English 654: History and Theory of Rhetoric--Rhetoric and Education

• Dr. Stephanie L. Kerschbaum
• email: kerschbaum@tamu.edu
• office: Blocker 221A
• office phone: Dial the Texas Relay at 711 and ask to be connected to my office phone, 845-2587
• office hours: M 9 a.m.-12 p.m.; W 2-4 p.m. and very cheerfully by appointment!
• If my office hours are not convenient to you, please don’t hesitate to contact me in person or via email or phone to set up another time that is mutually convenient.



• Course Description
• One of the hallmarks of rhetorical study throughout history has been an emphasis on teaching and pedagogy. In this seminar, we will examine the interrelationships between rhetorical theory and the teaching and learning of rhetoric, seeking to understand how the two have informed one another. How have theories of rhetoric come to influence the pedagogical practices employed by teachers of writing and communication? How have material needs, sociocultural factors, and cultural influences shaped attitudes towards rhetoric? In what ways has rhetoric come to identify itself as a discipline of its own and in what ways has rhetoric been identified with other fields of study? To respond to these questions, we will study the historical foundations of rhetorical education, beginning with ancient Greek and Roman society and continue to trace the development of rhetorical theory and pedagogy through its fragmentation in the medieval period and reintegration in the early modern period. As an outcome of your involvement in this course, you will develop a better understanding of rhetoric as it has been defined in educational practice and you will be asked to make claims about the place of rhetoric in contemporary educational practice, as well as about relationships between rhetoric and writing. At the conclusion of this course, you should be beginning to develop your own theory of rhetoric as a discipline and in terms of your pedagogical approaches to communication and writing.



• Texts
• Required
• Aristotle. On Rhetoric: A Theory of Civic Discourse. Trans. George A. Kennedy. New York: Oxford UP, 1991. ISBN: 0195064879 ($29.95)
• Cicero. On the Ideal Orator. Trans. James May & Jakob Wisse. New York: Oxford UP, 2001. ISBN: 0195091981. ($30.95)
• de Pizan, Christine. Treasure of the City of Ladies. Trans. Sarah Lawson. New York: Penguin, 2003. ISBN: 0140449507 ($9.20)
• Dillon, John, ed. The Greek Sophists. New York: Penguin, 2003. ISBN: 0140436898 ($11.48)
• Erasmus. De Copia. Trans. David Rix & Donald King. Milwaukee: Marquette UP, 1964/1999. ($15.00)
• Isocrates I. Trans. David C. Mirhady & Yun Lee Too. Austin: U of Texas P, 2000. ISBN: 0292752385. ($24.95)
• Plato. Gorgias. Trans. James H. Nichols. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1998. ISBN: 0801485274 ($11.95)
• Plato. Phaedrus. Trans. James H. Nichols. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1998. ISBN: 0801485320 ($10.95)
• Quintilian. On the Teaching of Speaking and Writing: Translations from Books One, Two, and Ten of the Institutio Oratoria. James J. Murphy, ed. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 1987. ISBN: 0809313782 ($22.50)
• Kennedy, George A. Classical Rhetoric and its Christian and Secular Tradition From Ancient to Modern Times. 2nd ed. Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina P, 1999. ISBN: 0807847690 ($21.95)
• Murphy, James J., ed. A Short History of Writing Instruction: From Ancient Greece to Modern America. 2nd ed. LEA, Inc., 2001. ISBN: 1880393301 ($28.00)
• Schiappa, Edward. The Beginnings of Rhetorical Theory in Classical Greece. New Haven: Yale UP, 1999. ISBN: 0300075901 ($57.00)
• Course pack/online course reserves, available through the library website, www.ereserves.tamu.edu



