The frame of reference for understanding the
rhetorical significance of cultural acts lies in the
identification and explication of the diversity of theories
which encompass sociological and anthropological
definitions of culture. The paradigms presented in this
thesis range from unilinear evolution, biological and
environmental determinism, materialism, historical
ethnology and reductionism...
In twentieth century America, women continue the age-old struggle for recognition
as whole, intelligent individuals, not just an "other," less hearty, less deserving
or less capable being than man. Sarah Grimke spoke of the inequalities over 150 years
ago during the abolitionist movement when she compiled her major arguments into...
The purpose of this study is to illuminate the role,
the function, and the ironic outcome of the Victory in
Vietnam Committee's campaign pamphlet to recall Senator
Frank Church of Idaho in 1967. The VVC's political
strategy was to build credibility with the media through
the recall pamphlet. The analysis...
Communication cannot be successful without the
cooperative listening response of an auditor. Auditors must
feel empowered to act as agents of change or their decisions
and actions cannot be influenced by the discourse. Their
every response depends upon their ability to perceive
themselves as potential mediators of change.
A review...
Senator Al Gore Jr. was elected Vice-President of the United States
on November 3, 1992. During many of his public speeches, Gore utilized
a speaking style that differed radically from the style he used in other
political campaigns of his life. This style, which will be called the "rhetoric
of...
Like other social institutions, universities have been
created and administered by and for a white-male dominant
culture that continues to marginalize women and anyone else
designated as -Other- according to race, class, ethnicity,
ability, age, size, and sexuality. This discussion
questions the dominant model of standard written discourse
in the...
The purpose of this study is to investigate the
rhetorical strategies used by Reverend Jesse L. Jackson
from the 1970's to the 1990's. Specifically, this study
examines Jackson's use of narrative to empower himself, his
constituency, and his political ideologies without
possessing a traditional political platform. Jackson
raised political and...
The nature and extent of classical rhetoric's influence
on subsequent ages has been the focus of much recent study.
Scholars have been concerned with how classical authors,
particularly Cicero and Quintilian, emerged in educational
and rhetorical theories of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance,
and later centuries. Despite this flurry of...
Stephen Biko was a black leader in South Africa who
died in police custody on September 12, 1977. Biko's death
echoed within the Republic of South Africa and around the
world, showing that racial tensions in that country were
severe. At his death he was a hero to the black...
Presenting and synthesizing several paradigms for the teaching of literature in American colleges, I investigate how definitions of reading, readers, texts, interpretations, and knowledge affect student acts of reading and writing. In addition, I draw upon specific examples of text-based, reader-based, and social-cultural based models for the teaching of reading...