The Vocation of a Teacher: Rhetorical Occasions, 1967-1988
The art and the craft of teaching, particularly as viewed from the aspect of the teacher of English, are examined from many angles and positions in this eloquent collection of articles and speeches by a professor of English at the University of Chicago. Booth, who has written extensively on the subject, pursues the thesis that the "calling of a teacher and the calling of a rhetorician" are almost identical. From the rich, 40 years' experience of his vocation, and taking due cognizance of recent challenges that liberal arts education is in serious disarray, Booth speaks to teachers and students. He places rhetoricthe arts of reading, writing, speaking and thinkingat the center of English teaching, inseparable from good writing and speaking. Demonstrating the uses of rhetorical strategies in teaching, Booth is not unaware of the diverse populations that educators on all levels face. This collection illuminates the disparaged word "rhetoric."Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.