• Additional Reading
• You will also choose one book from the following list to read and present to your classmates (perhaps collaboratively). Each text is assigned to a date in the course calendar below. Some of these texts are quite long—you will want to plan your reading ahead of time to ensure you keep up with regular course reading as well.
• Atwill, Janet. Rhetoric Reclaimed: Aristotle and the Liberal Arts Tradition. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1998.
• Clark, Donald. Rhetoric in Greco-Roman Education. Columbia UP, 1957.
• Garver, Eugene. Aristotle’s Rhetoric: An Art of Character. Chicago, IL: U of Chicago P, 1995.
• Hawhee, Debra. Bodily Arts: Rhetoric and Athletics in Ancient Greece. Austin: U of Texas Press, 2004.
• Marrou, Henri. A History of Education in Antiquity. Madison: U of Wisconsin P, 1956.
• Murphy, James J. Rhetoric in the Middle Ages. Berkeley: U of California P, 1974.
• Ober, Josiah. Mass and Elite in Democratic Athens: Rhetoric, Ideology, and the Power of the People. Ewing, NJ: Princeton UP, 1989.
• Ong, Walter J. Ramus: Method, and the Decay of Dialogue. New York: Octagon Books, 1974.
• Poulakos, Takis. Speaking for the Polis: Isocrates’ Rhetorical Education. Columbia: U of South Carolina P, 1997.
• Yates, Frances. The Art of Memory. Chicago, IL: U of Chicago P, 1966.



• Course Requirements and Assignments
• 1) Weekly course readings, course attendance, and class participation (25%)
• a. Attendance Because a seminar such as this one depends on all the class members for its effectiveness, everyone needs to be present and prepared for each class. Sometimes intervening circumstances occur, however. Therefore, during this semester, you may choose one week where you are not present and/or prepared. I will expect you to turn in any missed work at the start of the following class. Additional absences, incomplete work, or excessive tardies will be reflected in your final course grade.
• b. Class Participation can take many forms. Some examples include preparing notes or discussion points based on the readings before class, contributing your interests and backgrounds in ways that advance the class conversation, preparing and posing questions (see below), and introducing the class to new resources.
• c. Asking/Posing Questions You should bring a critical or reflective question (written or typed on a 3x5 index card) to each class meeting. We will use these to articulate entry points into the reading and to spur our group discussions.
• 2) Critical Report/Introduction to a Scholarly Source In this presentation you will provide a (possibly collaborative) critical report/introduction to a secondary source—your goal is to involve your classmates in the critical questions and arguments developed in these texts. You should also prepare a 1-2 page visual aid or handout to accompany your presentation. (15%)
• 3) Final Project Your major work for the semester will be an original, well-written research study that you will be conducting throughout the semester. (See Appendix for more details).
  • a. Position Paper Getting started with your writing and asking questions early is crucial to strong, well-grounded research. For this reason, we will begin the research process with an 6-8 page “position paper” based on course materials and reading thus far. In this paper you will work through some of your initial questions and develop a response—a working thesis, so to speak. This paper is to be submitted via email to the entire class no later than noon on F 13 October. I expect that this paper will inform your subsequent research process and the questions you choose to investigate with your annotated bibliography and in your final project. Everyone needs to print out all of the position papers submitted, as we will use these papers to inform our discussion during the first half of class on M 16 October. (15%)
  • b. Annotated Bibliography You will complete an annotated bibliography detailing the various sources you have found that offer promise for your final research study. The bibliography will be due on F 10 November. (15%)
  • c. A completed draft of the project is due on M 27 November, to create an opportunity for peer feedback during class before the final project is due (M 11 December). This should provide time for substantive feedback and revision. A one-page cover letter to me detailing the genesis and progress of your project should accompany your final draft. Beginning work early in the semester on this final project, and working on it weekly – indeed daily – over the semester, will greatly increase the odds that you will produce an excellent piece of writing. (30%)
  
  
  
• Student Learning
• Your success in this class is important to me. If there are circumstances which may affect your performance in this class, let me know as soon as possible so that we can work together to develop strategies for adapting assignments to meet both your needs and the requirements of the course.



