Description: Lecture, three hours. Rhetorical approach to study of U.S. popular culture. Examination, both at theoretical level and through specific case studies, of ways in which popular cultural texts perform rhetorically to influence political and social struggles shaping everyday life. How do particular artifacts or communicative texts constitute source for (re)negotiation of cultural meanings as well as greater understanding of ways language functions as vehicle for human action. Letter grading.

Units: 4.0