The rhetorical strategies used to justify "new" readings by thematic critics reveal the essentially trivial nature of the thematic approach.

Considers the quest for meaning to be the primary function of the rhetorical critic--meaning that goes from the text outward and that is interpreted by the reader. (RB)

Literary criticism must recognize its origins in common with rhetoric. Only through this recognition can (both) grow to show in a more full measure how literature functions to instruct, delight, express, and move. (Author)

Describes a method of teaching composition that focuses on rhetorical strategies in fiction, poetry, drama, and the essay, and by considering how these strategies are used effectively to achieve particular effects. (TO)

Reviews scholarship on the interdependence of rhetoric and poetic language, and proposes a performance as argument model for the oral interpretation of literature. Relates the model to current work on the relationship of narrative to argument and suggests benefits gained from its adoption. (SR)

The purpose of this second book of 21 self-contained essays is the same as that of the first volume published in 1972: to bring together the scholarly theory and current research regarding oral interpretation. One third of the essays are centered on literature itself: prose fiction, poetry, and the drama. These essays discuss topics such as point…

Users of this glossary will find it an index to and a summary of concepts that writers, critics, and scholars have used to describe and discuss the English language and its literature. Concentration is given to literature (including criticism), rhetorical theory, and composition. The articles in the glossary are to be considered adjuncts to, not…

During the course of an interview, Terry Eagleton, one of England's foremost Marxist critics, talks about his political and critical position and about related contemporary developments. (HOD)

Argues that assignments to write about literature can help teach rhetoric" only if administered with emphasis on the special rhetorical problems they pose." (Author/RD)

Focuses on the interdependence of rhetoricity and literarity. Reviews some historical, functional, formal, generic, and aesthetic aspects to determine if there is any clear distinction between the rhetorical and the literal. Concludes that no distinction exists and that rhetoricity is ubiquitous: it is present in every communication process. (PD)

Replies to Joseph Harris' critique of James Britton's conception of "spectator role" (English Education; v20 n1). (MS)

Describes the combination of circumstances--cultural, political, and educational--in mid-eighteenth century Edinburgh, Scotland, which led to the formation of the Regius Chair of Rhetoric and Belles Lettres. Claims this development reflects the social situation rather than a preconceived design for either the discipline of rhetoric or literature.…

Discusses the themes used in "The Right Stuff," Tom Wolfe's story of the seven astronauts in the Mercury program. Reviews Wolfe's rhetorical and literary techniques used to enlarge reality and create a heroic mode. (DMM)

Competing views of written texts, of the process of writing, and of the purposes of the scholarly investigation of written discourse appear inherently at odds. Today composition theory is often demeaned as being only pedagogical while literary study is granted the status of a self-fulfilling academic pursuit. What is needed is a model or matrix…

THESE 14 PAPERS EMPHASIZE THE VARIETY OF CURRENT THOUGHT ABOUT RHETORIC AND THE EXTENT TO WHICH MODERN RHETORIC IS EXPLOITING NEW INFORMATION AND RESEARCH. THE EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION DEFINES THE RECENTLY REVIVED ART OF RHETORIC IN TERMS OF ITS PURPOSES AND TYPES, AND THE PAPERS THEMSELVES DEMONSTRATE THAT MUCH OF WHAT IS NOW HERALDED AS NEW IN THE…