The Rhetoric of Explanation
- 1 April 1984
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Written Communication
- Vol. 1 (2) , 189-210
- https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088384001002002
Abstract
Most rhetorical history has concerned itself with the theory of argumentative discourse as it developed from classical to modern times. This essay traces a parallel but much less investigated strand of rhetorical history: the theory and practice of explanation. The slow growth of a body of knowledge about how information could best be communicated without necessary reference to overt persuasion is followed from Aristotle's Rhetoric through the beginnings of a theory of written discourse in the American nineteenth century. A later continuation of this essay will trace explanatory rhetoric into modern times.Keywords
This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit:
- Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles LettresPublished by Oxford University Press (OUP) ,1983
- Where Do English Departments Come from?College English, 1967