The Rhetorical Act: Thinking, Speaking, and Writing Critically

THE RHETORICAL ACT: THINKING, SPEAKING, AND WRITING CRITICALLY, Fifth Edition, teaches you how to craft and critique rhetorical messages that influence, inviting and enabling you to become an articulate rhetor and critic of the world around you. The book combines thorough coverage of rhetorical criticism, media literacy, and strategic public speaking, providing a solid grounding in essential concepts while helping you hone your skills in each area.

Karlyn Kohrs Campbell (PhD, University of Minnesota) is Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Minnesota. She is the author of MAN CANNOT SPEAK FOR HER: A CRITICAL STUDY OF EARLY FEMINIST RHETORIC (1989) and co-author of DEEDS DONE IN WORDS: PRESIDENTIAL RHETORIC AND THE GENRES OF GOVERNANCE (1990), PRESIDENTS CREATING THE PRESIDENCY (2008), and THE INTERPLAY OF INFLUENCE: NEWS, ADVERTISING, POLITICS, AND THE MASS MEDIA (6th ed., 2006). She is editor of CRITIQUES OF CONTEMPORARY RHETORIC (1997, 2003), WOMEN PUBLIC SPEAKERS IN THE UNITED STATES, 1800-1925 (1993), and WOMEN PUBLIC SPEAKERS IN THE UNITED STATES, 1925-present (1994). Awards include a fellowship at the Shorenstein Center of the Kennedy School at Harvard, the National Communication Association Distinguished Scholar Award, the Lauren Ecroyd outstanding teacher award, the Woolbert Award for scholarship of exceptional originality and influence, Golden Anniversary Monograph Award, and the University of Minnesota 2002 Distinguished Woman Scholar in the Humanities and Social Sciences. She has taught at Macalester College; The British College at Palermo, Italy; California State University at Los Angeles; SUNY at Brockport and at Binghamton; City University of New York; University of Kansas; and Dokkyo University, Tokyo, Japan.

Susan Schultz Huxman (PhD, University of Kansas) is President and Professor at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ontario. Her first academic appointment as director of the Public Speaking program was with Wake Forest University. She won numerous teaching awards in her twenty-year career at Wichita State University (WSU). Before accepting the presidential post in Canada, she served as Director of the Elliott School of Communication at WSU and regularly taught honors public speaking, rhetorical criticism, research methods, and strategic communication in organizations. In her current post, as time permits, she teaches special courses and workshops in rhetorical theory and criticism and leadership and crisis communication. An active scholar, she has published in the field of rhetorical criticism and U.S. public address. A new book, LANDMARK SPEECHES IN U.S. PACIFISM, is in press with Texas A & M University Press. She engages in a range of professional speaking and consulting opportunities each year to advance the discipline, develop support for the college, and showcase scholarship in action.

Thomas R. Burkholder (PhD, University of Kansas) is Associate Professor and former Chair of the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. He is co-author, with Karlyn Kohrs Campbell, of the second edition of CRITIQUES OF CONTEMPORARY RHETORIC (1997) and co-editor, with Martha S. Watson, of PERFECTING AMERICAN SOCIETY: THE RHETORIC OF NINETEENTH CENTURY REFORM (2007). His work has also appeared in the Western Journal of Communication, Southern Communication Journal, Communication Studies, and various book chapters. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in rhetorical theory, rhetorical criticism, and U.S. public address