Rhetoric

Wood s lot gestured at a listing of Rhetoric resources.

As is typical of me, I can’t keep my mouth shut. The web links listed (with one exception) have been on my sidebar for many months. The one that isn’t, Rhetorica is focused on political rhetoric (which doesn’t interest me much, except as a teaching device).

A point of pedantry though: his glossary of rhetorical tropes contains one boner— anastrophe is defined reasonably correctly, but the example is not an anastrophe. It is a chiasmus (inversion of structure, bookended symmetrically for emphasis). A much better example of anastrophe would be Yoda-speak: “Jedi I am.” However, rhetoric is much more than remembering all the Greek and Latin words for things. The slant of the references on Blood’s list are primarily classical, with only one exception: Kenneth Burke.

I’m the odd-man out in thinking that Kenneth Burke is a putz. His dramatistic pentad is just journalism restated, and his view of language use as “symbolic” puts me off. Sad that he’s the only thing past Rome and Greece represented on the bibliographic list. I can’t resist a few comments.

Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student is an expensive textbook that no one I know uses. Meant for first year writing classes, it’s really more of a graduate student’s tool. However, it is absolutely excellent. It presents clearly all the tropes, styles, etc., while also providing overviews of both writing pedagogy and the history of Rhetoric. As dense as it is, it’s perhaps easier to read than the primary texts involved (of which it provides great excerpts) and contains a number of great samples for rhetorical analysis. Great choice, but not really for beginners. The Art of Rhetoric is a cheap Penguin copy of Aristotle’s Rhetoric, available online. It’s more of a theory piece, really, not a practical guide— it is fragmentary, more like lecture notes than a full treatise. Aristotle’s perspective on Rhetoric really needs to be read across several of his works, a job that Classical Rhetoric does quite well. Cicero and Quintillian are great, but a bit distant from modern rhetorical praxis. Many efforts have been made to update them through the ages, and one of the worst is listed in the ensuing list. Hugh Blair is for aesthetes, and this treatise has more to do with speech than writing. Starting with Ramus, Rhetoric was eviscerated. Blair, Campbell and Whately in the Romantic period completed the job of ripping out its epistemic heart: invention (inventio for those who prefer Latin). Blech! It wasn’t until I.A. Richards in the early twentieth century that Rhetoric began to get back on track.

Asking about Rhetoric is like asking about “science.” Uh, which version (or subgenre) do you want? There is no real need for me to compile an alternative bibliography, because one already exists, and as for great examples, many of the best speeches by women are available online at Gifts of Speech.

The entire text of The Bedford Bibliography for Teachers of Writing is available online. The introductory section covers the development of the “new” discipline of Rhetoric, and its conflict with Blair’s belles-lettres. Matthew Arnold, taking Blair up a notch, is largely responsible for the attitude I was railing against yesterday. The bibliography is neatly sectioned by topic, with classical and contemporary perspectives on Rhetoric. If you’re interested in Rhetoric (not just teaching writing), this is perhaps the single best place to start. It has abstracts of every book and article listed, and provides a great shopping list for those who want to know more about Rhetoric.

On another topic— Tom, if you’re reading this, an attempt has been made to index bloggers geographically. It’s called The Pepys Project.

Now, I’m off to Ft. Smith for a few days. Thanks for commenting, folks!