Lecture Notes: Inventing a Critical Perspective in Rhetorical Criticism

Introduction

• Focus on the third stage of critical analysis: inventing a critical perspective.
• Reading requirement: Article by Robert Ivey.
• Discussion: Value and purpose of rhetorical criticism.

Key Points from Robert Ivey's Article

• Importance of rhetorical criticism in understanding our identity and potential.
• Beyond studying interesting texts or figures, it reveals societal truths.
• Criticism induces us to see the world differently by highlighting rhetorical constructions.
• A critique of rhetorical architecture helps us understand experiences shaped by rhetoric.

Stages of Critical Analysis

Stage 1: Descriptive Analysis

• Focuses on intrinsic elements of the text/artifact.
• Objective analysis without external perspectives.

Stage 2: Contextual Historical Analysis

• Focuses on the rhetorical situation: audience, constraints, exigence.

Stage 3: Critical Perspective

• Reflects the critic's biases and interests.
• Not based on opinion but on understanding the rhetorical context.
• Sets up evaluation by choosing a perspective to frame analysis.

Case Study: Suicide Girls Project

• Initial belief: Suicide Girls were empowering.
• Descriptive analysis revealed mismatched claims and rhetorical messages.
• Contextual analysis showed alignment with Playboy and internal contradictions.
• Conclusion: Not empowering for women; used a feminist perspective to analyze.

Creating a Critical Perspective

• Not about personal opinion but intellectual understanding.
• Requires thorough completion of first two stages.
• Should offer more than an obvious insight.
• Must accurately reflect the text and not omit key information.

Frameworks for Analysis

Rationalistic Framework

• Analyzes argumentative logic within the text.
• Types of claims: factual, value, policy.
• Types of reasoning: interpretive, causal, analogy, definition, authority.

Psychological Framework

• Focuses on emotional appeals and audience perceptions.
• Uses examples, statistics, authority, and language for emotional connections.

Rational vs. Emotional Appeals

• Good rhetoric uses both rational and emotional appeals.
• Critics should evaluate texts for both types of appeals.

Discussion and Assignment

• Use discussion board to analyze chosen texts.
• Identify rational and emotional appeals in selected artifacts.

Conclusion

• Contact instructor with questions about the third stage of critical analysis.