Now in its second edition, Rhetorical Criticism: Perspectives in Action presents a thorough, accessible, and well-grounded introduction to contemporary rhetorical criticism. Systematic chapters contributed by noted experts introduce the fundamental aspects of a perspective, provide students with an example to model when writing their own criticism, and address the potentials and pitfalls of the approach. In addition to covering traditional modes of rhetorical criticism, the volume presents less commonly discussed rhetorical perspectives, exposing students to a wide cross-section of techniques.

Rhetorical Criticism: Empowering the Exploration of "Texts" encourages students to analyze texts of various sorts--speeches, advertisements, memory sites, and more--to gain a clear understanding of what the text has to say and how it persuades or otherwise affects its audience. The book clearly and succinctly helps students build the skills required to easily and effectively practice rhetorical criticism. The book begins with a chapter that defines "rhetoric," "criticism," and "text," demonstrates how theory-based rhetorical criticism can be exciting, and emphasizes that there are many diverse lenses through which to illuminate texts. The proceeding chapters explore various types of rhetorical criticism, including classical, The Chicago School, Burkean, fantasy theme, narrative, genre, mythological, Bahktinian, ideological, feminist, and constitutive. Each chapter begins by explaining the theory in which the critical approach is based. It then explains how a critic utilizing that particular type of rhetorical criticism manages the critical process and offers the reader an extended example of the critical approach in use. Conversational in nature and inclusive of a wide range of critical methods, Rhetorical Criticism is ideal for undergraduate courses in rhetoric-oriented courses.

This book focuses on seven entries in Carl R. Burgchardt’s Readings in Rhetorical Criticism, to which it adds a complementary effort. While maintaining a strategy of ongoing dialogue with both the prospective reader and the texts under scrutiny, the book acknowledges the author’s privileged moment of essential identification and represents a step out of the limiting frame of the inherently political character of inquiry. This allows the book to present personal narrative about guidance by specific critics such as Edwin Black, Forbes Hill, Karlyn Khors Campbell, Kenneth Burke, William Lewis, and Raymie McKerrow through the labyrinth of “that Leviathan, the public mind” (H. Wichelns). The volume mediates a cross-cultural re-conceptualization of academic writing, more adequately inscribed within the symbolic border between the consolidated American and other fragile profiles of the discipline of Communication Studies.

A comprehensive and up-to-date introduction to the analysis of public rhetoric, Modern Rhetorical Criticism teaches readers how to examine and interpret rhetorical situations, ideas, arguments, structure, and style. The text covers a wide range of critical techniques, from cultural and dramatistic analysis to feminist and Marxist approaches. A wealth of original criticism demonstrates how to analyze such diverse forms as junk mail, congressional debates, and traffic regulations, as well as literature. This long-awaited revision contains new coverage of mass media, feminist criticism, and European criticism.

A class-tested first edition focusing on core areas of rhetorical research, such as metaphor, narrative, visual persuasion, ideology, and politics, with the intent of acquainting undergraduate students with a broad, accessible understanding of ideas, analytic frames, and examples of human language use. This textbook is written as a springboard for more sophisticated study, and also strives to connect the material to "message-making" in communication-related professions

A comprehensive and up-to-date introduction to the analysis of public rhetoric, Modern Rhetorical Criticism teaches readers how to examine and interpret rhetorical situations, ideas, arguments, structure, and style. The text covers a wide range of critical techniques, from cultural and dramatistic analysis to feminist and Marxist approaches. A wealth of original criticism demonstrates how to analyze such diverse forms as junk mail, campaign speeches, and popular entertainment, as well as literature. This long-awaited revision offers specific guidance on crafting analytic essays, and contains new coverage of legacy as well as new media, identity criticism, and post-colonial and decolonial criticism. The fourth edition also offers additional resources online for instructors and students.