History Bump

Becky,

Fascinating resource! Thank you very much. I've only glanced at a few of the articles, but (and I feel like such a broken record that someone is going to lay the smackdown on me) what is missing for me is the Communications story. Crowley's article traces the history of rhetoric, but fails to mention the communications teachers split from NCTE in the 1930s (I think; I'll have to check the date). They took this dusty old object called rhetoric with them, since no one in the English department was using it. Or, at least, that's their story and they are sticking to it.

Now then, I realize that to claim "no one" was using it is way too simple (as Berlin points to), but space is short and I don't have all my sources in order, so I'm making the decision to generalize. Anyway, Communications made rhetoric the center piece of their program of study. This Communications history fascinates me because it offers more angles to Crowley's take on rhetoric in English and composition. I'm going to definitely spend some time musing over these articles. Truly great stuff. Thanks again.

If you aren't already a member of RSA, you might want to join; that's a place where the two branches of rhetoric often come together. And it is two branches, one focused on writing and one on speaking, with considerable overlap and interplay between the two.