Feminist Rhetorical Practices & The Rhetorical Tradition

                For whatever reason, when I first opened Feminist Rhetorical Practices, I immediately found myself comparing the rhetoric of the book (and since I still don’t wholly understand the term “rhetoric,” I presently use it in a loose sense of the word) with the rhetoric of our other assigned text: The Rhetorical Tradition.  The latter book is written in a dry and factual style.  Due to its sense of authority, some part of me instantly wants to trust it.     

                The authors of Feminist Rhetorical Practices, on the other hand, employ a markedly different type of rhetoric.  Their professional research is linked to personal testimony, to the extent that their experiences while researching become part of the resulting material.   When Kirsch and Royster refer to themselves by their first names — Gesa and Jackie — they obviously seek to persuade by establishing an emotional connection with the reader.  This dissimilarity intrigued me; I am not accustomed to encountering researchers by their first names while reading an academic text.  Overall, I find myself wondering if this distinct difference is indicative of how feminist-informed rhetoric departs from more traditional types.  When the authors approbate “‘non-traditional subjects’“(Kirsch and Royster xiii) and “lyrical venues” (Kirsch and Royster 8), these impressions of mine move closer towards certainty.  

                Ideally, I would like to automatically question the rhetoric of both texts as I read them.  Simply because feminist-informed rhetoric in part challenges traditional types of rhetoric does not mean that I should only look for error in that which is challenged rather than examining both the challenged and as well as the challenger.   In harboring a critical attitude towards each of these two assigned books, I will hopefully find useful information which rings true for me in both of them.     

I hope I wrote about what I was supposed to, and I’m sorry if I didn’t.  I missed class on Thursday and neglected to email Professor Ryan for clarifications about this blog post. ;)