RIG Field Exam List
Candidates in the RIG concentration will read each of the top-level entries under each category or—where offered—a substitute from the bulleted list below it. Candidates will work with their faculty committee to complete their reading lists, which should total approximately 60-80 texts.
History of Rhetoric
Gorgias, "Encomium of Helen"
l or Antiphon, Tetralogies
l or Isocrates, Antidosis
l or Isocrates, Against the Sophists
l or Gorgias
l or Protagoras
Cicero, de Oratore
Quintilian, selections from Institutes (Murphy's translation of books 1-2-12);
l or Rhetoric to Herennius (Rhetorica ad Herennium)
Longinus, On the Sublime
l or Demetrius on Style
l or Hermogenes, On Types of Style
l or Hermogenes, On Issues
l or the entire Hermogenic corpus ("Progymnasmata," "On Issues," "On Invention," "On Types of Style," "On the Method of Forcefulness")
l or Menander Rhetor, On Epideictic
Augustine, On Christian Doctrine
l or Boethius, An overview of the structure of rhetoric
l or Isidore of Seville, selections from Etymologies
l or Anonymous. The Principles of Letter Writing
Geoffrey of Vinsauf, Poetria Nova (Nims translation)
Erasmus, de Copia
l or Praise of Folly
l or Wilson, The Arte of Rhetorique
l or Vico On the Study of Methods of Our Time
l or Ramus, selections from Arguments Against Quintilian
l or Puttenham, Art of English Poesy
l or selections from Rebhorn, Renaissance Debates on Rhetoric
Blair, Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles-Lettres
l or Campbell, The Philosophy of Rhetoric
l or Whately, Elements of Rhetoric
l or selections from Blair, Campbell, and Whately (see James L. Golden and Edward P. J. Corbett, eds. The Rhetoric of Blair, Campbell and Whately)
l or Locke, Essay Concerning Human Understanding
Murphy, James J. Short History of Writing Instruction
l or Kennedy, A New History of Classical Rhetoric
l or Conley, Thomas. Rhetoric in the European Tradition
Modern Rhetorical Theory
J.L. How to Do Things With Words.
Bakhtin, M. M. (1981). The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays.
l or Voloshinov, V. N. (1973). Marxism and the Philosophy of Language.
Bitzer, Lloyd. (1968). "The Rhetorical Situation." Philosophy and Rhetoric, 1, 1-14.
l or Vatz, R. E. (1973). The Myth of the Rhetorical Situation. Philosophy and Rhetoric, 6, 154-161.
l or Biesecker, Barbara. "Rethinking the Rhetorical Situation from within the Thematic of Differance." Philosophy and Rhetoric, 22, 110-130.
l or Consigny, Scott. (1974). "Rhetoric and Its Situations." Philosophy and Rhetoric, 7, 175-186.
Richards, I.A. Meaning of Meaning
l or Philosophy of Rhetoric
Booth, Rhetoric of Fiction
l or Weaver, Ideas Have Consequences
l or Weaver, Ethics of Rhetoric
Burke, Kenneth. A Grammar of Motives
l or A Rhetoric of Motives
l or Language as Symbolic Action
Derrida, Jacques, Limited, Inc.
l or Writing and Difference
l or De Man, Paul. Allegories of Reading
l or Foucault, Michel. Archaeology of Knowledge
l or Foucault, The Discourse on Language
Cixous, Hélène and Catherine Clement. The Newly Born Woman
l or Kristeva, Julia. The Kristeva Reader
Bazerman, Shaping Written Knowledge
l or Fahnestock & Secor "The stases�"
l or McDonald, Professional Academic Writing
Perelman, Chaïm. The New Rhetoric
l or The Realm of Rhetoric
l or Crosswhite, Rhetoric of Reason
l or Toulmin, The Uses of Argument
l or Van Eemeren et al, Foundations of Argumentation Theory
l or Habermas, Jürgen. The Theory of Communicative Action
Richard A. Lanham, The Electronic Word
l or Haas, Christina (1995). Writing Technology: Studies on the Materiality of Literacy.
