The following is my seven part post about why I am a rhetorical critic. You can either start with Part I and link through all of them, or you can link to them separately as you like.
Part I: Origins and Audience
Part II: Integrity and Genre of Texts
Part III: The Shortcomings of Literary Criticism
Part IV: Audience Oriented Criticism
Part V: Orality in the Greco-Roman World
Part VI: Greco-Roman Education
Part VII: Rhetoric as a Tool