Beardsley

The rhetorical situation expands beyond audience-speaker-purpose to places—both physical and digital—and things. This course will provide an overview of contemporary rhetorical criticism. We will look at a different method each week, and you will play with rhetorical lenses to analyze an object, text, everyday practice, space/place, or architectural structure of your choice.

We will read recent work on protest rhetoric, digital activism, feminist rhetoric, and more as examples. You will write short explorations (1250 words; ~5 pages) analyzing your artifact using different rhetorical lenses, revise one into a more developed paper, and curate a portfolio of your best work.

Learning Outcomes

• Understand the ways rhetorical criticism has been studied in the field of rhetoric, composition, and literacy
• Analyze and evaluate ideas, arguments, and interpretations
• Develop advanced writing skills
• Compare and evaluate approaches, theories, and methods that relate to the study and understanding of rhetoric
• Assemble a body of work that utilizes inquiry to analyze an object, text, everyday practice, space/place, or architectural structure of your choice