Rhetorical criticism as the asking of questions

In this essay, an undergraduate course in rhetorical criticism is described that has as its purpose teaching students to think rhetorically—to make habitual the asking of questions about the nature and functions of symbols. The course is designed around three major questions students/critics are likely to ask: “What is the relationship between the rhetoric and its context?”; “How does the message construct a particular reality for the audience and the rhetor?”; and “What does the rhetoric suggest about the rhetor?”; Various critical methods are studied as appropriate for answering each question.