Rhetoric & Technical Communication
Rhetoric & Technical Communication
Toscano, Aaron, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Dept. of English

Resources and Daily Activities

  • Conference Presentations
    • PCA/ACA Conference Presentation 2022
    • PCAS/ACAS Presentation 2021
    • SEACS 2021 Presentation
    • South Atlantic MLA Conference 2022
  • Dr. Toscano’s Homepage
  • ENGL 2116-014: Introduction to Technical Communication
    • January 11th: More Introduction to Class
    • January 18th: Audience & Purpose
    • January 23rd: Résumés and Cover Letters
      • Duty Format for Résumés
      • Peter Profit’s Cover Letter
    • January 25th: More on Résumés and Cover Letters
    • January 9th: Introduction to the Class
    • Major Assignments
  • ENGL 4182/5182: Information Design & Digital Publishing
    • August 21st: Introduction to the Course
      • Rhetorical Principles of Information Design
    • August 28th: Introduction to Information Design
      • Prejudice and Rhetoric
      • Robin Williams’s Principles of Design
    • Classmates Webpages (Fall 2017)
    • December 4th: Presentations
    • Major Assignments for ENGL 4182/5182 (Fall 2017)
    • November 13th: More on Color
      • Designing with Color
      • Important Images
    • November 20th: Extra-Textual Elements
    • November 27th: Presentation/Portfolio Workshop
    • November 6th: In Living Color
    • October 16th: Type Fever
      • Typography
    • October 23rd: More on Type
    • October 2nd: MIDTERM FUN!!!
    • October 30th: Working with Graphics
      • Beerknurd Calendar 2018
    • September 11th: Talking about Design without Using “Thingy”
      • Theory, theory, practice
    • September 18th: The Whole Document
    • September 25th: Page Design
  • ENGL 4183/5183: Editing with Digital Technologies
    • August 24th: Introduction to the Class
    • August 31st: Rhetoric, Words, and Composing
    • Major Assignments for ENGL 4183/5183 (Fall 2022)
      • Rhetoric of Fear
    • November 16th: Voice and Other Nebulous Writing Terms
      • Finding Dominant Rhetorical Appeals
    • November 2nd: Rhetorical Effects of Punctuation
    • November 30th: Words and Word Classes
    • November 9th: Cohesive Rhythm
    • October 12th: Choosing Adjectivals
    • October 19th: Choosing Nominals
    • October 26th: Stylistic Variations
    • October 5th: Midterm Exam
    • September 14th: Verb is the Word!
    • September 21st: Coordination and Subordination
    • September 28th: Form and Function
    • September 7th: Sentence Patterns
  • ENGL 4275: Rhetoric of Technology
    • April 13th: Authorities in Science and Technology
    • April 15th: Articles on Violence in Video Games
    • April 20th: Presentations
    • April 6th: Technology in the home
    • April 8th: Writing Discussion
    • Assignments for ENGL 4275
    • February 10th: Religion of Technology Part 3 of 3
    • February 12th: Is Love a Technology?
    • February 17th: Technology and Gender
    • February 19th: Technology and Expediency
    • February 24th: Semester Review
    • February 3rd: Religion of Technology Part 1 of 3
    • February 5th: Religion of Technology Part 2 of 3
    • January 13th: Technology and Meaning, a Humanist perspective
    • January 15th: Technology and Democracy
    • January 22nd: The Politics of Technology
    • January 27th: Discussion on Writing as Thinking
    • January 29th: Technology and Postmodernism
    • January 8th: Introduction to the Course
    • March 11th: Writing and Other Fun
    • March 16th: Neuromancer (1984) Day 1 of 2
    • March 18th: Neuromancer (1984) Day 2 of 2
    • March 23rd: Inception (2010)
    • March 25th: Writing and Reflecting Discussion
    • March 30th & April 1st: Count Zero
    • March 9th: William Gibson’s Neuromancer (1984)
  • ENGL 6166: Rhetorical Theory
    • April 12th: Knoblauch. Ch. 4 and Ch. 5
    • April 19th: Jacques Derrida’s Positions
    • April 26th:  Feminisms and Rhetorics
    • April 5th: Knoblauch. Ch. 3 and More Constitutive Rhetoric
    • February 15th: Isocrates (Part 2)
    • February 1st: Aristotle’s On Rhetoric Books 2 & 3
