Rhetorical Theory and Praxis in the Business Communication Classroom

Winner of the Association for Business Communication's 2019 Distinguished Book Award

Rhetorical Theory and Praxis in the Business Communication Classroom responds to a significant need in the emerging field of business communication as the first collection of its type to establish a connection between rhetorical theory and practice in the business communication classroom. The volume includes topics such as rhetorical grammar, genre awareness in business communication theory, the role of big data in message strategy, social media and memory, and the connection between rhetorical theory and entrepreneurship. These essays provide the business communication scholar, practitioner, and program administrator insight into the rhetorical considerations of the business communication landscape.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Jim Dubinsky

Introduction Business Communication at the Intersection of Rhetoric and Pedagogy

Paula Lentz and Kristen Getchell

Chapter One From Copper Plate Books to Gmail Templates:
A Critical and Historical Approach to Business Communication GenresMarcy Leasum Orwig

Chapter Two Inventio through Praxis: Connecting Competencies with the Canon

Jacob D. Rawlins

Chapter Three Rhetorical Grammar in the Business Communication Classroom: Cultural Capital vs. Privileged Rhetoric

Paula Lentz

Chapter Four Examining the Role of the Writer’s Self in Business Communication Pedagogy

Holly Lawrence

Chapter Five Invention in Business Communication and Community-based Projects

Danica L. Schieber

Chapter Six The Occasion to Post: Connecting Kairos to Entrepreneurship in an MBA Business Writing Blog Assignment

Kristen Getchell

Chapter Seven It’s Complicated:The White Paper as Exemplar within Complexes of Rhetorical Delivery

Matthew R. Sharp

Chapter Eight Expressing Accountability and Organizational Ethos: Business Dress as Visual Rhetoric

Valerie Creelman

Chapter Nine Theorizing the Role of Big Data Visualization: Moving Visuals from Delivery to Invention

Dale Cyphert

Dr. Kristen Getchell is Director of Rhetoric and a visiting associate professor of Rhetoric at Babson College in Wellesley, MA. Previously, she was associate professor and Director of the First-Year Writing Program at Curry College in Milton, MA. In addition, she is a business communication lecturer in the Management Division at Babson College specializing in graduate and undergraduate professional writing. Her work has appeared in scholarly publications such as Business and Professional Communication Quarterly,Journal of Writing Assessment, Teaching in the Two-Year College, Crosspol, and E-Source for College Transitions.

Dr. Paula Lentz is an associate professor and academic program director for the Department of Business Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. She has developed and taught undergraduate and MBA business communication courses. She is co-author of Lesikar’s Business Communication: Connecting in a Digital World (2013), M: Business Communication (2014), and Business Communication: A Problem-Solving Approach (2017). Her research has appeared in Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management, and the Journal of Health Education.