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Acknowledgments. <p>List of Abbreviations.</p> <p>Introducting Rhetoric.</p> <p>Part I: Classical Rhetorical Traditions.</p> <p>Introduction.</p> <p>1 The Rhetorician: Demagogue or Statesman? Plato's Gorgias and Aristotle's Rhetoric.</p> <p>2 Eloquence, Persuasion, and Invention: Cicero's De oratore.</p> <p>3 Rhetoric and the Search for God: Augustine's On Christian Doctrine and Confessions.</p> <p>4 Practical Reason or Interested Calculation? Cicero's On Duties and Machiavelli's The Prince.</p> <p>Part II: Classical Rhetoric and Literary Interpretation.</p> <p>Introduction.</p> <p>5 Tradition and Invention: Bacon's Aphorisms and the Essays.</p> <p>6 Deception, Strong Speech, and Mild Discourse in Milton's Early Prose and Paradise Lost.</p> <p>7 Prudence and Eloquence in Jane Austen's Persuasion.</p> <p>Part III: Rhetoric and Contemporary Disciplines.</p> <p>Introduction.</p> <p>8 Literary Criticism and Rhetorical Invention: Wayne C. Booth's The Rhetoric of Fiction and Stephen Greenblatt's Marvelous Possessions.</p> <p>9 Faction Politics and Rhetorical Invention: Eugene Garver's For the Sake of Argument and Danielle S. Allen's Talking to Strangers.</p> <p>10 Legal Reasoning, Historical Contingency, and Change: Edward H. Levi's An Introduction to Legal Reasoning.</p> <p>Index.</p>

"Professor Olmsted has produced a much-needed and unique book: an account of rhetorical thinking through the ages focused on specific texts in their cultural contexts. The book does something far more important than impart mere doctrine: it demonstrates how, and teaches one, to think like a rhetorician. It will make an invaluable contribution in and out of the classroom." <i>Walter Jost, University of Virgina</i><br /> <p>"Wendy Olmsted gives scholars and teachers in many disciplines a valuable new kind of historical introduction to rhetoric. In three interrelated sections she provides a clear overview of classical rhetoric, incisive case studies of literature and rhetoric, and a suggestive discussion of rhetorical invention and argument in literary criticism, politics, and law. This book creatively teaches us how to think rhetorically through concrete historical examples of deliberation and judgment." <i>Steven Mailloux, University of California</i></p>

<b>Wendy Olmsted</b> is Associate Professor in the New Collegiate Division and in the Humanities Division at the University of Chicago as well as Associated Faculty Member in the Department of Classics (PAMW). Her previous publications include <i>A Companion to Rhetoric and Rhetorical Criticism,</i> co-edited with Walter Jost (Blackwell Publishing, 2004) and <i>Rhetorical Invention and Religious Inquiry</i>, co-edited with Walter Jost (Yale University Press, 2000).

This introduction to the art of rhetoric argues that knowledge of rhetoric improves deliberation about particular issues and problems. By mastering rhetorical concepts and modes of argument, readers can address the sometimes turbulent circumstances in their own lives, times, and fields of study. But because rhetoric speaks to the demands of the moment, it must be practiced with an understanding of its historical context. <br /> <p><br /> </p> <p>The author provides an intellectual frame for understanding the history and conceptual foundations of rhetoric and gives a strong sense of the ways classic rhetorical texts continue to influence us by providing contexts and resources for contemporary debates. The texts, which range from Aristotle’s <i>Rhetoric</i> <i>to</i> Edward H. Levi’s <i>An Introduction to Legal Reasoning and</i> Danielle S. Allen’s <i>Talking to Strangers</i> serve simultaneously as models of persuasion and as thoughtful considerations of how rhetoric works. Earlier texts serve as contexts for later ones.</p>

"Professor Olmsted has produced a much-needed and unique book: an account of rhetorical thinking through the ages focused on specific texts in their cultural contexts. The book does something far more important than impart mere doctrine: it demonstrates how, and teaches one, to think like a rhetorician. It will make an invaluable contribution in and out of the classroom." <br /> –<i>Walter Jost, University of Virgina</i> <p>"Wendy Olmsted gives scholars and teachers in many disciplines a valuable new kind of historical introduction to rhetoric. In three interrelated sections she provides a clear overview of classical rhetoric, incisive case studies of literature and rhetoric, and a suggestive discussion of rhetorical invention and argument in literary criticism, politics, and law. This book creatively teaches us how to think rhetorically through concrete historical examples of deliberation and judgment." <br /> –<i>Steven Mailloux, University of California</i></p>

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