Contemporary
Rhetorical
Criticism
Sarah Kornfield
Hope College
CONTENTS (brief)
For a detailed table of contents, please click on this text line.
Preface
PART I
INTRODUCTION
Chapter 1: Introduction to Rhetorical Criticism
Chapter 2: Rhetorical Analysis and Critical Essays
PART II: ORIENTING METHODS
Chapter 3: Narrative Criticism
Chapter 4: Dramatistic Criticism
Chapter 5: Genre Criticism
Chapter 6: Metaphor Criticism
Part III
IDEOLOGICAL CRITIQUE
Chapter 7: Ideological Criticism
Chapter 8: Feminist Criticism
PART IV
RETHINKING RHETORICAL TEXTS
Chapter 9: Audience Rhetoric
Chapter 10: Visual Rhetoric
Chapter 11: Material Rhetoric
APPENDICES
Appendix A: Writing a Critical Essay
Appendix B: Analyzing a Single Text or Multiple Texts
CONTENTS (detailed)
PART I
INTRODUCTION
Chapter 1: Introduction to Rhetorical Criticism
Understanding Rhetoric
Rhetorical Texts
Rhetoric: Meaning and Doing
Doing Rhetorical Criticism
Rhetorical Criticism as Purposeful Art
About the Author
Chapter 2: Rhetorical Analysis and Critical Essays
Doing Rhetorical Criticism: Close Textual Analysis
Becoming Familiar with Your Text
Becoming Familiar with the Context: The Rhetorical Situation
Reviewing the Literature
Analyzing the Text: The Fusion of Form and Content
Articulating Your Argument
Research Examples
Thomas W. Benson, "The Rhetorical Structure of Frederick Wiseman's High School" (1980)
Karlyn Kohrs Campbell, "Stanton's 'The Solitude of Self': A Rationale for Feminism" (1980)
Crafting a Critical Essay
Introducing the Critical Essay
Joining Scholarly Conversations
Overview of Text and Context
Crafting the Analysis
Concluding the Critical Essay
Conducting Your Research
PART II
ORIENTING METHODS
Chapter 3: Narrative Criticism
A Theory of Narratives
Humans as Story-Telling Animals
Narrative Reasoning
Cultural Narratives
Enjoyment and Transportation
Doing Narrative Criticism
Analyzing the Story
Analyzing the Discourse
Analyzing the Role of the Medium
Research Examples
Valerie Wee, "Patriarchy and the Horror of the Monstrous Feminine" (2011)
Leroy G. Dorsey and Rachel M. Harlow, "'We Want Americans Pure and Simple': Theodore Roosevelt and the Myth of Americanism" (2003)
Meg Kunde, "Making the Free Market Moral: Ronald Reagan's Covenantal Economy" (2019)
Strengths and Weaknesses of Narrative Criticism
Choosing This Method
Chapter 4: Dramatistic Criticism
A Theory of Dramatism
Symbols Screen Reality
Symbolic Action
Doing Dramatistic Criticism
Identifying Pentadic Elements
Assessing Pentadic Ratios
Determining Motive
Research Examples
Janice Hocker Rushing, "Mythic Evolution of 'The New Frontier' in Mass Mediated Rhetoric" (1986)
Mari Boor Tonn, Valerie A. Endress, and John N. Diamond, "Hunting and Heritage on Trial: A Dramatistic Debate over Tragedy, Tradition, and Territory" (1993)
Brian L. Ott and Eric Aoki, "The Politics of Negotiating Public Tragedy: Media Framing of the Matthew Shepard Murder" (2002)
Strengths and Weaknesses of Dramatistic Criticism
Choosing This Method
Chapter 5: Genre Criticism
A Theory of Genres
Generic Responses
Fusions of Form and Substance
Change over Time
Doing Genre Criticism
Becoming Familiar with a Genre and Choosing Texts
Analyzing Generic Texts
Analyzing the Rhetorical Situation
Analyzing the Symbolic Action
Research Examples
James A. Herrick, Visions of Technological Transcendence: Human Enhancement and the Rhetoric of the Future (2017)
Erin J. Rand, "Fear the Frill: Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the Uncertain Futurity of Feminist Judicial Dissent" (2015)
Jason Mittell, "A Cultural Approach to Television Genre Theory" (2001)
Strengths and Weaknesses of Genre Criticism
Choosing This Method
Chapter 6: Metaphor Criticism
A Theory of Metaphors
Types of Metaphors
A Continuum: Sleeping to Awake
Doing Metaphor Criticism
Assessing Metaphors
Interpreting Metaphors
Research Examples
Emily Martin, "The Egg and the Sperm: How Science has Constructed a Romance Based on Stereotypical Male-Female Roles" (1991)
Theon E. Hill, "Sanitizing the Struggle: Barack Obama, Selma, and Civil Rights Memory" (2017)
William Rodney Herring, "The Rhetoric of Credit, The Rhetoric of Debt: Economic Arguments in Early America and Beyond" (2016)
Strengths and Weaknesses of Metaphor Criticism
Choosing This Method
PART III
IDEOLOGICAL CRITIQUE
Chapter 7: Ideological Criticism
