Winsor – Writing Like an Engineer: A Rhetorical Education

Winsor, Dorothy A. Writing Like an Engineer : A Rhetorical Education. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1996. Print Preface W. provides some interesting methodological points in her preface.  She notes that, paradoxically, when we research we often make objects out of our subjects (while calling them subjects).  To address this univocal representation of infinitely complex human beings she provides a section called “backtalk”... Read More

Berlin – Rhetoric and Reality: Writing Instruction in American Colleges, 1900-1985

James Berlin.  Rhetoric and Reality: Writing Instruction in American Colleges, 1900-1985. Chapter One: An Overview B. id’s his mission statement: “I will examine the forms that rhetorical instruction in writing has taken in the 20th century classroom” and in doing so will also consider the poetic.  B. invokes the classical Western roots of education and notes that education had long considered rhetoric to be central to good preparation in... Read More

Graff and Leff – Revisionist Historiography and Rhetorical Tradition(s)

Graff and Leff. “Revisionist Historiography and Rhetorical Tradition(s)” Graff and Leff’s article draws attention to the fact that histories of rhetoric are, at their core, really rhetorical histories; as such, it’s important to recognize the multiplicity of rhetorical histories, their social embededness, and their convergences/divergences across space-time.  Yet, as the authors note, recognizing the plurality of rhetorical histories also... Read More

CCR711 – Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Cape

Plato – Phaedrus[1] First, I’ll give a recap of the speech: A. Phaedrus begins the speech, which starts with the notion that the lover is a mad man, that is, insane with desire. This insanity is damaging to the lover and the beloved. 1. This speech of Lysias is cynical at this point, describing a physical, selfish love. 2. The speech itself is badly written, a parody actually, which shows the weakness and corruption of the thought behind it.... Read More