      • Aristotle’s On Rhetoric, Book 2
      • Aristotle’s On Rhetoric, Book 3
    • February 22nd: St. Augustine’s On Christian Doctrine [Rhetoric]
    • February 8th: Isocrates (Part 1)-2nd Half of Class
    • January 11th: Introduction to Class
    • January 18th: Plato’s Phaedrus
    • January 25th: Aristotle’s On Rhetoric Book 1
    • March 15th: Descartes, Rene, Discourse on Method
    • March 1st: Knoblauch. Ch. 1 and 2
    • March 22nd: Mary Wollstonecraft
    • March 29th: Second Wave Feminist Rhetoric
    • May 3rd: Knoblauch. Ch. 6, 7, and “Afterword”
    • Rhetorical Theory Assignments
  • ENGL/COMM/WRDS: The Rhetoric of Fear
    • January 10th: Introduction to the Class
    • January 17th: Scapegoats & Conspiracies
    • January 24th: The Rhetoric of Fear and Fallacies Part 1
    • Major Assignments
  • LBST 2212-124, 125, 126, & 127
    • August 21st: Introduction to Class
    • August 23rd: Humanistic Approach to Science Fiction
    • August 26th: Robots and Zombies
    • August 28th: Futurism, an Introduction
    • August 30th: R. A. Lafferty “Slow Tuesday Night” (1965)
    • December 2nd: Technological Augmentation
    • December 4th: Posthumanism
    • November 11th: Salt Fish Girl (Week 2)
    • November 13th: Salt Fish Girl (Week 2 con’t)
    • November 18th: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Part 1)
      • More Questions than Answers
    • November 1st: Games Reality Plays (part II)
    • November 20th: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Part 2)
    • November 6th: Salt Fish Girl (Week 1)
    • October 14th: More Autonomous Fun
    • October 16th: Autonomous Conclusion
    • October 21st: Sci Fi in the Domestic Sphere
    • October 23rd: Social Aphasia
    • October 25th: Dust in the Wind
    • October 28th: Gender Liminality and Roles
    • October 2nd: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
    • October 30th: Games Reality Plays (part I)
    • October 9th: Approaching Autonomous
      • Analyzing Prose in Autonomous
    • September 11th: The Time Machine
    • September 16th: The Alien Other
    • September 18th: Post-apocalyptic Worlds
    • September 20th: Dystopian Visions
    • September 23rd: World’s Beyond
    • September 25th: Gender Studies and Science Fiction
    • September 30th: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
    • September 4th: Science Fiction and Social Breakdown
      • More on Ellison
      • More on Forster
    • September 9th: The Time Machine
  • LBST 2213-110: Science, Technology, and Society
    • August 22nd: Science and Technology from a Humanistic Perspective
    • August 24th: Science and Technology, a Humanistic Approach
    • August 29th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem (Science), Ch. 2
    • August 31st: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem (Science), Ch. 3 and 4
    • December 5th: Video Games and Violence, a more nuanced view
    • November 14th: Boulle, Pierre. Planet of the Apes. (1964) Ch. 27-end
    • November 16th: Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. 1818. Preface-Ch. 8
    • November 21st: Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. 1818. Ch. 9-Ch. 16
    • November 28th: Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Ch. 17-Ch. 24
    • November 30th: Violence in Video Games
    • November 7th: Boulle, Pierre. Planet of the Apes Ch. 1-17
    • November 9th: Boulle, Pierre. Planet of the Apes, Ch. 18-26
    • October 12th: Lies Economics Tells
    • October 17th: Brief Histories of Medicine, Salerno, and Galen
    • October 19th: Politicizing Science and Medicine
    • October 24th: COVID-19 Facial Covering Rhetoric
    • October 26th: Wells, H. G. Time Machine. Ch. 1-5
    • October 31st: Wells, H. G. The Time Machine Ch. 6-The End
    • October 3rd: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology), Ch. 7 and Conclusion
    • September 12th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem (Science), Ch. 7 and Conclusion
    • September 19th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology), Prefaces and Ch. 1
