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 15th: Isocrates (Part 2)

February 15th: Isocrates (Part 2)

Plan for the Day

  • Isocrates’ Speeches from Last Class (if needed)
  • Isocrates’ “Antidosis” (pp. 201-264)
  • Mini-Rhetorical Analysis Fun
    • I will ask you about your topics in class tonight and next week (2/22)
    • These are due in two weeks: 3/01
  • Special Valentine’s Day Messages
    • “Marriage: It’s Only Going to Get Worse”—this is science talking…not me
    • A 1A Valentine’s Day: Broken Hearts And Why Romance Novels Are More Timely Than Ever
  • Rhetorical Analysis Examples (time permitting)

Isocrates’ “Antidosis”

If we need to jump back to February 8th’s webpage, we can do that. Otherwise, let’s forge ahead. By now, you’re well aware of the requirement that wealthy Athenians pay liturgies to improve the community: temples, choruses, and even triremes. The translator tells readers that this fictional speech is based on an actual event “in 356, a wealthy citizen Megacleides was summoned to undertake the funding of a trireme….[but claimed] that the rhetorician Isocrates should be liable for the trierarchy since he was the wealthier of the two” (p. 201). Furthermore, this speech, written when Isocrates was 82, attempts to both characterize his virtue and the lasting effect he and promoting philosophy will have on Athens and all of Greece: educating future leaders. Keep in mind the translator’s observation of Isocrates’ major assumption:

  • p. 203: “For [Isocrates], rhetoric is philosophy, that is, the ability to speak, to reason, and to act. It is not an abstract and impractical activity….Rhetoric/philosophy does not rely on a fixed body of knowledge (epistēmē) but on ability to guess and conjecture (doxa) at the right opportunities.”
    • “These skills allow the orator or the politician to say and do what is necessary in any particular situation.”
  • Compare to Aristotle:
    “Let rhetoric be [defined as] an ability, in each [particular] case, to see the available means of persuasion” (1.2.1, Kennedy p. 37; Part 2, para. 1 Online; [1356a])

Let’s consider these other areas:

  • p. 207: “[7] I considered…to write a speech that would be (as it were) an image (eikōn) of my thoughts and my life as a whole.”
  • p. 208: “individuals who dare to blame others for the things they themselves are guilty of are the most wicked and deserve the harshest penalties.”
    • What other text warns against hypocrisy?
  • p. 210: “we accept whatever the accuser says, and we sometimes refuse to hear the voice of the defendant who tries to refute them.”
  • Besides the obvious examples of someone being “judged in the court of public opinion,” what other examples are there of refusing to hear other accounts?
  • p. 218: “all my speeches pertain to virtue justice.”
  • p. 220—Here, Isocrates asks a series of three rhetorical questions about speeches (just before and after [77]). Then, he associates the ability to speak and persuade (the ability to use rhetoric) as the foundation for civilized society; therefore, his position as teacher is the most important in all of Greece.
  • “If you were to be persuaded by my words, you would govern the whole of Greece well and justly and in the best interests of Athens.”
  • “…we should value those who make it their business to write speeches of this kind more than those who legislate and inscribe laws…”
  • p. 221: “I try to persuade the whole city to undertake activities which will lead to their own happiness and will free the rest of the Greeks from their present evils.”
  • p. 238: “the condition of the city necessarily depends on how the young are educated. Thus sykophants cannot be in charge of such an important matter…”
  • p. 241: “…courage that does not signify shamelessness but prepares the soul with moderation (sōphrosynē) so that it has as much confidence in addressing all the citizens as in deliberating with himself.”
  • p. 243: “We acquire knowledge through hard work, and we each put into practice what we learn in our own way. From every school only two or three become competitors, while the rest go off to be private citizens.”
    • I believe he means these “competitors” are the bad kind of sophists out to use rhetoric to enrich themselves. But he could also imply that only a few orators go on to be leaders.
  • p. 248: “Not one of these men who had done such great things neglected speech (logoi); rather, they paid much more attention to it than to other things.”
  • Here’s one list of the Seven Sages

Isocrates appears to go all out in promoting rhetoric, public speaking broadly, as the most important activity. Consider, though, as we’ve discussed in other contexts, that this pursuit is not expected of everyone. In fact, Isocrates points to a need for “native talent” (p. 240) to acquire these skills.

