Argues that two current receptions of Plato's rhetorical theory that either (1) leave him out, or (2) claim he rejected rhetoric, have serious consequences for contemporary rhetoric and composition studies. Discusses critics who support a third position and claims this position reconnects rhetoric with thinking rather than mere formulizing. (NH)

Although first enunciated in 1827 by Samuel Newman, the modes of discourse--narration, description, exposition, and argument--were not very popular until formulated in 1866 and presented in the United States in a rhetoric textbook in 1885. After 1890, they were gradually accepted by the most influential rhetoricians of the day, and their use in…

This experimental, statistical study investigated the effects that Francis Christensen's "Generative Rhetoric of the Sentence" (1967) would have on overall writing quality and the number of subordinate clauses attached to the main independent clauses for more complex sentences in college freshmen's essays. In the experimental group of 42 students,…

Dominant features of the rhetoric used in the "American Educational Research Journal" (AERJ) are discussed to illustrate how arguments are constructed and how a conception of the world of education is formed. These features include conventions of format; impersonalized and passive sentence constructions; and references to prior research.…

As background to an argument for purposive reintegration of discourse study, this paper examines the concept of explanatory discourse as it developed within the Western rhetorical tradition. Following a discussion of the rise of a rhetoric of explanation, the first section cites the roots of the explanatory pedagogy developing during the first…

In asserting that cohesion both exists in a superordinate relationship to unity and emphasis and must be considered a part of the surface structure of written language as well as the deep structure, this text provides a commentary on the paragraph as the basic unit of written language and an analysis of the structure underlying paragraph…

Intended for teachers of college composition, this history of major and minor developments in the teaching of writing in twentieth-century American colleges employs a taxonomy of theories based on the three epistemological categories (objective, subjective, and transactional) dominating rhetorical theory and practice. The first section of the book…