| On the Internet, when you search for deceptive | | | | beyond identifying the very basic parts, pieces, and |
| rhetoric or rhetoric hoax, you'll get more than two | | | | patterns of Rhetoric? |
| million hits for either one. That volume of hits is an | | | | Plainly, this encyclopedia is not claiming to be |
| echo of what we've heard all our lives---that Rhetoric | | | | thorough and comprehensive, claiming that it covers |
| is associated with deception and trickery, even | | | | only the basics, "an introduction." After 2,500 years |
| though the college experts try to reassure us that | | | | of discussions and arguments about what Rhetoric is |
| the discipline of Rhetoric is really neutral. Fact is, | | | | and what it is not, surely there should be more than |
| though, most of what the public knows about | | | | just "an introduction" to Rhetoric in an encyclopedia |
| Rhetoric is a hoax, especially as regards the origins, | | | | dedicated to it! |
| the history, and the confusion over Rhetoric in | | | | Is a more comprehensive version, which goes |
| academic circles. | | | | beyond this "introduction," in the works or being |
| The Origins of Rhetoric | | | | planned? No mention of that. |
| Most people, even school teachers, think the history | | | | Furthermore, "Rhetoric... is becoming ever more |
| of Rhetoric began in Greece with Aristotle-------but it | | | | difficult to locate in a conceptual framework...." |
| didn't. | | | | What?!!! There's that "paradox" sort of difficulty, |
| In 427 A.D., sixty-year-old Gorgias, a sophist from | | | | again, as confessed by the first encyclopedia we |
| the Greek colony of Leontini, in Sicily, brought | | | | discussed. |
| Rhetoric to Athens. He settled in Athens and | | | | Maybe it would have been helpful to explain what |
| popularized rhetoric by offering public demonstrations | | | | "conceptual framework" means. Perhaps it has |
| of his skill in public speaking, which was his way of | | | | something to do with identifying an overall pattern |
| marketing his trade to anyone who wanted to learn | | | | that organizes all the concepts of Rhetoric---"ever |
| to speak as he did. | | | | more difficult to locate," even now? |
| One of his most apt students, Isocrates, learned the | | | | The fact that "many theorists are reconceptualizing |
| trade and became "the most influential teacher of | | | | Rhetoric "in its own terms" clearly implies that |
| rhetoric in Aristotle's time" (On Rhetoric, Kennedy, | | | | theorists have not been conceptualizing Rhetoric in its |
| George A., New York: Oxford University Press, 2006, | | | | own terms, for some reason. Why might that be? |
| p. 13). | | | | Let me take a shot at it---Perhaps it is because |
| Why wasn't Aristotle "the most influential teacher of | | | | Rhetoric has so very many disorganized parts and |
| rhetoric" in his own time? | | | | pieces, without a clear hierarchical pattern of |
| Because he had his own personal brand of Rhetoric, | | | | connections, that it's literally impossible to pin it all |
| and he taught it only to students in his small, private | | | | down into an organized pattern. In short, "rhetoric |
| school in Athens, called the Lyceum. And his Rhetoric, | | | | can mean nearly anything" (Professor George Pullman |
| really more of a collection of notes gathered over | | | | of Georgia State University; conference, What is the |
| the years than anything else, was not published in his | | | | New Rhetoric? in Sydney, Australia, 2005) that an |
| lifetime (384-322 B.C.) and was basically unknown | | | | 'expert' wants it to be and says it is. Given what I've |
| outside his small, private school. | | | | shown, here, that seems a decent interpretation of |
| In fact, not only was Aristotle's Rhetoric unknown in | | | | what was said in the prefaces to those two |
| his own time, it was largely unknown and untaught | | | | encyclopedias. |
| throughout the ages. According to George A. | | | | So Rhetoric is definitely fair game for being |
| Kennedy---a universally praised scholar of ancient | | | | compared to the saying, "You can't see the forest |
| Greek culture and a highly esteemed translator of | | | | for the trees." Rhetoric has so many hundreds of |
| Aristotle's Rhetoric---Aristotle's Rhetoric was | | | | devices and isolated concepts ("trees"), yet it has no |
| "obsolete as a school text" throughout most of | | | | clear, overriding principle ("forest") to hold them all |
| history (On Rhetoric, p. 308). | | | | together in a plainly recognizable pattern. |
| The History of Rhetoric | | | | Way back in 1663, the poet and satirist Samuel Butler |
| Aristotle's Rhetoric became obsolete because, first of | | | | said what many had said for centuries in more |
| all, it was lost in Asia Minor for about 200 years after | | | | general ways and captured the spirit of this perennial |
| his death in 322 B.C.-------out of circulation, out of | | | | confusion and uncertainty about Rhetoric with his |
| usage, out of sight, out of mind. | | | | famous, oft-quoted criticism: |
| During that time, probably because it had no real | | | | For all a rhetorician's rules teach nothing but to name |
| competition, the Rhetoric of Isocrates flourished and | | | | his tools. |
