In this first sustained critique of current-traditional rhetorical theory, Sharon Crowley uses a postmodern, deconstructive reading to examine the historical development of current-traditional rhetoric. She identifies it (as well as the British new rhetoric from which it developed) as a philosophy of language use, not a rhetorical theory, and she argues that its use as such has led to a misrepresentation of invention. Crowley contends that current-traditional rhetoric continues to prosper because a considerable number of college composition teachers graduate students, part-time instructors,...