ENGL 474 (GH) Issues in Rhetoric and Composition
Subtitle: Rhetoric in Dialogue
This course focuses on the rhetorical use of dialogue for making arguments and exploring complicated ideas, sometimes called “dialectic”. As such, it will explore rhetoric’s relationship with poetics, literature, and philosophy. Students will become familiar with the genre by reading some brief classical speeches, comedies, and of course, dialogues from authors like Aristophanes and Plato in addition to some contemporary examples. However, for the majority of the course we will treat dialogue as a game in which student-players make controversial statements, ask insightful questions, and provide appropriate answers. By engaging historical rules for this game, we will ultimately establish our own for a version more applicable to our current times. Students will supply topics and readings from their own academic, literary, and popular interests and will lead the game in turn. The rules may evolve as we progress, but the continuing experience will leave students with the ability to productively examine texts in various disciplines and genres; refine their opinions and challenge those of others; compose their own dialogues for the purpose of inquiry and argument; and participate in critical discussions outside the confines of the game and without the aid of other trained players.