Rhetorical Criticism Method, Research Paper Example

Big budget blockbuster films sell themselves, and rarely need to be of any critical value to gain recognition, but often when an acclaimed novel is published, or heralded artistic film is made, the creator shies from the public eye, or is very brief in interviews. Sometimes this is done to come across as mysterious and create intrigue around their work, but it serves an additional purpose. By avoiding specific detailed questions about their work, they allow the audience or readers to engage in rhetorical criticism, ultimately breathing new life into the artifact. Rhetorical criticism is the practice through which artifacts establish deeper meaning, and sometimes new meaning never before intended by the original work. As people critique and debate over the context and meaning of literature, film, theater, and all other forms of media, the most notable interpretations gain recognition and become artifacts in their own right. Cluster criticism is a form of rhetorical criticism, where associative meanings and structural relations are assessed between subjects, concepts or particular ideas that exist within text. Cluster criticism is ideal for critical analysis of textual artifacts. The three main steps of cluster criticism entail establishing examining and comparing clusters.  The process of creating a cluster involves taking the factors that surround affiliated key terms and assessing them in context of those same factors incorporated with similar artifacts. Generic Criticism, on the other hand, is most commonly used in rhetorical criticism for assessing writing and speeches and identifying specific artifacts that are symbolic and common across time periods. Ideological criticism is one in which the core aspects of a particular ideology are beliefs that are evaluative in nature taking stances on or imposing judgments on parts of society that could garner alternative views. The following will take a deeper look at all three of these rhetorical criticism methods to assess their benefits and disadvantages, especially in regards to the task 1 chosen artifact.

Foss identifies the main focus of generic criticism as the goal to interpret rhetorical practices in a wide range of locations and time periods and identify similarities in rhetorical situations. The purpose of this is that audiences tend to identify a certain artifact as being a part of a certain genre, which ultimately influences their reaction and understanding of the message (Foss, 1989:367). Here Foss demonstrates that generic criticism is at least capable of  organizing content based on reoccurring themes. Audiences identify core similarities between artifacts by focusing on key themes based on genre. An example of this would be Gothic literature, or political propaganda. Both Gothic literature and political propaganda span across generations. The works produced within these genres or categories, ultimately share many of the same themes despite being produced in different time periods. Generic criticism is able to look beyond these categorizations to uncover similarities that exist beyond premature groupings. Generics criticism is not without its limitations though.

In his text “Generic criticism: Typology at an inflated price” Patton argues that one major flaw of generic criticism is that it fails to provide substantive communication as it relates to historical context and the human factors that accompany it. He  notes that, the generic method provides a convenient way for grouping and classifying rhetorical acts. He argues that the convenience, comes at a price, and that it exceeds the plausible benefit of generic critiques. He breaks down many of the core complications that arise when utilizing the generic method both in practice and principal (Patton, 1976: 4). He attributes these complications within generic criticism to the fact that it naturally disregards the critical factor of historical context. In this sense, if Gothic literature and political propaganda are viewed as artifacts without historical context, which is what generic criticism does, then the particular historical events or cultural climate of the day may not be taken into account. For example, a Republican letter or speech delivered by Abraham Lincoln would be very different from a Republican speech delivered by a contemporary Republican politician, almost to the point of being polar opposites in ideological scope, but much of the same terminology would be used. It can also be seen in how the term Gothic has a different connotation and meaning during the actual Gothic era, than it does in modern times, so much so that if one were to parallel them with one another they would be distinctly different.

Ideological criticism is one in which the core aspects of a particular ideology are beliefs that are evaluative in nature taking stances on or imposing judgments on parts of society that could garner alternative views. The text uses the example of immigration, statements like “there are too many immigrants in the country,” “the government needs to send illegal immigrants back.” As the text notes these types of beliefs embody the motives, attitudes, knowledge, and predilections shared by entire groups. Ideological criticism is perfect for evaluating artifacts from the perspective of an ideologue, someone who shares the same views or embraces the core culture communicated within the artifact. While both the artifact, and the ideological critic, will be riddled with innate bias, there is a value in the communication and interpenetration of that bias (Edwards, & Winkler, 1997:287).  The problem with ideological criticism is that it completely eliminates opposing views to the point of being one sided. To get a fully comprehensive understanding of an artifact all sides of an argument must be evaluated.

Of the three, Cluster criticism is most apparently the best method as it takes into account factors outside of the main objective. This can be attributed to the fact hat it’s  a form of rhetorical criticism, where associative meanings and structural relations are assessed between subjects, concepts or particular ideas that exist within text. Cluster criticism is ideal for critical analysis of textual artifacts.

In sum, Cluster Criticism is the chosen rhetorical method because like Generics Criticism it identifies common themes but then takes those themes a step further and evaluates the words associated within the text itself finding even more similarities and extracting deeper meaning from the artifact. This is why I have chosen cluster criticism as my method, because it will provide a more in depth assessment of my artifact.

References

Edwards; Winkler (1997). Representative Form and the Visual Ideograph: Two Iwo Jima Image in Editorial Cartoons (PDF). Volume: 83. Quarterly Journal of Speech.

Foss, S. K. (1989). Cluster criticism. Rhetorical criticism: Exploration and practice, 367-404.

Foss, K. (1996). Rhetorical Criticism: Exploration and Practice. Waveland Pr Inc. pp.367–70.

Patton, J. H. (1976). Generic criticism: Typology at an inflated price. Rhetoric Society Quarterly, 6(1), 4-8.