Thomas De Quincey on rhetoric, conversation, and the literature of power

Thomas De Quincey has gained increased attention in recent years as a figure of study in the field of rhetoric. This dissertation attempts to delineate further the importance of De Quincey's Romantic theory of communication, exploring more fully the way his theory deviates from the dominant rhetorical tradition of his day. De Quincey's communicative model is a conversational one: his notion of rhetoric and writing stresses the "organic" nature of conversation, suggesting how a writer's individual style and internal conversation may act a tool for exploring sugestive matters of supposition. For present-day teachers of writing, De Quincey's conversational model is of interest for its emphasis on the individual style of the writer and for De Quincey's suggestions of alternative essay forms. Just as modern critics propose the need to depart from the thesis-driven academic prose style, De Quincey expresses the importance of seeing the latent worth of prose forms other than the model espoused by the new science. Today's interest in the personal or familiar essay finds its roots in the works of early nineteenth-century writers such as De Quincey.