ENGL 5038 Seminar: It's a Rhetorical World

Rhetoric is an ancient art and practice that focuses on how people or groups use language (and other symbols) to persuade, negotiate, gain power, and make meaning in the world. This course will first present a brief overview of some key rhetorical methods and tools selected from classical and contemporary rhetorical theory. Rather than studying rhetoric per se, however, this course will turn to consider how selected ideas and concepts from rhetoric can serve as a unique and important toolkit that allows for the study of a wide range of " cultural texts," such as films, events, visual images and even places. The aim of rhetorical study is to understand culture as dynamic and performative--with language and signs creating and shaping reality, not merely reflecting it. The goal of this course is helping us better understand the created nature of all human culture, while pointing to possibilities for acting and being in the world. Seminar.