An important collection for scholars and students, this volume surveys major approaches to rhetorical criticism through significant essays that explain and illustrate them. From H. A. Wichelns's groundbreaking "The Literary Criticism of Oratory" to recent representatives of feminist criticism, close textual analysis, and postmodernism, these essays reflect the historical development, diversity, and practice of rhetorical criticism.
The second edition has been updated to reflect recent scholarship, current directions, and classroom needs. Collectively, the forty essays in this book are among the most important and widely cited in the literature of rhetorical criticism.
Carl R. Burgchardt teaches rhetorical criticism, critical methodology, American political communication, and public speaking at Colorado State University. He received his bachelor's degree from Penn State, and his master's and doctorate degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has published essays and book reviews in the Quarterly Journal of Speech. His previous book, Robert M. La Follette, Sr.: The Voice of Conscience, won the Outstanding Scholarship Award from the Colorado Speech Communication Association.