    • September 26th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology), Ch. 2
    • September 28th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem at Large (Technology), Ch. 5 and 6
    • September 7th: Collins & Pinch’s The Golem (Science), Ch. 5 and 6
  • New Media: Gender, Culture, Technology (Spring 2021)
    • April 13th: Virtually ‘Real’ Environments
    • April 20th: Rhetoric/Composition Defines New Media
    • April 27th: Sub/Cultural Politics, Hegemony, and Agency
    • April 6th: Capitalist Realism
    • February 16: Misunderstanding the Internet
    • February 23rd: Our Public Sphere and the Media
    • February 2nd: Introduction to Cultural Studies
    • January 26th: Introduction to New Media
    • Major Assignments for New Media (Spring 2021)
    • March 16th: Identity Politics
    • March 23rd: Social Construction of Gender and Sexuality
    • March 2nd: Foundational Thinkers in Cultural Studies
    • March 30th: Hyperreality
    • March 9th: Globalization & Postmodernism
    • May 4th: Wrapping Up The Semester
      • Jodi Dean “The The Illusion of Democracy” & “Communicative Capitalism”
      • Social Construction of Sexuality
  • Science Fiction in American Culture (Summer I–2020)
    • Assignments for Science Fiction in American Culture
    • Cultural Studies and Science Fiction Films
    • June 10th: Interstellar and Exploration themes
    • June 11th: Bicentennial Man
    • June 15th: I’m Only Human…Or am I?
    • June 16th: Wall-E and Environment
    • June 17th: Wall-E (2008) and Technology
    • June 18th: Interactivity in Video Games
    • June 1st: Firefly (2002) and Myth
    • June 2nd: “Johnny Mnemonic”
    • June 3rd: “New Rose Hotel”
    • June 4th: “Burning Chrome”
    • June 8th: Conformity and Monotony
    • June 9th: Cultural Constructions of Beauty
    • May 18th: Introduction to Class
    • May 19th: American Culture, an Introduction
    • May 20th: The Matrix
    • May 21st: Gender and Science Fiction
    • May 25th: Goals for I, Robot
    • May 26th: Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot
    • May 27th: Hackers and Slackers
    • May 30th: Inception
  • Teaching Portfolio
  • Topics for Analysis
    • A Practical Editing Situation
    • American Culture, an Introduction
    • Efficiency in Writing Reviews
    • Feminism, An Introduction
    • Fordism/Taylorism
    • Frankenstein Part I
    • Frankenstein Part II
    • Futurism Introduction
    • Isaac Asimov’s “A Cult of Ignorance”
    • Langdon Winner Summary: The Politics of Technology
    • Marxist Theory (cultural analysis)
    • Oral Presentations
    • Oratory and Argument Analysis
    • Our Public Sphere
    • Postmodernism Introduction
    • Protesting Confederate Place
    • Punctuation Refresher
    • QT, the Existential Robot
    • Religion of Technology Discussion
    • Rhetoric, an Introduction
      • Analyzing the Culture of Technical Writer Ads
      • Rhetoric of Technology
      • Visual Culture
      • Visual Perception
      • Visual Perception, Culture, and Rhetoric
      • Visual Rhetoric
      • Visuals for Technical Communication
      • World War I Propaganda
    • The Great I, Robot Discussion
      • I, Robot Short Essay Topics
    • The Rhetoric of Video Games: A Cultural Perspective
      • Civilization, an Analysis
    • The Sopranos
    • Why Science Fiction?
    • Zombies and Consumption Satire
  • Video Games & American Culture
    • April 14th: Phallocentrism
    • April 21st: Video Games and Neoliberalism
    • April 7th: Video Games and Conquest
    • Assignments for Video Games & American Culture
    • February 10th: Aesthetics and Culture
    • February 17th: Narrative and Catharsis
    • February 24th: Serious Games
    • February 3rd: More History of Video Games
    • January 13th: Introduction to the course
    • January 20th: Introduction to Video Game Studies
    • January 27th: Games & Culture
      • Marxism for Video Game Analysis
      • Postmodernism for Video Game Analysis
    • March 24th: Realism, Interpretation(s), and Meaning Making
    • March 31st: Feminist Perspectives and Politics
    • March 3rd: Risky Business?

