Offers a critique (incorporating several tenets of Afro-centric criticism with traditional rhetorical theories) of the lyrics of the activist rapper KRS-One, which address the issue of violence and presents a message to both African-American and white audiences. Finds that KRS-One's work sets the foundation for empowering African-American youth by…

Outlines the development and final form of Kenneth Burke's notion of the Preconscious and integrates it with his dramatistic method. Explains how that integration supplements previous critical insights into the immediate and long-term effects of Jonathan Edwards' powerful sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." (SR)

Discusses how speeches delivered at a 1960 dinner by then presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon changed the face of political campaign rhetoric. Argues that both men used comic strategies to create a more inclusive American covenant, and emphasizes the importance of examining pragmatic and cultural implications of presidential…

Analyzes Betty Friedan's crucial feminist document, "The Feminine Mystique," arguing that Friedan strategically employed an androgynous rhetorical style. Maintains that Friedan thus, without explicitly advocating androgyny, created an audience which accepts an ideology transcending oppressive gender dichotomies. (SR)

Studies the rhetorical aspects of "Reaganomics," describing Reagan's rhetorical skills in promoting a vision of economic prosperity: a vision of America as a shining city on a hill, deemphasizing negative economic occurrences. Examines Reagan's rhetorical strategies in 10 speeches spanning his 8 years in office. (SR)

Follows particular parallels between oralist and electronic mediation to explore narrative or storytelling as a rhetorical form that transcends mediation. Reviews how writing-based cognition may bind progress in rhetorical practice and theory. Examines how narrative is media-transcendent. Reflects on the nature of media shifts. (SR)

Illustrates how the Eisenhower administration managed the rhetorical paradox existing between propaganda and democracy more efficiently than the Truman administration. Argues for a homeostatic interaction between the rhetoric of ideology and the theories purported by conception historians over the role of "intent" and "political actors" in the…

Illuminates Kenneth Burke's characteristics of a mystical rhetoric as they issue from "purpose" as a dominant dramatistic element. Offers a case study in mystical rhetoric by identifying the essential qualities of a mystical narrative and demonstrating how these qualities operate in Chiara Lubich's 1977 Templeton Prize Acceptance Speech.…

Analyzes John Corigliano's "Symphony No. 1" to explicate its communicative value for the AIDS crisis. Contends that music without lyrics can serve as an argument by functioning as a form of enthymeme. Discusses enthymeme's relevance to music, identifies the premises established in Corigliano's work and analyzes how they are developed in…

Applies the concepts of persuasive definition, ideograph, and ideological history in an analysis of Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.'s, discourse. Uses this analysis to enhance understanding of how the strategic definition of terms such as "liberal" can influence the ongoing struggle to set presumptions in American political life. (SR)

Refutes David Tukey's argument that the consensus theory of epistemic rhetoric reduces spiritual experience to a social construct which denies the possibility of a divine reality. Examines Walter Rauschenbusch's "A Theology for the Social Gospel" to prove that consensus theory accounts for religious beliefs, providing a useful framework…

Examines the nature of editorial independence in the "Boston Evening Post" of prerevolutionary Boston, and the content of its weekly editions. Demonstrates that a serious and wide-ranging public debate was carried on in the newspapers in prewar Boston. Suggests that the debate's character changed over time as pivotal events and issues…

Argues that, through his use of specific language choices, George Bush's Gulf War rhetoric embraced and supported the orientational metaphor of the World War II model, while simultaneously rejecting the Vietnam model. Concludes the use of the World War II model legitimated both the military action and Bush's leadership. (NH)

Describes the success of the Populist movement in the 1890s, arguing that it provides a case study of the power and limitations of mythic appeals to transcend diverse political ideologies. Argues that Populist extensions of the agrarian myth to encompass industrial laborers, suffragists, and prohibitionists were motivated by political expediency.…