The Rhetoric of Western Thought

The Rhetoric of Western Thought
Author: Goodwin Fauntleroy Berquist
Publisher: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2010-05-27
Genre: Rhetoric
ISBN: 9780757579448

Building upon a rich legacy, the new edition of The Rhetoric of Western Thought provides readers with a comprehensive understanding of rhetoric from its inception in the ancient world, to its present day expression in contemporary practice and scholarship. As with previous editions, The Rhetoric of Western Thought, has been revised to enhance its traditional strengths by expanding coverage, by refining pedagogy, by updating treatment, and by improving organization, clarity and readability. Changes to the 10th edition include A greatly augmented Chapter 10: American Experimentations with Rhetoric, 1785-1930. Where previously the chapter centered on John Quincy Adams, now it focuses on all the approaches to rhetoric that emerged in the U.S. during the 19th century. An answer to the persistent question, what 19th-century social and theoretical trends produced present-day courses in composition, public speaking, and rhetorical theory? New contributing essays by Sandra Sarkela on Mercy Otis Warren s Contribution to the Rhetorical Tradition and Theresa Donfrio s essay on the rhetorical controversies surrounding the memorial planned for the site of the 9/11 terrorist attack. "


Rhetoric and Irony

Rhetoric and Irony
Author: C. Jan Swearingen
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 340
Release: 1991
Genre: Civilization, Western
ISBN: 0195063627

This pathbreaking study integrates the histories of rhetoric, literacy, and literary aesthetics up to the time of Augustine, focusing on Western concepts of rhetoric as dissembling and of language as deceptive that Swearingen argues have received curiously prominent emphasis in Western aesthetics and language theory. Swearingen reverses the traditional focus on rhetoric as an oral agonistic genre and examines it instead as a paradigm for literate discourse. She proposes that rhetoric and literacy have in the West disseminated the interrelated notions that through learning rhetoric individuals can learn to manipulate language and others; that language is an unreliable, manipulable, and contingent vehicle of thought, meaning, and communication; and that literature is a body of pretty lies and beguiling fictions. In a bold concluding chapter Swearingen aligns her thesis concerning early Western literacy and rhetoric with contemporary critical and rhetorical theory; with feminist studies in language, psychology, and culture; and with studies of literacy in multi- and cross-cultural settings.


Rhetoric of the Chinese Cultural Revolution

Rhetoric of the Chinese Cultural Revolution
Author: Xing Lu
Publisher: Univ of South Carolina Press
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2020-08-05
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1643361481

A startling look at revolutionary rhetoric and its effects Now known to the Chinese as the "ten years of chaos," the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966–76) brought death to thousands of Chinese and persecution to millions. In Rhetoric of the Chinese Cultural Revolution Xing Lu identifies the rhetorical practices and persuasive effects of the polarizing political language and symbolic practices used by Communist Party leaders to legitimize their use of power and violence to dehumanize people identified as class enemies. Lu provides close readings of the movement's primary texts—political slogans, official propaganda, wall posters, and the lyrics of mass songs and model operas. She also scrutinizes such ritualistic practices as the loyalty dance, denunciation rallies, political study sessions, and criticism and self-criticism meetings. Lu enriches her rhetorical analyses of these texts with her own story and that of her family, as well as with interviews conducted in China and the United States with individuals who experienced the Cultural Revolution during their teenage years. In her new preface, Lu expresses deep concern about recent nationalism, xenophobia, divisiveness, and violence instigated by the rhetoric of hatred and fear in the United States and across the globe. She hopes that by illuminating the way language shapes perception, thought, and behavior, this book will serve as a reminder of past mistakes so that we may avoid repeating them in the future.