Week 2:
Sept. 11 |
The Flight From Theory
- What, in your estimation, is Black’s dissatisfaction with criticism
in the field of Speech-Communication? How do Mohrmann, Baskerville,
and Leff interpret Black's Rhetorical Criticism? Do you think
that their interpretations are warranted?
- Why does Hart privilege theory over history and criticism? Do you
agree with his position? What are the strengths and weaknesses of his
arguments?
- What do you think Hart and Black believe is the "proper"
relationship between criticism and theory?
- How does Redding’s call to "turn inward" relate to
criticism, theory, and history? Where would you position Redding relative
to Black, Hart, Leff, and Mohrmann?
- Describe the academic politics between those who practice “public
address” and those who criticize it? To what extent might the
divisions evident in these articles reflect institutional concerns about
professional self-esteem and the invasion of scientific/methodological
inquiry into the humanities?
- Why, according to Lucas, has there been a revitalization of public
address scholarship? What does textual analysis have to do with this
"renaissance"? Has the renaissance continued?
- What separates public address criticism from textual analysis? Are
they one in the same or are there important differences to be made between
the two? What are these differences?
- Is it possible to avoid “theory” in an act of criticism?
More to the point, would you ever want to avoid theory in the analysis
of a text?
|