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English 633-001
Seminar in Rhetoric and Writing: Rhetoric, Reason, and the Emotions

Instr: Alice Gillam
Office: CRT 427, 229-6879
e-mail: agillam@uwm.edu
Office hours: by appointment.
Course Information: TR 9:30-10:45, Curtin 466

Course Description

If classical rhetoric was defined by its emphasis on reason and its interest in dominant discursive practices, postmodern rhetoric is defined by its critique of reason, emphasis on the emotions, and interest in marginal, non-dominant discursive practices. This course begins by identifying the key issues and debates in contemporary rhetorical theory and then investigates the discursive practices of a variety of non-dominant groups-women, working class people, African-Americans, and others.

Goals:
  1. To introduce major theories and debates in contemporary rhetoric.
  2. To investigate marginal and non-dominant rhetorical practices.
  3. To offer instruction and practice in the rhetorical analysis of discourse.

Possible Texts (Not all of these texts will be required and others may be substituted):
Boler, Megan. Feeling Power: Emotions and Education. New York: Routledge, 1999.
Collins, Patricia Hill. Fighting Words: Black Women and the Search for Justice. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1998.
Enos, Theresa, and Stuart A. Brown. Professing the New Rhetorics: A Sourcebook. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1994.
Gates, Henry Louis. The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of Afro-American Literary Criticism. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.
Lucaites, John Louis, Celeste Michelle Condit, and Sally Caudill. Contemporary Rhetorical Theory: A Reader. New York: Guilford Press, 1999.
Scott, James C. Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1990.
Stone, Allucquere Rosanne. The War of Desire and Technology at the Close of the Mechanical Age. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1995.
Wells, Susan. Sweet Reason: Rhetoric and the Discourses of Modernity. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996.

Requirements for Undergraduates:
  1. Regular attendance and active participation in class discussion and on the class listserv.
  2. Completion of all reading assignments.
  3. Weekly entries in an electronic or paper dialogue journal.
  4. Two papers (4-6 double-spaced pages), analyzing the rhetoric of a non-traditional text.
Requirements for Graduate Students:
  1. Regular attendance and active participation in class discussion and on the class listserv.
  2. Completion of all regular reading assignments in addition to weekly additional reading from a list of recommended supplemental articles.
  3. Weekly entries in an electronic or paper dialogue journal.
  4. One paper (4-6 double-spaced pages), analyzing the rhetoric of a non-traditional text.
  5. One research paper (15-20 double-spaced pages), investigating a contemporary debates or issue in postmodern rhetorical theory.