| became established as the major well-spring for | | | | Cute little saying, but Samuel Butler was serious. And |
| progress in the art of Rhetoric. | | | | so was Herbert Spencer (a very influential English |
| Also during that lost time, three very popular major | | | | philosopher of the Nineteenth Century, in Europe and |
| features were added to Isocrates's Rhetoric that | | | | America, in both literature and Rhetoric) when he said |
| were never developed in Aristotle's version: | | | | in his 1852 essay, "The Philosophy of Style," |
| · stasis | | | | The maxims contained in works on composition and |
| (contributed to Rhetoric by Hermagoras of Temnos | | | | rhetoric are presented in an unorganized form. |
| around 150 B.C.; a systematic series of questions | | | | Standing as isolated dogmas---as empirical |
| used to develop the central issue in court cases) | | | | generalizations, they are neither so clearly |
| · tropes | | | | apprehended, nor so much respected, as they would |
| (one of two major divisions in figures of speech, see | | | | be were they deduced from some simple first |
| below; using words in a way that their normal | | | | principle. |
| meaning is replaced with something else, such as, | | | | My take on what Spencer was saying is this: |
| "today the White House issued a statement"---as we | | | | The many rules for writing and public speaking are |
| know, the White House building did not issue the | | | | not organized. If they were organized under a single, |
| statement; irony is another example, such as when a | | | | simple, powerfully unifying principle, then the rules of |
| sarcastic students says, "Yeah, I just loooove | | | | composition and rhetoric could be clearly understood, |
| grammar") | | | | taught, and learned. |
| · figures of speech | | | | A much more modern Rhetoric authority, the late |
| (the Stoic philosophers of Athens added these to | | | | Professor Wayne C. Booth of the University of |
| Rhetoric somewhere between 250 and 100 B.C.; | | | | Chicago, plainly agreed but went a little further than |
| figures of speech are divided into two main | | | | Spencer when he said, |
| categories: schemes and tropes; schemes change the | | | | Where is the theory, where are the practical rules |
| ordinary or expected pattern of words, such as, "My | | | | for ensuring that this talk will not only grab you, as |
| voice teacher, a real looker," which uses the scheme | | | | the Madison Avenue rhetoricians say, but keep you |
| of apposition or renaming; and tropes change the | | | | grabbed and send you away determined to behave |
| general meaning of words, as discussed in the entry | | | | differently? (The Essential Wayne Booth, Wayne C. |
| just above). | | | | Booth & Walter Jost, University of Chicago Press: |
| Scholars throughout history considered these three | | | | 2007, p. 69) |
| Rhetorical features as extremely important and | | | | Booth's point was that modern writing texts don't |
| studied and discussed them extensively. So they paid | | | | provide a comprehensive theory or practical rules for |
| little attention to Aristotle's Rhetoric, which did not | | | | writing or speaking to a specific audience (neither did |
| have them, after it was found and 'published' around | | | | Aristotle's), and that Aristotle's Rhetoric couldn't fulfill |
| 80 B.C. Then, around 190 A.D., Alexander of | | | | our modern needs for "a rhetoric of the symposium, |
| Aphrodesias published a commentary on Aristotle's | | | | of the conference room," or of other modern |
| Rhetoric, and scholarly interest revived a bit. | | | | situations that were not even imaginable in ancient |
| However, throughout the Middle Ages and the | | | | Greece. |
| Renaissance, the principal texts on Rhetoric were not | | | | Furthermore, there's been a whole host of Rhetoric |
| Aristotle's, but two books that were based largely on | | | | authorities over the last one hundred and fifty years |
| the Rhetoric of Isocrates and its accompanying three | | | | who have been simply clamoring for a "New |
| supplementary features discussed above. These two | | | | Rhetoric"---because, like Booth, Spencer, and Butler, |
| books were Rhetorica ad Herrenium (Rhetoric for | | | | they see that Rhetoric simply can't handle the |
| Herrenium), of unknown authorship, and De | | | | diversity, depth, breadth, and uniqueness of modern |
| Inventione (On Invention), written by Cicero (106-43 | | | | times. These authorities include a number of |
| B.C.), the great Roman philosopher, politician, and | | | | academic heavyweights: I. A. Richards, Kenneth |
| rhetorician. | | | | Burke, Wayne C. Booth, W. R. Winterowd, Francis |
| The modern academic and philosophic interest in | | | | Christensen, James L. Kinneavy, E. D. Hirsch Jr., |
| Aristotle's approach to Rhetoric is often traced to | | | | Andrea Lunsford, Lisa Ede, Richard Lanham, Reed |
| the publication of philosopher Kenneth Burke's book, | | | | Way Dasenbrock, C. H. Knoblauch, and Lil Brannon. |
| A Rhetoric of Motives, which was published in 1950. | | | | So confusion reigns among modern encyclopedias |
| Since then, many other books have investigated and | | | | dedicated to Rhetoric, and academic authorities have |
