Thematic Developments trace how a particular theme (concept) in rhetoric history has changed over a defined period by explicating how people, situations, and/or events have shaped it and the implications of those changes. Thematic Developments should be approximately 2,000 words (not including bibliography). They should draw upon and cite the work of at least one rhetorician we have read in class and one external source (such as a primary document, secondary commentary, the work of an additional author, etc.). Thematic Developments should be in MLA format.

Pages 21 & 22 of The History and Theory of Rhetoric offer several recurrent themes that appear throughout rhetoric history. These are:

• rhetoric and power
• rhetoric and truth
• rhetoric and ethics
• rhetoric and the audience
• rhetoric and society

To this list we might several other possible themes:

• the status of the speaker/author in rhetorical acts
• the role of invention in rhetorical acts
• technology's impact on rhetorical acts
• differences among oral, written, and digital literacies
• differences of sex, race, gender, or class in rhetorical acts
• the nature and use of specific rhetorical elements (metaphor, situation, enthymeme, ethos, etc.)

Your task is to identify a theme, determine how it has developed historically, and then make an assertive statement about its evolution. This means that you will have an original thesis to prove about how/why the theme has developed and/or the ramifications of its development. Your Thematic Development should make a claim about what drove its subject's progression and/or what the results of its changes have been. Your Thematic Development draft is due on Nov. 20 for the class draft workshop. The final Thematic Development is due on Dec. 4 as a .pdf file attached to an email sent to me.   

Tips:

• Focus tightly on a manageable subject. The likely danger here is focusing too generally, so try to find specific passages or ideas in our readings that you can connect into a controlled narrative. When it comes to subjects, it's more effective to start narrow and build outward than to start broad and focus inward.
• Don't write in sequential order from introduction to conclusion. Establish a working thesis and then address the middle of your work by providing support for your claim. Revise your working thesis as you go. Once you have a grasp of the middle move on to the conclusion and then the introduction. If you try to write in sequential order your work likely will have an overly general introduction and a weak structure. This is because it is very difficult to set up what you are going to say before you know what that will be.
• Make sure to forward an appropriate thesis. "Thesis Statements: How to Write Them in Academic Essays" from Dennis Jerz's Literacy Weblog can help you with this.