Rhetorical Theory Essay Assignement. The history of rhetoric plays an important

Rhetorical Theory Essay Assignement.
The history of rhetoric plays an important role in both your course of study as well as the field of Communication (and others) in general. Though we often associate it most directly with oral communication, we should adopt an understanding of rhetoric’s various contexts that acknowledges the connections between speaking, writing, and thought (as the Greeks of Plato and Aristotle’s time did). This assignment encourages you to explore some of the specific concepts you have read, and discussed, as part of this class. Consider what stands out to you the most. What resonates? What do you see as having a specific contemporary value?
You have multiple angles from which you can approach this assignment, but regardless of which option you choose, all papers should be:
1. 1200-1700 words (roughly 4-6 pages double-spaced, not including a works cited page) in length. You also need to include a front page with your name, relevant course info, and a brief (100-200 words) abstract that includes your thesis, main points, and the implications or “take away” of your paper.
2. Well-organized with a clear focus.
3. Written with minimal mistakes in grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc. This is an upper-
level course in your major – your writing should reflect it. Use of the writing center is
highly encouraged.
4. Focused on material from the first section of the course (“Foundations of Rhetoric”).
5. Thoughtfully crafted multiple specific examples from course material as well as other
relevant (and credible) sources. As a general rule, however, no written work should
contain more than 10% quoted material.
6. Cited properly using APA format. You should also have a works cited page. If you use an
online citation generator, make sure you clean up the formatting and check for errors.
7. Submitted in .doc or .docx file format on Canvas by the due date.
8. Brought to me (as a draft) during office hours if you’d like feedback before your final
submission.
9. PLEASE NOTE: You use another option/angle for your paper (that still follows the above
requirements) but I will need to approve it first.
Please select ONE of the following prompts or options for your paper (on the next page):
Option #1: Literature Review
Most of the ideas and people we have discussed so far are thousands of years old. How are they relevant today? More specifically, how are they being used today? This is the question at the heart of the literature review. Literature reviews explore the relevant work/research that has focused on a given topic. Though they are typically seen as part of a larger written work, they can also stand on their own, especially when combined with a short synthesis or reflection.
For this option, you will need to first select a significant, specific idea from one of our early rhetors. This should be something that you find interesting and important. You will then explore how those ideas have been used in a contemporary academic setting by doing a series of journal searches (utilizing the FGCU library’s website, primarily). Look for articles from the past fifteen years or so and identify any trends that emerge. Who seems to be using these concepts? How are they being used?
After getting an understanding of the existing contemporary literature, you will need to select 3-4 articles or book chapters that sound relevant and interesting (while doing your search you should be reading the abstracts of each article). Read each article carefully. Your resulting paper should include an explanation of the concept as you understand it (utilizing specific examples and material from our source readings), an overview of what you observed during your search for literature, a brief summary of each of your selected articles, and finally an explanation of how these articles “fit” together along with the original concept in order to contribute to your understanding.
Option #2: Rhetorician Profile
We have spent most of our time (so far) discussing a few primary figures in the early history of rhetoric: Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero (and to a lesser extent, the Sophists). This option encourages you to explore the work of other important figures in rhetoric’s early history. Start by reviewing your notes from the Herrick readings, and identifying a person (or even a group or school of rhetors) that you would like to learn more about. Do some initial surface-level research to familiarize yourself with them and to identify their major works. Select one of those major works, and read it (if there is nothing of their work that survives, you will have to review multiple scholarly sources in order to put together a composite image of the work).
Your paper should offer a brief biography of your selected rhetorician/figure and discuss the importance of their contributions to the field. Who were they influenced by? Who did they in turn influence? What are their major works? How are they viewed and used today – what is their legacy? You will also need to summarize the work of theirs that you have read, explaining its major ideas. Finally, relate their work and ideas to those of the people we have focused more on in class. If you have any questions about who would be an appropriate person to focus on, please let me know. Keep in mind, we are not discussing contemporary figures – nothing later than the Enlightenment period.