A Theory of Hegemony
Dominant Ideologies
Resisting Hegemony
Resilience of Hegemony
Communicating Ideology
Ideographs
Participating in Ideological Critique
Attending to Stylistic Tokens
Attending to Power Relations
Attending to Ideographs
Strategies for Interpreting Ideology
Consequences
Research Examples
Rachel E. Dubrofsky, "Jewishness, Whiteness, and Blackness on Glee: Singing to the Tune of Postracism" (2013)
Myra Washington, "Interracial Intimacy: Hegemonic Construction of Asian American and Black Relationships on TV Medical Dramas" (2012)
Fernando Delgado, "The Rhetoric of Fidel Castro: Ideographs in the Service of Revolutionaries" (1999)
Strengths and Weaknesses of Ideological Critique
Choosing This Approach
Chapter 8: Feminist Criticism
A Theory of Feminism
Intersectionality
Unearned Advantages
Sexism and Power
Participating in Feminist Ideological Critique
The Principle of Mutuality
The Principle of Reflexivity
The Principle of Agency
Asking Feminist Questions of the Text
Research Examples
Kathryn M. Olson, "An Epideictic Dimension of Symbolic Violence in Disney's Beauty and the Beast: Inter-Generational Lessons in Romanticizing and Tolerating Intimate Partner Violence" (2013)
Erica B. Edwards and Jennifer Esposito, "Reading the Black Woman's Body via Instagram Fame" (2018)
Andre Favors, "Coming Out as a Transgender Advocate: Laverne Cox, Intersectional Rhetoric, and Intersectionality" (2016)
Strengths and Weaknesses of Feminist Ideological Critique
Choosing This Approach
PART IV
RETHINKING RHETORICAL TEXTS
Chapter 9: Audience Rhetoric
A Theory of Audiences
Relating to Existing Discourses
Multiple Meanings
Audience Fandom
Analyzing Audience Texts
Context: The Existing Discourse
Context: Official Paratexts
Culturally Authoritative Audience Texts
Audience Members' Texts
Research Examples
Christine A. Wooley, "Visible Fandom: Reading The X-Files through X-Philes" (2002)
Rebecca Williams, "'This is the Night TV Died': Television Post-Object Fandom and the Demise of The West Wing" (2011)
Christine Gardner, "'Created This Way': Liminality, Rhetorical Agency, and the Transformative Power of Constraint among Gay Christian College Students" (2017)
Strengths and Weaknesses of Analyzing Audience Texts
Choosing This Approach
Chapter 10: Visual Rhetoric
A Theory of Visual Rhetoric
Seeing is Knowing
Visual Rhetoric in Context
Cultural Practices of Seeing
Cultural Imagery: Metaphors, Narratives, and Ideographs
Analyzing Visual Texts
Looking through Visual Rhetoric
Assessing Point of View
Cultural Practices of Seeing and Ideology
Assessing Context
Research Examples
Aisha Durham, "'Check on It': Beyoncé, Southern Booty, and Black Femininities in Music Video" (2011)
Rachel E. Dubrofsky and Emily D. Ryalls, "The Hunger Games: Performing Not-Performing to Authenticate Femininity and Whiteness" (2014)
Richard D. Pineda and Stacey K. Sowards, "Flag Waving as Visual Argument: 2006 Immigration Demonstrations and Cultural Citizenship" (2007)
Strengths and Weaknesses of Analyzing Visuality
Choosing This Approach
Chapter 11: Material Rhetoric
A Theory of Material Rhetoric
The Material Body
Spaces, Places, and the Things within Them
Analyzing Material Texts
Material Action
Symbolic Elements
The Intertwining of the Material and Symbolic
Human Movement
Research Examples
Adam J. Gaffey and Jennifer L. Jones Barbour, "'A Spirit That Can Never Be Told': Commemorative Agency and the Texas A&M University Bonfire Memorial" (2018)
Alyssa A. Samek, "Mobility, Citizenship, and 'American Women on the Move' in the 1977 International Women's Year Torch Relay" (2017)
David R. Coon, "Putting Women in Their Place: Gender, Space, and Power in 24 and Alias" (2011)
Strengths and Weaknesses of Analyzing Materiality
Choosing This Approach
APPENDICES
Appendix A: Writing a Critical Essay
Interpreting Textual Evidence
Showing Readers Your Textual Evidence
Interpreting Your Textual Evidence
Thesis Statements
Preview Statements
Literature Review
Citations
Appendix B: Analyzing a Single Text or Multiple Texts
Justifying a Text Selection
Justifying the Selection of a Single Text
Justifying the Selection of Multiple Texts
Avoiding Cherry-Picking Your Evidence
Cherry-Picking and the Single Text
Cherry-Picking and Multiple Texts
Index
About the Author
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