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last.updated 9.13.11

Return to the Classics

Purpose

The rhetorics developed by the ancient Greeks and Romans have been very influential on the rhetorics of Western culture; modern rhetorics tend to converse with these rhetorics by either adopting or rejecting principles from these foundational treatises. The modern composition classroom, as an application of these various rhetorics arguably still converses with these ancient texts. We will discuss some of the ancient principles and their modern applications and misapplications.

Before Class

• Read Aristotle from The Rhetoric [BB]
• Read Quintilian selections from Institutio Oratoria, Book II [BB]
• Read Bazerman & Russell "The Rhetorical Tradition and Specialized Discourses" [BB]
• Read Petruzzi "Kairotic Rhetoric in Freire’s Liberatory Pedagogy" [JAC, 21.2]
• Submit Blog Entry #1 on Blogger by the beginning of class

Lecture–Graduate Writing as the Burkean Parlor

The instructor will present Graduate Writing as the Burkean Parlor to explain the expectations for your writing throughout the course (and your graduate career).

Discussion: Greek and Roman Rhetoric

• How questions, comments and/or concerns do you have about the readings for this week?
• Based upon the readings and previous knowledge, what are the major principles of the Sophists, Plato, Aristotle, and Quintilian? How do you see them informing traditional composition practices? How do you see them helping modern composition instructors move beyond the traditional pedagogy?
• How do we extend these principles out to help us think about writing across the curriculum and writing in the disciplines? How can these applications then be used to inform what we do in the composition classroom
• What is kairos? According to Petruzzi how does kairos inspire critical consciousness? How do you see opportunities to use kairos in your own writing classes?