Introduction

Abstract

Argues rhetoric was an increasingly vital key to power in the nineteenth century, as writers began to reach much wider audiences than before, and the gradual growth of male suffrage provided greater reason to reach potential voters. Notes that for these reasons, however, rhetoricians could no longer rely on assumptions of shared knowledge and convictions: by the end of the century an education rooted in the classics was no longer the norm for the mass of readers. Observes that during the course of the century, rhetoricians changed many processes to draw on the interests, desires, and areas of familiarity of a reading public with a much broader social base. Uses Jules Michelet’s 1858 study L’Oiseau to demonstrate some of those shifts. Claims contributors to this special issue have sought a deeper understanding of the rapidly changing methods of persuading by turning their attention to a variety of different forms of writing that cover an extensive array of subjects.