The course adopts a dramatistic perspective on the rhetorical enactment of
democratic culture.  The aim is to critique tragic constructions in public
discourse that foster alienation and scapegoating.  Toward this end, Kenneth
Burke’s comic corrective is examined as the organizing principle for
productive criticism, augmented by various approaches to rhetorical
criticism that feature text, genre, metaphor, myth, narrative, argument, and
ideology.  The emphasis throughout is on frames of acceptance and rejection
and their strategic transformation, for as Burke writes, “People, taken by
and large, are acting reasonably enough, within their frame of reference.
This frame of reference may not be large enough to encompass all the
important factors operating today.  Hence, they need a still wider frame of
reference” (“The Virtues and Limitations of Debunking” in The Philosophy of
Literary Form, p. 188).  The course is designed around weekly discussions of
assigned readings.  Students are expected to draw on these readings and
undertake additional research in order to produce original works of
rhetorical criticism on texts of their choice.  Objects of critique may
range widely from presidential speeches on democracy, for example,  to
representations of social and political alienation in film or television
news coverage.  They may be contemporary or historical but should address
ultimately the problem of rhetorically constructing democratic culture.