Contact Me

Office: Fretwell 255F
Email: atoscano@uncc.edu
ENGL 6166: Rhetorical Theory » February 8th: Isocrates (Part 1)-2nd Half of Class

February 8th: Isocrates (Part 1)-2nd Half of Class

Plan for the Day

  • Education
  • Isocrates’ Speeches
  • Mini-Rhetorical Analysis Fun
    • I want you to discuss your topics in class: tonight, 2/15, and 2/22 (Due 3/1)
    • Be on the lookout for persuasive passages like we had on February 1st’s page

Education Statement

I want us to address this statement in class:

Education for the sake of education is good in and of itself regardless of any future preparation for a career.

The first time I uttered this was in my first* PhD class on the very first night. I believed it then and still believe it 20 years later.

*Technically, it was the second because we had a summer boot camp course on teaching.

The Work of an Orator

Your textbook, edited by Michael Gagarin, has some important background information to keep in mind when considering the purpose of Isocrates’ work. Our job will be to connect these teachings and advice to contemporary or other historical time periods. What’s similar? What’s different or even anathema? What has remained a core emphasis for elite education? Some general points from Gagarin:

  • p. xii: “The practice of writing speeches began in the courts and then expanded to include the Assembly and other settings. Athens was one of the leading cities of Greece in the fifth and fourth centuries, and its political and legal systems depended on direct participation by a large number of citizens; all important decisions were made by these large bodies, and the primary means of influencing these decisions was oratory.”
  • p. xii: “It is convenient to designate these three types of oratory by the terms Aristotle later uses: forensic (for the courts), deliberative (for the Assembly), and epideictic (for display).”
  • p. xiv: Of “dozens–perhaps even hundreds…only ten of these [orators] were selected for preservation and study by ancient scholars, and only works collected under the names of these ten have been preserved.”
  • p. xvi: “[Isocrates] favored accommodation with the growing power of Philip of Macedon and panhellenic unity.”
    “Isocrates greatly influenced education and rhetoric in the Hellenistic, Roman, and modern periods until the eighteenth century.”
  • p. xxi: “litigants often try to impress the jurors by referring to liturgies they have undertaken”
    • “the rich were also subject to special taxes (eisphorai) levied as a percentage of their property in times of need.”
  • p. xxiii: “a logographer could probably learn from jurors which points had or had not been successful, so that arguments that are found repeatedly in speeches probably were known to be effective in most cases.”
  • p. xxiv: “Suits for injuries to slaves would be brought by the slave’s master, and injuries to women would be prosecuted by a male relative.”
  • p. xxv: “For Plato, democracy amounted to the tyranny of the masses over the educated elite and was destined to collapse from its own instability”
  • p. xxvi: “the rich used the courts as battlegrounds, though their main weapon was the rhetoric of popular ideology, which hailed the rule of law and promoted the ideal of moderation and restraint.”

So Who Ran Things?

