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Rhetorical Criticism
In Search of 'The People': A Rhetorical Alternative
McGee, M. (1975). In search of 'the people': a rhetorical alternative. The Quarterly Journal
of Speech. (3:61). 235-49. Retrieved from EBSCO Publishing.
Central Claim:
Rhetorical scholars have not looked at sociological influences in examining language.
Central Focus or Purpose for Criticism:
Rhetorical analysts have confused the plurality of humanity with the individual.
Lack of understanding of rhetorical devices related to politics can lead to the control of the people by a dangerous individual.
Political mythology about the individual vs. The people is highly evident in rhetoric.
Arguments about the Text:
There are ethics related to rhetoric which few consider.
Critics point to a fallacy in an argument to dismiss an entire position.
A.F. Pollard's is inefficient in discussing the people
Research in linguistics suggests "the people" may only be a linguistic issue
"The people focus on the Leader to establish a group identity" (page 241).
"A kind of rhetoric defines 'the people' at each stage in a 'collectivization process' of coming-to-be, being, and ceasing-to-be an objectively real entity" (page 243).
Humans translate information through a filter and turn them into their core beliefs
E: Key Terms / Definitions:
Humanity: a collective entity called 'the people'
People vs. audience
Champion: advocate of and for the people
Leader: image or mirror of collective forces
Ubermensch
The Second Persona
A: Black, E. (1998). The second persona. Contemporary Rhetorical Theory: a Reader. Ed.
Lucaites, J., Condit, C., and Caudill, S. Guilford: New York. 331-340.
B: Central Claim:
There are two personas in a discourse; one that is apparent and one that is implied.
C: Central Focus or Purpose for Criticism:
There is a moral question which must be addressed when discussing rhetorical discourse but that many scholars have avoided because of its contentiousness.
Judgment should not be passed on "inflammatory oratory" but on the consequences and repercussions of enflamed speech.
D: Arguments about the Text:
Aristotle pointed out the difference between the moral character of a person and their intellectual properties
Wayne Booth says there is a difference between the real author of a text and the implied author
It is the rhetorical scholar's position to "unpack" metaphors
Rhetoric on cancer and politics is used as an example of the different interpretations of discourse
E: Key Terms/Definitions:
Ethos: moral character
Dianoia: intellectual character
Polis
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While these are some of the more famous elements of rhetorical theory, they do not require extensive discussion here for two reasons. Firstly, they are fairly well-known. Secondly, and more importantly, they actually do not provide much insight into the uses of rhetoric, because Aristotle implicitly inserts an ethics into his discussion of rhetoric that precludes it from having as robust an application to the real world as would
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