• Students With Disabilities
• "The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal antidiscrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you believe you have a disability requiring an accommodation, please contact the Department of Student Life, Services for Students with Disabilities, in B-118 Cain Hall, or call 845-1637." (Student Rules publication).



• Honor Code
• This course, like all courses at A&M, is bound by the Aggie Code of Honor: “An Aggie does not lie, cheat, or steal, or tolerate those who do.” (For more, see the Honor Council Rules and Procedures on the web at www.tamu.edu/aggiehonor.)




Course Calendar and Schedule of Readings (these are tentative)
NOTE: Items from the course pack are marked with a double asterisk
M 28 August	Course Introduction
	Focal issue/question: Defining “rhetoric”; What does it mean to teach or learn rhetoric?
	Kennedy, chapter 1
	Schiappa, chapters 1 & 2
	Recommended: Kimball, Bruce. “Foundation of the Artes Liberales.” From Orators and Philosophers
M 04 September	The Progymnasmata
	Focal question: What theor(ies) of language and communication emerge through these texts?
	**Matsen, Patricia P., Philip Rollinson, & Marion Sousa. “Educational Rhetoric.”
	Kennedy, chapter 2
	Marrou, pp. 172-175 (handout)
	**Fleming, David. “The Very Idea of a Progymnasmata.”
	**Desmet, Christy. “Progymnasmata, Then and Now”
	Book Presentation: Ober, Josiah, Mass and Elite in Democratic Athens, esp. chapters 3-5
M 11 September	Itinerant teachers: The Greek Sophists
	Focal topic: Rhetorical practice and theories of language
	Kennedy, chapter 3
	Dillon, John. (ed.) The Greek Sophists—Protagoras; Gorgias, Helen
	**Poulakos, John. “Towards a Sophistic Definition of Rhetoric.”
	**Jarratt, Susan. “Sophistic Pedagogy: Then and Now.” From Rereading the Sophists.
	Book Presentation: Hawhee, Debra. Bodily Arts: Rhetoric and Athletics in Ancient Greece.
	Recommended: Kerferd, G.B., The Sophistic Movement; de Romilly, Jacqueline, The Great Sophists of Periclean Athens
M 18 September	Isocrates
	Focal topic: Education, rhetoric, and civic society
	Isocrates, Against the Sophists; Antidosis
	Schiappa, chapters 9 & 10
	Enos, Richard. “Ancient Greek Writing Instruction.” From A Short History of Writing Instruction
	**Benoit, William. “Isocrates and Plato on Rhetoric and Rhetorical Education.”
	Book Presentation: Poulakos, Takis. Speaking for the Polis: Isocrates’ Rhetorical Education
	Recommended: Jaeger, Werner. “The Rhetoric of Isocrates and its Cultural Ideal.” In Paideia: The Ideals of Greek Culture, vol. III
M 25 September	Plato
	Focal topic: Rhetoric as a discipline
	Kennedy, pp. 53-66
	Plato, Gorgias
	**Kastely, James. “In Defense of Plato’s Gorgias.”
	Book Presentation: Marrou, H.I. A History of Education in Antiquity, Part I
M 02 October	Plato
	Focal topic: Ethics and rhetoric
	Kennedy, pp. 66-74
	Plato, Phaedrus
	**Black, Edwin. “Plato’s View of Rhetoric.”
	**McAdon, Brad. “Plato’s Denunciation of Rhetoric in the Phaedrus.”
	Book Presentation: Yates, Frances A. The Art of Memory
	Special Event: Cheryl Glenn will give a talk titled “At the Intersection of Feminism and Rhetoric: The Un/Spoken" at 3 p.m. in Whitely Suite, 1st floor of Evans Library. Class will end at 2:40.
M 09 October	Aristotle
	Focal topic: Defining rhetoric
	Kennedy, pp. 74-97
	Schiappa, chapters 3-5
	Aristotle, Rhetoric, Book I.1-3
	6-8 page position paper due to entire class no later than noon on F 13 October.
