Rhetorical criticism as argument

Magic Windows and the Serious Life: Rituals and Community in Early American Local Television

“…This phenomenon reflects the sort of television-centric lifestyle that Spigel (1992) and Marling (1994) describe. To further highlight these social-symbolic dynamics, the study employs both historical and rhetorical methods; the latter consist of theory-informed interpretation that is presented as argumentation (Brockriede, 1974). Although such inquiry does not posit the epistemological certitude and structured replicability of scientific discourses, its associated theories and methods can address dimensions of meaning that escape the net of purely descriptive historical narratives or quantitative content analyses.…”

Evidencing moral claims: The activist rhetorical critic's first task

“…In his landmark essay, "Rhetorical Criticism as Argument," Brockriede (1974) declared that argumentative criticism required an inferential leap from data to an evaluative claim, and that the claim was based on criteria which provided a rationale for the inference (Brockriede, 1974). As Carlson (1994) pointed out, Brockriede seemed to assume, and implicitly trust that critics were capable of discovering the relevant data.…”

“…Despite the fact that Brockriede (1974) implicitly trusted critics to select the data to support their arguments, his view of argumentative criticism is nonetheless still useful. Brockriede argues that the critic, in the very act of engaging a text and attempting to argue his or her Summer 1994 233 discoveries for an audience, ends up inviting readers to confront his or her judgments and evaluations.…”

‘Oikonomia’: The journalist as a steward

“…With what spirit out they to dispense the household's goods? Wayne Brockriede's (1974) taxonomy of persuaders is pertinent here, pointing to three ways of exercising authority. The first type Brockriede calls "the Rapist" communicator, since this type has no sensitivity to others' feelings and no regard for their free choice.…”