Classical Rhetorical Theory
Study of major theories of rhetoric from ancient Greece to Bacon, covering Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Quintilian, Longinus, and St. Augustine.
Summary
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2017: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=6 letter grades); Spring 2019: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=7 letter grades); Spring 2025: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=10 letter grades).
What you’ll be able to do
Read major texts of ancient rhetoric and explain their historical contexts
Explain fundamental concepts from ancient rhetorical theory
Explain the history & development of rhetorical practice and education
Explain the connection between historical rhetorical texts to contemporary rhetorical theory
Practice critical reading, writing, research, and presentation skills
To interrogate the emphasis on these ancient traditions in the 21st century at the graduate level
Communicate about classical rhetorical theory in graduate level communication genres
Source: UW Guide
Grade history
↗All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course map(Two from:COM ARTS 262, 360, 370, 372, 470, or RELIG ST/COM ARTS 374) or graduate/professional standing
- take one
- graduate/professional standing
This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.
Prerequisite text tree
- Any of
- Any of
- graduate/professional standing
Professors
Spring 2027No instructors recorded for this selection.
Historical instructors & teaching patterns
Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
Calendar & sections
Spring 2027Schedule loads here as you scroll.
| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
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Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections.
Meeting source records
Student experience
the class
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2017: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=6 letter grades); Spring 2019: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=7 letter grades); Spring 2025: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=10 letter grades).
difficulty & workload
No workload feedback recorded.
Topics
- Major theories of rhetoric from ancient Greece to Bacon
- Theories of Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Quintilian, Longinus, and St. Augustine
- History and development of rhetorical practice and education
Skills
- Reading major texts of ancient rhetoric and explaining their historical contexts
- Explaining fundamental concepts from ancient rhetorical theory
- Connecting historical rhetorical texts to contemporary rhetorical theory
- Practicing critical reading, writing, research, and presentation skills
- Communicating about classical rhetorical theory in graduate-level communication genres
Grades
Latest available · Spring 2025— not enough history to project Spring 2027.
Grade distribution · % of letter grades
Grades over time
Through Spring 2025
More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data
Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.
Sources & history
Catalog & offerings
Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.
Catalog observation history
Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.
Selected offering source records
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Raw records
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Student reviews
Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.
Read original reviews
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Grade history
Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.
Explore recorded gradesRecorded 2026-10-14
Model outputs & technical records
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces
Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.
Model & dataset provenance
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