetorical Tradition"), and give some thought to the exercises in that section.

Wednesday, January 30. Why does (should?) Aristotle remain the most important figure in rhetoric? How Aristotle attempts to put the Sophists into perspective and to solve Plato’s problems. Read "Prooemion" and "Introduction" in Aristotle on Rhetoric. Your rhetoric journals.

Friday, February 1. Read Aristotle on Rhetoric, pp. 25-66. Take careful notes.

Monday, February 4. Read Aristotle on Rhetoric, 67-188. Take careful notes. Assignment for Monday, Feb. 11, given (presentation in pairs).

Wednesday, February 6. NO CLASS MEETING.

Friday, February 8. NO CLASS MEETING.

Monday, February 11. "Applying" Aristotle’s rhetoric as one way of understanding it. Using available means of persuasion, ethos, logos, pathos, and enthymemes to persuade an audience.

Wednesday, February 13. In Rhetoric in Popular Culture, read pp. 6-32 (we read pp. 3-6 earlier).

Friday, February 15. Read Aristotle on Rhetoric, 188-215. Also read, in Keywords, "Audience," "Invention," and "Argument."

Monday, February 18. Cicero, the ultimate speech-maker, and Quintillian, teacher of rhetoric. Read, in Herrick, Chapter 5, "Rhetoric at Rome." To what extent have speeches become obsolete? What should a "rhetoric" curriculum consist of in the 21st century?

Wednesday, February 20. Applying Aristotle, Cicero, et al, to a videotaped speech. First essay assigned, discussed: An Aristotelian analysis of a speech.

Friday, February 22. For today, read the following pages in Herrick: 121-128; 141; 145-152; 166; 170-176; 178-191. What influences of Medieval, Renaissance, and Enlightenment rhetoric are evident in 21st-century societies and universities?

Monday, February 25. A focused description, written, of your essay topic is due.

Wednesday, February 27. For today, read Chapter 9 of Herrick. New Rhetorics: Perelman & Olbrechts-Tyteca; Toulmin; Habermas. Toulmin material distributed. Perelman material distributed.

Friday, March 1. Draft of your first essay due.

Monday, March 4. A Toulmin analysis of "Letter from Birmingham Jail." Start looking for an editorial-opinion piece for March 8.

Wednesday, March 6. Read, in Herrick, Chapter 10, "Contemporary Rhetoric, II." Applying Burke.

Friday, March 8. Applying one of the new rhetorics to an editorial-opinion piece.

Monday, March 11. Midterm Examination.

Wednesday, March 13. Essays due.

Friday, March 15. In Keywords, read "Cultural Studies," "Deconstruction," "Feminism," "Paradigm," and "Resistance." Also read Chapter 11 in Herrick, "Contemporary Rhetoric III." Pairs assigned for presentations on March 29.

March 18-22. SPRING BREAK.

Monday, March 25. For today, read Chapter Three of Rhetoric in Popular Culture.

Wednesday, March 27. For today, read Chapter Six of Rhetoric in Popular Culture.

Friday, March 29. Pairs present summaries of topics in Chapter Four of Rhetoric in Popular Culture. Between now and April 3, view a feature film with someone in class.

Monday, April 1. A rhetorical tour of campus, no foolin’.

Wednesday, April 3. "Trying on" rhetorical criticism of a film.

Friday, April 5. Magazine advertisements. Bring many of them.

Monday, April 8. TV show.

Wednesday, April 10. Essay assigned, discussed.

Friday, April 12. Work on topics.

Monday, April 15. Presentation of topics.

Wednesday, April 17. Presentation of topics.

Friday, April 19. Presentation of topics.

Monday, April 22. Presentation of topics.

Wednesday, April 24. Review for examination.

Friday, April 26. Midterm examination.

Monday, April 29. The rhetoric of job and graduate-school applications.

Wednesday, May 1. Guest speaker.

Friday, May 3. Draft of essay due.

Monday, May 6. Open day: Last questions about the essay or notebook?

Wednesday, May 8. Essay due.

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