In the digital age, numerous technological tools are available to enhance educational practices. When used effectively, student engagement and mobile learning are significantly increased. "Social Media in Education: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice" contains a compendium of the latest academic material on the usage, strategies, and…

This paper considers discourse models of knowledge and use and social problem solving that revive the tradition of dialectical reasoning (the broader term) or rhetoric, i.e., the art of using language, in speaking or writing, to convince others that something is true, right, or better. Discourse models of knowledge use allow taking the…

The two papers presented in this compilation were drawn from a conference designed to encourage scholars to continue the rhetorical tradition. The first paper, presented by Dominic A. LaRusso, was the opening address of the conference and discusses the rhetorical tradition of the Renaissance. The second paper, by Phillip Marshall, was the paper…

Henry Ward Beecher was America's most prominent 19th century liberal preacher and a major spokesperson for New England Transcendentalism. His philosophy integrated four fundamental themes: the creation of a moral code based on the internalization of values and peer group pressures, the establishment of the reform ideal of the impartial nonpartisan…

As background to an argument for purposive reintegration of discourse study, this paper examines the concept of explanatory discourse as it developed within the Western rhetorical tradition. Following a discussion of the rise of a rhetoric of explanation, the first section cites the roots of the explanatory pedagogy developing during the first…

Communication scholars have recently focused attention on songs as artifacts of popular culture. Current literature implies that the contexts of music communication are defined by the relationships that songs establish between artists and their audience: persuasive, expressive, and commercial. As the commercialization of music is an inherently…

An evaluation of four seventeenth and eighteenth century essays on optics revealed early trends in the evolution of scientific articles. The later articles showed a growing tendency to (1) separate practice from pure knowledge, (2) organize information around problems of knowledge and theory rather than around chronological events, (3) emphasize…

The four papers in this compilation were drawn from a conference designed to encourage scholars to continue the rhetorical tradition. The first paper, by Robert S. Cathcart, was the opening address of the conference and discusses the "technologization" of rhetoric. Specifically, the paper discusses the application of rhetorical analysis…

The two papers in this compilation were drawn from a conference designed to encourage scholars to continue the rhetorical tradition. The first paper, delivered by Todd Sorenson and Carrie Stopek, was the paper most highly commended by a panel of critics at the conference. The paper uses fantasy theme analysis, specifically the three fantasy theme…

To determine what effect the perceived audience and purpose of a written piece has on its quality, 30 high ability and 30 low ability writers were selected on the basis of a college placement examination and instructed to write two essays. Half of the students were given specific rhetorical contexts (audience and purpose) as well as topics.…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 11 titles deal with the following topics: (1) applying Burke's cluster-agon method to Betty Friedan's rhetoric; (2) the rhetoric of nonviolent action; (3) the president's wife as public communicator; (4) the identification and…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 10 titles deal with the following topics: (1) how speech acts in advertisements relate to the purpose of selling merchandise; (2) the use and evaluation of accounts in problematic episodes; (3) rhetoric as a way of knowing; (4)…

Examines the role of polemical discourse (heated and confrontational arguments often aimed at an opponent) in the early formation of the Christian church. Maintains that these linguistic habits still exert a powerful and often destructive influence. Discusses several biblical stories in terms of polemical discourse and offers alternative…