Welcome to this introductory course in the history of rhetoric, primarily Western rhetoric. We'll begin with texts from the Old Sophists and the Ancients in Greco-Roman Antiquity, and we'll move through the centuries until we reach the Enlightenment. The politics, creativity, art, systems, principles, pedagogies, and especially intertextuality of the theoretical, practical, and critical texts we'll engage in the primarily Western rhetorical "canon," spanning twenty-five hundred years, are fascinating, and we'll discuss rigorously and also play with varied approaches to language, persuasion, politics, communication, power, and written and oral composition. Our focus will be on Western rhetorics written or popularized between the 5th century BCE and the 19th century CE.

In addition to lots of reading and thoughtful classroom participation, work for this introductory course will consist of a few short exercises derived from our readings as well as mid-semester and end-of-semester take-home exams. Books are available at Shaman Drum (their phone number: 662-7407). There are also many online readings, available at <https://personal.www.umich.edu/~alisse/ENGL508w07s/>. As much as I dislike having you read print-outs of PDF files rather than holding originals in your hands, I weighed that option with the cost of the materials--and decided that in some cases PDFs and selections rather than full texts are better choices (ideally I'd have you buy at least another five books, but that would push the total for books if purchased new to well above $300). Please do print out all of the texts unless I suggest otherwise, as we'll be reading these texts closely during class. If there are selections, rather than full PDFs, on which I know ahead of time we'll focus our attention, I will try to let you know a week before that reading is due. Please also be sure to read any introductions available to you.

I recommend that as a group you work out a "clearinghouse" system such that one person is responsible for a single-spaced, one- to two-page synopsis of each text (that length is a maximum amount!), and you share these synopses. We'll talk more about them in class--including why I make the recommendation in the first place--but beyond the advice here and the brief discussion we'll have on the first day, you're on your own with the clearinghouse.

I'm happy to make appropriate accommodations for disabilities. Please talk with me about special needs you may have during the first couple of weeks of the semester. I'm also happy to meet with you about this course or your graduate work more broadly. Office hours will be on Tuesdays by appointment. The best way to contact me is by email, which I check at least once a day during the week.