l or Bolter & Grusin (2000) Remediation: Understanding New Media
l or Marshall McLuhan, The Medium is the Massage.
l or Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media
l or Katherine Hayles, Writing Machines
Composition Theory/Literacy Studies
Brandt, D. (1990). Literacy as Involvement: The Acts of Writers, Readers, and Texts.
l or Heath, Shirley Brice. Ways with Words: Language, Life and Work in Communities and Classrooms.
l or Literacy: A Critical Sourcebook Cushman, Rose, Kintgen, Kroll, ed.)
l or Gee, James. Social Linguistics and Literacies_
l or Street, Brian V. Literacy in Theory and Practice
Elbow, Peter. Writing Without Teachers
l or Writing with Power
l or Moffett, James. Teaching the Universe of Discourse
l or Murray, Donald. A Writer Teaches Writing
Flower, Linda. The Construction of Negotiated Meaning: A Social Cognitive Theory of Writing
l or Vygotsky, L. S. Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes
l or Halliday, M.A.K. Language as Social Semiotic: The Social Interpretation of Language and Meaning
Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed
l or Education for Critical Consciousness
l or Shor, Ira. Empowering Education: Critical Teaching for Social Change
l or hooks, bell. Teaching to Transgress
Villanueva, Victor. Cross-Talk in Comp Theory
Harkin, Patricia. Contending with Words
Hillocks, George. Research on Written Composition
l or Smagorinsky, Peter. Research on Composition: Multiple Perspectives on Two Decades of Change
Russell, D. R. (1991). Writing in the Academic Disciplines, 1870-1990
l or Brereton, John. The Origins of Composition Studies in the American College, 1875-1925: A Documentary History
l or North, Stephen. The Making of Knowledge in Composition Studies
l or Berlin, James. Rhetoric and Reality: Writing Instruction in American Colleges, 1900-1985
l or Connors, Robert. Composition-Rhetoric
l or Miller, Thomas P. Formation of College English
l or Crowley, Sharon. Composition in the University
l or Kitzhaber. Albert. Rhetoric in American Colleges, 1850-1900
l or Harris, Joseph. A Teaching Subject
Pratt, M.L. (1991). "Arts of the Contact Zone." Profession 91, 33-40. MLA.
Canagarajah, S. (1999). Resisting linguistic imperialism in English teaching. Oxford University Press.
l or Delpit, L. (2006). Other people's children: Cultural conflict in the classroom. Updated ed. New Press.
A Few Recommended (not required) Faculty Books:
Charney, Davida and Marie Secor. Constructing Rhetorical Education
Davis, Diane. Breaking Up [at] Totality: A Rhetoric of Laughter
---. Women's Ways of Making It In Rhetoric and Composition. With Michelle Ballif and Roxanne Mountford.
---. Ed. The UberReader: Selected Works of Avital Ronell.
---. Ed. Reading Ronell.
Faigley, Lester. Fragments of Rationality
Ferreira-Buckley, Linda and S. Michael Halloran. Hugh Blair's Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres
Longaker, Mark. Rhetoric and the Republic: Politics, Civic Discourse, and Education in Early America
Rebhorn, Wayne. The Emperor of Men's Minds: Literature and the Renaissance Discourse of Rhetoric
Roberts-Miller, Patricia. Voices in the Wilderness: The Paradox of the Puritan Public Sphere
---. Deliberate Conflict: Argument, Political Theory, and Composition Classes
---. Fanatical Schemes: Proslavery Rhetoric and the Tragedy of Consensus
Spinuzzi, Clay. Tracing Genres Through Organizations: A Sociocultural Approach to Information Design
Spinuzzi, Clay. Network: Theorizing Knowledge Work in Telecommunications
Syverson, Peg. The Wealth of Reality: An Ecology of Composition
---. Assessing Literacy with the Learning Record
Walker, Jeffrey. Rhetoric and Poetics in Antiquity
---. Bardic Ethos and the American Epic Poem
Woods, Marjorie. Classroom Commentaries: Teaching the Poetria nova across Medieval and Renaissance Europe