| expounded upon Aristotle's Rhetoric, and more | | | | been complaining about the failings of Rhetoric for |
| people today are reading and studying it than did so | | | | hundreds, if not thousands, of years. And they are all |
| in all the rest of history combined. | | | | clamoring for something new-------because the old |
| So the public perception that Aristotle's Rhetoric is | | | | Rhetoric just isn't good enough anymore. |
| the Rhetoric that was handed down and taught | | | | Conclusion |
| widely in schools throughout the ages is quite wrong. | | | | Add to all that, the 2002 report from the National |
| This hoax has been perpetuated by well-meaning but | | | | Education Association that only one in five high school |
| poorly educated textbook writers. | | | | seniors can write well enough to do college work. No |
| The Confusion Over Rhetoric in Academic Circles | | | | wonder the National Commission on Writing (NCW) |
| Now, wouldn't you think that the actual bedrock | | | | declared in 2003 that there's a crisis in teaching |
| principles of Rhetoric, the fundamental principles, | | | | writing in America! But what did the NCW |
| would be pretty well-known and established after | | | | recommend? |
| 2,500 years? | | | | The NCW practically demanded more time, more |
| And you would also think that an encyclopedia | | | | people, and more money be poured into the same |
| dedicated to collecting and explaining all the important | | | | old, ineffective writing instruction, without any basic |
| parts, patterns, processes, purposes, and | | | | changes to the fundamental principles that determine |
| perspectives of Rhetoric would clearly identify and | | | | how writing is taught! (And, of course, what is taught |
| discuss them, right? | | | | in writing textbooks and writing classes across |
| Well, take a look at what the Preface says in the | | | | America is all based on Rhetoric. Rhetoricians are |
| Encyclopedia of Rhetoric (New York: Oxford Press, | | | | proud to point this out, by the way.) They want to |
| 2001): | | | | spend a whole lot more money, time, and people on |
| ... [this is] our effort to abstract rhetoric as far as we | | | | the same old thing that isn't working? As they say on |
| could... and to endeavor to search for its principles. | | | | Sesame Street, "What's wrong with this picture?" |
| "Search for its principles"? Immediately following that | | | | One last very telling point---Is there a final test that |
| eye-opener is this: | | | | would either prove or disqualify Rhetoric as the basis |
| We recognize the paradox, in view of what we take | | | | for teaching writing? |
| rhetoric to be. It is nearly impossible either to | | | | Yes, there is. It's called the What if test, and here it |
| abstract a temporal cause from its effects or to look | | | | is: |
| anew at a subject anchored in but not confined to an | | | | What if an essay or some other written work has all |
| ancient tradition. But the attempt to do so, we | | | | the pertinent forms of Rhetoric used perfectly in it? |
| believe, sets this work apart from other recent | | | | And what if it isn't new to the readers? |
| publications such as the Encyclopedia of Rhetoric and | | | | If the reading audience DOES already know the ideas |
| Composition.... [my bolding] | | | | and is familiar with the presentation, then what's the |
| I'm not even going to attempt to work out the | | | | point of that writing? Without being new, it has no |
| "paradox" reasoning. | | | | audience. At the very least, it will be oppressively |
| But I wonder: Am I reading too much into this? Is | | | | boring to readers. |
| Rhetoric as hard to define, is it as unstable and as | | | | If it's a book intended for public distribution, it won't |
| unclear in what its old principles are and in what its | | | | see the light of publishing day---people don't put out |
| new principles are, as this encyclopedia makes out? | | | | good money for old news, and publishers know that |
| Let's try another encyclopedia dedicated to | | | | very well. Ditto for poetry, short stories, essays, and |
| Rhetoric---there's only one other. Looking at the | | | | especially journalistic articles, opinions, and editorials. |
| Preface to the Encyclopedia of Rhetoric and | | | | And the Rhetoric of Isocrates, the Rhetoric of |
| Composition (New York: Garland, 1996), we find: | | | | Aristotle, the Rhetoric of Cicero, the Rhetoric of |
| ... [this encyclopedia] provides an introduction to | | | | Quintilian, the Rhetorica ad Herennium, James L. |
| rhetoric, including the major periods and personages, | | | | Kinneavy's Theory of Discourse---not one of them |
| concepts and applications. Rhetoric... is becoming ever | | | | develops a step-by-step process for generating the |
| more difficult to locate in a conceptual framework... | | | | astonishingly simple but amazing ignored concept |
| many theorists are reconceptualizing rhetoric in its | | | | of------- |
| own terms. [my bolding] | | | | What's new to the reader |
| This encyclopedia of rhetoric "provides an introduction | | | | We don't need a New Rhetoric. |
| to Rhetoric"? Only an introduction? It doesn't go | | | | We need a Rhetoric of Newness. |