An introduction to the techniques of classical rhetoric both as a practical skill and as a philosophical approach to civic persuasion. Reading will consist of theoretical discussions of the proper means and ends of persuasion, along with exercises from Greek and Roman manuals of rhetoric. The goals of the course are: acquiring a historically informed understanding of the philosophical and ethical problems these techniques raised in their times; mastering the main classical techniques for persuasive reading, writing, speaking, and image-making; applying these principles to the analysis of a wide range of modern forms of persuasion.