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The Contributions OF Frank D Angelo

Contributions and Legacy of Frank Joseph D’Angelo

is widely known for reinstating classical rhetoric in composition classrooms as essential for analyzing and interpreting modern popular culture. D’Angelo strove to create a “new rhetoric” in the 1970s, conjoining cognitive studies and classical rhetoric to improve teaching methods in writing classes. His critiques of nineteenth century composition models have exposed how major gaps in writing courses have developed and emerged in the twentieth century. He has actively sought to highlight an ignorance surrounding how certain rhetorical devices, such as topoi, work. D’Angelo has also striven to show how these structures have been misunderstood during the twentieth century by students and teachers alike. Beginning his work by reconstructing the composition rhetoric studies structures during the 1970’s, D’Angelo has emphasized classical rhetoric’s ability to help students in the classroom become critical observers of popular discourses and conceits within their societies.

major problems and extrapolating ways of solving them. His works have described how classical models of composition transformed during the nineteenth century and have since been unexamined. Articles such as “Nineteenth-Century Forms/Modes of Discourse: A Critical Inquiry” have provided the groundwork for critiquing early twentieth-century methods of teaching composition. D’Angelo has highlighted how ancient strategies for oral composition have transformed throughout the years and, at times, become convoluted. In tracing the legacy of writing techniques back through history, he exposes the classical roots of practices such as “invention” which is currently termed the “process of development.” Reformulation of the terminology of and for composition classrooms offers new/old definitions for the various stages of writing, providing students with well developed, clear and concise learning tools.

composition rhetoric studies. Psychology illuminates how the human mind works and produces theories regarding cognition. The early stages of mental development, as defined by Freud and Piaget amongst others, inform how people learn and retain information; the learning strategies that are most effective are those most attuned to the individual’s needs. Aspects of rhetorical composition such as rhyme, repetition, and topic sentences assist mental retention of information, as well as distinguishing important details from unimportant data. Structural components, such as the topic sentence, are valuable in creating specific moments of recall for an audience. Students thereby learn why and how specific writing strategies are effective.

graffiti to his analysis of greeting card verses, D’Angelo has demonstrated the conscious and subconscious uses of rhetorical devices and structures in today’s world. Thorough analysis of proverbs, advertisements and slogans evinces the underlying structural tropes employed to manipulate and persuade community members. Drawing from both his understanding of classical rhetoric and psychology, D’Angelo has shown their vital interconnectedness within mass-media. Similarly, his studies in graffiti have demonstrated its complex rhetorical constructions and critiques of popular culture. He has shown that graffiti is more than paint on a wall; graffiti can also satirically critique cosmopolitan vices that are accepted as norms within society.

Although D’Angelo received his PhD with a dissertation in rhetoric, he pursued his degree in an English Literature Department. At the time of his dissertation defense, minimal work was being conducted on a national stage in regards to Composition Studies, with only the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaine and the University of Nebraska focusing on composition in the age groups Kindergarten through to Grade 12, not collegial level writing. When he began teaching at Arizona State University in the mid-seventies, Composition Rhetoric was still not yet a program of study in English departments. Working during a time when the academy was concerned over literacy rates and lowered standardized test scores, the mid-late seventies, D’Angelo was among the first to propose graduate studies in Composition Rhetoric. He has defended Composition studies as fundamental to understanding the organization and structures of communication in fictional, non-fictional, formal, and informal writing.

between supposed high culture and popular culture” as he aptly described during a conversation. His emphasis on the value of classical rhetoric studies in the classroom provides students with methods to write papers for the academy and tools to critique the popular culture they participate in. He has shown that classical rhetoric models for teaching and composing can create active citizens in a democracy that requires its members to engage and question the messages that they come across on a daily basis. His innovations have definitively brought classical rhetoric back to the classroom and moved it out into the world.

Works Cited