  • p. xix: “a great many citizens held public office at some point in their lives, but almost none served for an extended period of time or developed the experience or expertise that would make them professionals.”
  • p. xxiv: “Athenians never developed a system of public prosecution; rather, they presumed that everyone would keep an eye on the behavior of his political enemies and bring suit as soon as he suspected a crime, both to harm his opponents and to advance his own career. In this way all public officials would be watched by someone.”
    • What does this tell us about the government and, perhaps, ability to continue maintaining a loosely grouped federation of Greek city-states?
    • Consider the Macedonian conquerors, Philip and Alexander, who “united” the known world.
Greek CivilizationRoman Civilization
Classical Greece (our figures through Alexander, 323 BCE)
Mostly a pseudo-Democracy
Kingdom of Rome (until 509 BCE)
Hellenistic Greece (various kingdoms until annexation
by Rome, 146 BCE)
Roman Republic (until 49 BCE)
Roman Empire (until around 450 CE)
Rise of Christianity
Obviously, this is a very glossed-over view of 1,000 years of these civilizations, but there’s a pattern we can discuss…

Isocrates’ Speeches

Was Isocrates a philosopher, rhetorician, or sophist? Well, it kind of depends on our definition, but we know he was an important orator and ran a school in competition with Plato, Aristotle, and others in Athens (and elsewhere in the Ancient Greek world). Although he is lesser known than Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, he provides us with both practical rhetorical texts and insight into life in Ancient Greece. He lived to 97 or 98, which meant he lived more than twice as long as the life expectancy* of Ancient Greeks, according to last week’s page. Living to 100 is a feat nowadays and was unbelievable in Ancient Greece, so Isocrates witnessed quite a bit of a turbulent century (436–338 BCE).
*Pay close attention: “life expectancy” isn’t equivalent to “average age.”

  • p. 3: “At the core of his teaching was an aristocratic notion of aretē (‘‘virtue, excellence’’), which could be attained by pursuing philosophia…the study and practical application of ethics, politics, and public speaking.”
  • p. 4: “He stresses that his teaching (paideia) is practical and is aimed at preparing young men broadly as gentlemen….and is essentially an education in political leadership, a mechanism for the construction of authority among the traditional elite groups that comprise Isocrates’ ideal pupils.”
  • p. 5: “For Isocrates logos (discourse) and philosophia (the study of and training in discourse) are at the core of any orderly, civilized community and have been essential to the success of Athens, the classical democratic city par excellence.
    • “Discourse institutionalizes morality and makes possible debate, persuasion, and the instruction of others…”
  • p. 8: “Isocrates instead seeks to appropriate the term philosophia to describe his intellectual activity and teaching, thereby implicitly challenging Plato, who was seeking to appropriate the term for his own work.”
  • And we’ve been fighting about definitions ever since…
  • Well, the fight started much earlier, but this is the recorded history we’ve been left.
  • p. 17: “But unlike Plato, who was led for this reason to throw out much of the Greek mythology that was handed down from Homer and Hesiod, Isocrates accepts it, claiming justification for the actions of many legendary figures, like Helen, Agamemnon, and Busiris, who are vilified by earlier writers.”

“To Demonicus”

This should be very familiar to audiences because of it’s relationship to religious rhetoric. Notice the style and topics advocated as well as condemned.

  • p. 20: The base and the honorable.
    • Teach to improve character.
  • p. 21: “Wealth supports evil rather than noble conduct: it provides a basis for laziness and exhorts the young to pleasures.”
  • By “young,” he means 13 year-olds and others of middle age.
    • Interestingly, he was a logographer for those wanting to keep their money or get it back…
  • p. 22: Seek moderation.
    • “Fear the gods; honor your parents; respect your friends; obey the laws.”
    • I swear I’ve heard such Commandments before but where?
    • He also says not to be a hypocrite on the next page.
  • p. 23: “Wisdom is the only immortal acquisition.”
  • Study abroad.
  • pp. 23-24: Treat others as you wish to be treated.
    • Total déjà vu.
  • p. 26: Don’t get drunk.
  • p. 27: “[36] Imitate the manners of kings and follow their habits, for you will…thus achieve more distinction in the eyes of the multitude and more reliable goodwill from kings.”
    • Clearly, Isocrates never watched Game of Thrones.
  • p. 27: “Prefer a just poverty over unjust wealth…justice furnishes a good reputation even to the dead.”
  • p. 28: Manage your expectations.
  • P. 29: “we do not do most things in life for the sake of activities themselves, but we work for results.”
    • Great tech writing advice–focus on user goals, not tasks

What might be governing the social construction of these “commandments”? Consider the fact that he was selected to the canon by ancient and medieval scholars.