M 16 October	Position Papers; Aristotle
	Focal question: What general questions or issues do you see emerging through the position papers? What “clusters” can you generate? What new directions or new questions do these papers raise?
	Position papers distributed last week
	Focal issue: systematization of rhetoric
	Aristotle, Rhetoric, Book I.3-II.26
	Book Presentation: Atwill, Janet. Rhetoric Reclaimed: Aristotle and the Liberal Arts Tradition
	Recommended: Gross & Walzer, eds. Rereading Aristotle’s Rhetoric; Garver, Eugene. Aristotle’s Rhetoric: An Art of Character
M 23 October	Cicero; Quintilian
	Focal issue: orators, the public sphere, programs of schooling
	Kennedy, chapter 5
	Cicero, De Oratore (from Books I and II)
	Quintilian, Institutes of Oratory (see also http://honeyl.public.iastate.edu/quintilian/index.html)
	Murphy, James. “The Key Role of Habit in Roman Writing Instruction.” From A Short History of Writing Instruction.
	Book Presentation: Clark, Donald. Rhetoric in Greco-Roman Education.
	Recommended: Marrou, part III, chapters 1 & 2; Swearingen, Rhetoric and Irony, chapter 4
M 30 October	Medieval Rhetoric: St. Augustine; Ars Dictaminis
	Focal issue: fragmentation of rhetoric; rhetorical “arts”
	**McKeon, Richard. “Rhetoric in the Middle Ages.”
	Kennedy, pp. 170-182
	Augustine, De Doctrina Christiana, Book IV (available at http://www.intratext.com/Catalogo/Autori/AUT31.HTM)
	Lanham, Carol. “Writing Instruction from Late Antiquity to the Twelfth Century.” From A Short History of Writing Instruction.
	(Optional, but strongly recommended):
	**Anonymous of Boethius, “The Principles of Letter Writing”
	**Perelman, Les. “The Medieval Art of Letter Writing”
	Book Presentation: Murphy, James. Rhetoric in the Middle Ages: A History of Rhetorical Theory from St. Augustine to the Renaissance, esp. chapters I-III & V
	Recommended: Swearingen, Jan, Rhetoric & Irony, chapter 5; Woods, “The Teaching of Poetic Composition in the Later Middle Ages,” From A Short History of Writing Instruction
M 06 November	Renaissance Rhetoric
	Focal issues: Changing educational circumstances during the Renaissance
	Kennedy, chapter 10
	**Murphy, James J. “One Thousand Neglected Authors.”
	Abbott, Don Paul. “Rhetoric and Writing in the Renaissance.” From A Short History of Writing Instruction
	Erasmus, De copia
	**Howell, Wilbur Samuel. Logic & Rhetoric in England, 1500-1700, chapter 4
	Book Presentation: Ong, Walter J. From Ramus: Method, and the Decay of Dialogue—esp. chapters I-III, VII, XII-XIII
	Annotated Bibliography due in my mailbox no later than noon on F 10 November.
M 13 November	Renaissance Women; Christine de Pizan
	Focal issue: Participation in rhetorical spheres; influences on educational practice
	**Glenn, Cheryl. “Inscribed in the Margins: Renaissance Women and Rhetorical Culture.”
	de Pizan, Christine. Treasure of the City of Ladies
M 20 November	The History of Rhetoric and Contemporary Rhetorical Teaching
	Focal questions: How can/does the history of rhetoric inform or influence contemporary teaching and learning?
	**Fleming, David. “Rhetoric as a Course of Study”
	**Hawhee, Debra. “Rhetoric, Bodies, and Everyday Life”
	Other essays TBA, based on course themes and interests
	Recommended: Crowley & Hawhee, Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students; Corbett & Connors, Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student
M 27 November	In-class peer workshop—drafts of final projects due
M 11 December	Final Projects due by 5 p.m.