The New Arts of Persuasion: Contemporary Media, Communications, and Rhetoric

Reference Shelf

  Aristotle. Rhetoric and Poetics. New York: Modern Library, 1954.  

    The classical authority on style, oratory, argument, and persuasion.  

Bailey, Edward, Jr. The Plain English Approach to Better Business Writing. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990.  

    An excellent guidebook to improved business communication.  

Barzun, Jacques. Simple and Direct: A Rhetoric for Writers. New York: Harper and Row, 1975.  

    Style manual for academics and professionals by a world-renowned scholar.  

Baudin, Fernand. How Typography Works. New York: Design Press, 1988.  

    A fascinating history and overview of type design by a French master craftsman.  

Baugh, L. Sue. Handbook for Memo Writers. Lincolnwood, IL: NTC Publishing, 1990.  

    A useful guidebook on the most widely used (and abused) form of business document.  

Barthes, Roland. Elements of Semiology. 1967. Trans. by Annette Levers and Colin Smith. New York: Hill and Wang, 1997.  

    A classic introductory text by the influential French literary critic and theorist.  

- - -. The Empire of Signs. 1970. Trans. by Richard Howard. New York: Hill and Wang, 1982.  

    Fascinating experiment in semiology in which Barthes, an outsider with little knowledge of Japanese, sets out    to "decode" Japan.  

- - -. Image-Music-Text. Trans. by Stephen Heath. London: HarperCollins, 1996.  

    A collection of essays in comparative media analysis.  

Beale, Walter H. A Pragmatic Theory of Rhetoric. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1989.  

    An attempt to tie classic rhetorical theory to modern communication tasks.  

Bell, Daniel. The Coming of Post-Industrial Society: A Venture in Social Forecasting. New York: Basic Books, 1972.  

    Influential essay by the famous Harvard sociologist. Introduced the idea of "post-industrial" culture into contemporary usage.  

Boorstin, Daniel. The Image: Or, What Happened to the American Dream. New York: Atheneum, 1962.  

    An early dissent from the culture of glitz, hype, and media-events.  

Corbett, Edward P.J., Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student. 3rd Edition. New York:            Oxford University Press, 1990.  

    The latest edition of a long-popular and influential college textbook.  

Culler, Jonathan. The Pursuit of Signs. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1981.  

    A superb introduction to the theory of semiotics as applied to literary study.  

Dizard, Wilson, Jr. Old Media, New Media: Mass Communications in the Information Age. New York: Longman, 1994.  

    An analysis of recent changes in the role and impact of media.  

Eckhouse, Barry. Competitive Communication: Classical Rhetoric for Modern Business. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1995.  

- - -. Competitive Writing: Argument & Persuasion in Modern Business. New York:McGraw-Hill, 1993.  

    Two works stressing the value and relevance of traditional rhetoric for improving modern business communication.  

Eco, Umberto. A Theory of Semiotics. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1976.  

    An important, ground-breaking introduction to semiotic theory by one of the leading figures in the field.  

Ellul, Jacques. Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes. New York: Knopf. 1966.  

    A leading critic of technoculture looks at modern media and advanced techniques of molding popular opinion.  

Ewen, Stuart. PR! A Social History of Spin. New York: Basic Books, 1996.  

    Entertaining history (with its own aggressive and unapologetic Marxist spin) tracing the emergence and runaway growth of hype, spin, and the public relations industry.  

Flower, L. and Hayes, J.R. "A Cognitive Process Theory of Writing." College Composition and Communication 32 (1981): 365-387.  

    Important article arguing the usefulness of cognitive research in solving communication problems and improving writing skills.  

Hale, Constance, ed. Wired Style: Principles of English Usage in the Digital Age. San Francisco: Hotwired, 1996.  

    A style guide for 21st century digerati by the editors of Wired magazine. Immensely self-important but also useful and stimulating.  

Gilder, George. Life after Television. New York: W.W. Norton, 1992.  

    A technophile examines the current media revolution and forecasts the coming post-TV era.  

Herr, Michael. Dispatches. New York: Knopf, 1977.  

One of the classic examples of New Jornalism: frontline dispatches from Vietnam in electrified, hyperkinetic prose.  

Heyer, Paul. Communications and History: Theories of Media, Knowledge and History. 1988.  

A serious intellectual history of the subject.  

Hovland, Carl I., et. al. Communication and Persuasion. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1953.  

A classic study by the famous Yale psychologist.  

