ABSTRACT
This chapter offers three basic postmodern approaches: deconstruction, ideographs, and discursive formations. There are many other approaches, but familiarity with these will aid you in exploring others. We selected these because they treat rhetoric at different logical levels moving from the word to the landscape in which words function. These should give you a starting point, no matter the discourse(s) you are analyzing.
We illustrate integrated uses of all three in an analysis of the American anthem, My Country ’Tis of Thee. For examples of applications of the approaches individually, see the suggested readings at the end of the chapter.