  • p. 250: “[245] But toward those who apply themselves diligently and wish to acquire the things they themselves desire, they are irritated and jealous, they are upset, and they go through the same sort of experience as lovers.”
  • p. 250: “[249] This is a sign not only of their confusion, but also of their disrespect for the gods.”
  • pp. 250-251: “[250] Worst of all, although they assume the soul is more important than the body, despite knowing this, they welcome those who engage in gymnastics more than those who engage in philosophy. Surely it is irrational to praise those who engage in a lesser activity rather than a higher activity.”
  • p. 251: “Speech (logos) is responsible for nearly all our inventions. [255] It legislated in matters of justice and injustice and beauty and baseness, and without these laws, we could not live with one another.”
  • p. 252: “[256] With speech we fight over contentious matters, and we investigate the unknown….[257] If one must summarize the power of discourse, we will discover that nothing done prudently occurs without speech (logos), that speech is the leader of all thoughts and actions, and that the most intelligent people use it most of all.”
  • p. 253: “When we are exercised and sharpened in these matters, we are able to receive and learn more important and significant material more quickly and easily.”
  • p. 258: “that feature which makes human nature superior to that of other living creatures and the Greek race superior to the barbarians, [294] namely, a superior education in intellect and speech.”

Consider the effect of these statements in general:

  • p. 222: “[91] But I think that even the most ignorant know…”
  • p. 225: “[108] ” Who does not know about Corcyra lying in the most strategic and fairest spot among the cities near the Peloponnesus…”
  • p. 228: “He surpassed all others in providing magnificent and worthy equipment—and none of the enemy would dare say otherwise.”
  • p. 233: “[149] Reasonable and sensible people might perhaps admire you for this, but others who are less talented and who generally are more upset at the honest success of others than at their own misfortune, can only be annoyed and resentful.”
    • He is quoting a fictional student above.
  • p. 239: “No one would deny that of these two, the soul is superior and more valuable, for its task is to deliberate about matters private and public…”
  • p. 241: “Doesn’t everyone know that even if such a person does not acquire a thorough education but only a general education that is common to all, he would be such an orator that in my view no Greek could equal him?”
  • p. 243: “Sensible people should not have conflicting judgments about similar matters…”
  • p. 259: “[301] It is up to the jurors who are sensible to destroy those who are responsible for such words, because they heap a great shame on Athens…”
    • Pay attention to note 97 “Athenians as intellectuals.”
  • p. 260: “We have many rivals in athletic competition, but in education, all would judge us winners.”

Rhetorical Analysis Examples

Let’s jump back to February 1st’s webpage and check out the educational links. If I haven’t already, I’ll ask you about your Mini-Rhetorical Analysis topics, which I know you all have.

On Canvas, I have a Facebook post we might review. Consider these questions:

  • What assumptions seem to guide the author’s post, specifically her argument?
  • How does the author appear to convey ethos, and what might that ethos be?
  • Does her conclusion remind you of any similar types of appeals?
    • Think the encomiums (partial and full) we’ve read.

Onward to On Christian Rhetoric

I swear to you the next work isn’t a trick to proselytize. We’re reading it in a secular context to consider how a dominant religion in Western Civilization uses rhetoric and its rhetorical tradition. Whether you like it or not, believers and non-believers in the West have been influenced/affected by Christianity. What do I mean by that?

Looking ahead, we’ll discuss Knoblauch’s Discursive Ideologies (Ch. 1 & 2, pp. 1-48) in two weeks. That book should contextualize our readings and fill in the gaps (or create new ones)—we can’t cover every single one in depth. It will also be helpful in locating scholarship on our figures and clarifying their (often) confusing arguments.

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