The Rhetoric of RHETORIC
The Quest for Effective Communication
Blackwell Manifestos
In this manifesto, distinguished critic Wayne Booth claims that
communication in every corner of life can be improved if we study
rhetoric closely.
* * Written by Wayne Booth, author of the seminal book, The
Rhetoric of Fiction (1961).
* * Explores the consequences of bad rhetoric in education, in
politics, and in the media.
* * Investigates the possibility of reducing harmful conflict by
practising a rhetoric that depends on deep listening by both
sides.
Preface.
Part One: The Status of Rhetoric, Over the Years.
Part Two: The Need for Rhetorical Studies Today.
Part Three: Reducing Rhetorical Warfare.
Conclusion.
Appendix.
Index
Part One: The Status of Rhetoric, Over the Years.
Part Two: The Need for Rhetorical Studies Today.
Part Three: Reducing Rhetorical Warfare.
Conclusion.
Appendix.
Index
"In The Rhetoric of RHETORIC Wayne C. Booth passionately and persuasively demonstrates the centrality of rhetoric to human inquiry and human interaction. Taking Booth's manifesto seriously -- responding to it in the spirit of what he calls 'listening rhetoric' -- can improve the quality of our thought, our interactions, and, thus, our lives." James Phelan, Ohio State University
Wayne C. Booth is Distinguished Service Professor of English Emeritus at the University of Chicago. His previous publications include The Rhetoric of Fiction (1961), A Rhetoric of Irony (1974), Critical Understanding (1979), The Company We Keep: An Ethics of Fiction (1988), The Craft of Research (with Williams and Colomb, 1994), and For the Love of It: Amateuring and Its Rivals (1999). Like most of his publications, his teaching has concentrated on diverse ways of improving human communication.