Bringing together 50 key readings on rhetorical criticism in a single accessible format, The Rhetorical Criticism Reader furnishes instructors with an ideal resource for teaching and practicing the art of rhetorical criticism. Unlike existing readers and textbooks, which rely on cookie-cutter approaches to rhetorical criticism, The Rhetorical Criticism Reader organizes the field conceptually, allowing teachers and students to grapple with the enduring issues and debates surrounding criticism over the past 50 years.

The readings are organized into four sections, each representing key conceptual issues and debates in rhetorical criticism: critic/purpose, object/method, theory/practice, and audience/consequentiality. Each section is preceded by an introductory essay that puts the readings into context. For added flexibility, an alternative table of contents is also included for instructors and students to customize their teaching and reading.

Intended for upper-division undergraduate and graduate courses in rhetorical criticism, The Rhetorical Criticism Reader uniquely lends itself to thoughtful discussion of the role of the critic in the critical process. It assists readers not only in learning the tools of criticism, but also in reflecting on the values that underlie the critical endeavor.
Reviews

"An inspired conversation between reflections on the activity of criticism and models of exemplary criticism, The Routledge Reader in Rhetorical Criticism provides a superb introduction to the key theoretical debates in rhetorical criticism."

Sonja K. Foss, Department of Communication, University of Colorado - Denver

"Dickinson and Ott’s reader on rhetorical criticism features 50 thoughtfully selected essays, which exemplify several accomplished critics’ conceptually-driven, generative practices for criticism of public advocacy, while exploring the intricate relationships between theory and practice. Offering a conversational and dialogic orientatietorical criticism as an alternative to a methods approach, The Routledge Reader in Rhetorical Criticism is an exceptional resource for teaching criticism to graduate students and advanced undergraduates."

Lester C. Olson, Professor of Communication and Women's Studies & Chancellor’s Distinguished Teacher, University of Pittsburgh

Contents

Part I: Critic/Purpose

Must We All Be ‘Rhetorical Critics’? Barnet Baskerville

Criticism Ephemeral and Enduring, Karlyn Kohrs Campbell

Another Shooting in Cowtown, Thomas W. Benson

Rhetoric, Society and the Critical Response, Philip Wander and Steven Jenkins

Rhetorical Criticism as Moral Action, James F. Klumpp and Thomas A. Hollihan

Communication, Social Justice, and Joyful Commitment, Stephen John Hartnett

Leff in Context: What is a Critic’s Role? Barbara Warnick

The Critic as Empath: Moving Away from Totalizing Theory, Celeste Michelle Condit

Critic...