“Busiris”

As the translator mentions, this title is a corruption of “Bu-Osiris, meaning ‘the place of Osiris‘” (p. 49).

  • p. 50: “most people who are admonished naturally regard it as no help but listen to what is said with reluctance to the extent that anyone examines their mistakes in detail.”
  • p. 51: “Everyone knows that those who want to eulogize people must point out more good attributes than they actually have, and those who want to prosecute them must do the opposite.”
  • p. 55: “It is especially worthwhile to praise and admire the piety of the Egyptians and their service to the gods.”
    • “by instilling in us a fear of the gods from the beginning, they cause us not to act like beasts toward one another.”
  • p. 56: “I attribute to him nothing that is impossible, only laws and a constitution, which are the acts of good and noble men.”
  • p. 57: “since the facts are open to interpretation and we can only speculate about them, if we look at what is likely, who would suppose anyone more responsible for the institutions there than a son of Poseidon who was descended from Zeus on his mother’s side?”
    • That’s a very postmodern statement from an ancient figure…well, at least the stuff before Poseidon.
  • p. 58: Not a fan of poets.
  • p. 59: “It is unreasonable to attribute the cause of our children’s blessings to the gods but to believe that they take no thought of their own.”

“Against the Sophists”

Again, he’s trying to establish his school as superior to others in Greece.

  • p. 62: “They say they have no need for money, disparaging wealth as ‘‘mere silver and gold,’’ but in their desire for a little profit they almost promise to make their students immortal.”
  • p. 63: Sophists can’t predict the future and can’t cultivate the souls of students. They are charlatans full of empty promises.
  • p. 64: “…the function of letters is unchanging and remains the same, so that we always keep using the same letters for the same sounds, the function of words is entirely opposite.”
  • Although I question the idea that letters always have the same sound, once again, this is a very postmodern statement from an ancient figure.”
  • pp. 64-65: Natural ability and the limits of education.
  • p. 66: “[21] Nevertheless, those who wish to follow the prescriptions of my philosophy may be helped more quickly to fair-mindedness than to speechmaking.”
  • He should explain one can get to enlightenment in less than 3,000 years…

“On the Team of Horses”

It’s Olympic season, and I have many opinions on the individual games, the fact it’s in China, and the industry itself. Just like today, in Ancient Greece rich people loved horse racing.

  • pp. 68-69: “I would be ashamed if I appeared to any citizen to give less thought to my father’s reputation than to my own problems.”
  • p. 71: “It would be much more reasonable to criticize those who remained and committed crimes that deserve exile.”
  • pp. 72-73: “…even the vilest of men can heap abuse not only on the best of men but even on the gods.”
  • Why bring this up here? What is he juxtaposing with such a statement? Is this an enthymeme?
  • p. 78: “Those who have money face a fine, but those without means like me face losing my civic rights, which I regard a greater misfortune than exile.”

The speaker makes several points about the good deeds his father did for the city when addressing the court. It appears he once had money but is now less well off.

“Trapeziticus”

This oratory is a situation where a well off man wants to get a loan back from someone who swindled him. It brings up the preposterous practice of torturing slaves for testimony, offering us insight into the minds of the wealthy of Athens.

The rest of the speeches in Part I have similar rhetorical moves, and we can address them one at a time or all together to find commonalities.

Next Class

Forge ahead on Isocrates I (Part 2: pp. 137-264) and try to make connections to historical or contemporary situations. His “Antidosis” (pp. 201-264) is quite important for understanding his philosophy, so pay close attention. Also, don’t forget that I will ask you about your Mini-Rhetorical Analysis topic next week. Consider the areas we’ve already discussed: speeches, prefaces, and polemics. Maybe read “Politics of the English Language” by George Orwell.

I will ask you what topic you’re leaning towards next week…

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