Innis, Harold. Empire and Communications. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1972.  

    A classic statement on the role of communications in modern society.  

Lanham, Richard A. The Electronic Word: Democracy, Technology, and the Arts. Chicago: Univ.  of Chicago Press, 1993.  

    Lively essays by a literary and media critic.  

Lasswell, Harold. Propaganda Technique in the World War. New York: Knopf, 1927.  

The classic sourcebook for all later "content analysis" and propaganda research.  

Lauchman, Richard. Plain Style: Techniques for Simple, Concise, Emphatic Business Writing. New York: Amacon, 1993.  

    One of the best all-around guidebooks for business writers.  

Lichtenberg, Judith. Democracy and the Mass Media. New York: Cambridge University Press,   1990.  

    An historical and critical study.  

Li, Xia and Nancy B. Crane. Electronic Styles: A Handbook for Citing Electronic Information. Medford, NJ: Information Today, Inc., 1996.  

    An attempt to codify and standardize methods of citing electronic sources.  

Lippmann, Walter. Public Opinion. New York: Macmillan, 1922.  

    A classic statement of reponsible journalism and a severe warning about the dangers of media oversimplification and sensationalism.  

MacGuinness, Joe. The Selling of the President 1968. New York: Trident Press, 1969.  

    An inside look at the Nixon ad campaign during the 1968 election.  

Mailer, Norman. The Armies of the Night.1968.  

    An influential specimen of New Journalism by the award-winning novelist.  

Mandel, Steve. Effective Presentation Skills. Rev. ed. Menlo Park, CA: Crisp Publications, 1993.  

    Basic tips and guidelines for preparing oral presentations.  

Matsen, Patricia P., Phillip Rollinson, and Marion Sousa, eds. Readings from Classical Rhetoric. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1990.  

    A selection of classical sources with introduction and commentary.  

McLuhan, Marshall. Understanding Media. 1964. Rprt. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1994.  

    The fons et origo of modern media studies by the controversial sage of Toronto.  

- - -. The Gutenberg Galaxy. New York: Signet, 1962  

    A classic text about print and the evolution of typographical culture.  

Miller, George A., ed. Communication, Language, and Meaning. New York: Basic Books,         1973.  

    A collection of essays highlighting research in communication theory and psycholinguistics.  

Mumford, Lewis. Art and Technics. New York: Columbia University Press, 1952.  

- - -. Technics and Civilization. New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World, 1963.  

- - - . The Myth of the Machine: Technics and Human Development. New York: Harcourt,   Brace, and World, 1967.  

    An analysis of technical culture by one of America's greatest architectural and social critics.  

Ong, Walter, SJ. Orality and Literacy. London, Methuen, 1982.  

- - -. Rhetoric, Romance, and Technology: Studies in the Interaction of Expression and Culture.   Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1971.  

    Two studies in the tradition of McLuhan by a leading literary scholar.  

Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death. New York: Dell, 1986.  

    A powerful critique of "entertainment culture" and society's current addiction to amusements.  

Rogers, Everett M. Communication Technology: The New Media in Society. New York: Free Press, 1986.  

    An excellent introduction to the subject, but already surpassed by the rush of new technology .  

Schramm, Wilbur. The Process and Effects of Communication. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1954.  

    A pioneering overview of the subject.  

Sebeok, Thomas. A Sign is Just a Sign. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1991.  

    A collection of essays by America's foremost semiotician.  

Shannon, Claude and Warren Weaver. The Mathematical Theory of Communication. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1949.  

    The foundational statement for all later studies of communication efficiency and information flow.  

Weiner, Richard. Webster's New World Dictionary of Media and Communications. New York: Macmillan, 1996.  

    An extremely handy lexicon of media terms.  

Wheildon, Colin. Type and Layout. Berkeley, CA: Strathmoor Press, 1995.  

    An indispensible but oft-ignored bible of typography and page design.  

White, Jan V. Great Pages: A Common Sense Approach to Effective Desktop Design. El Segundo, CA: Serif Publishing, 1990.  

    A useful introductory handbook.  

Wiener, Norbert. Cybernetics, or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine. New York: Wiley, 1948.  

    A founding document in the history of cognitive science and AI research. Introduced the word "cybernetics" to the modern vocabulary.  

Wilbers, Stephen. Writing for Business. Minneapolis: The Good Writing Press, 1993.  

    Another solid, simpler-is-better manual for business writers.