Uses the Cold War rhetorical vision as a paradigm case illustrating the emerging theory of group consciousness, part of Symbolic Convergence Theory. Explains that three streams of communication (consciousness creating, consciousness raising, and consciousness sustaining) characterize the life cycle of a rhetorical vision. Demonstrates that…

Articulates how the term "community" has been used to identify, describe, and construct online contexts and groups--online communities. Discusses how one particular online discussion group, SpreadNet, attempts to socially construct and negotiate the meaning of the term and how such negotiation influences the (inter)actions, values, and social…

The concept of rhetorical community is employed in this paper as a starting point for the study of community. Since the clarity of the concept "rhetorical community" is insufficient for purposes of building theories, the paper offers a more precise conceptual definition: a rhetorical community is a group of people who identify themselves with a…

An examination of the rhetoric of two social movements in the United States--the proslavery movement of the pre-Civil War Period and the anti-feminist movement of the 1970s--reveals that both contain a common theme, paternalism, and that both use similar rhetorical strategies to explicate the theme through a familial metaphor, Father. Examples of…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 15 titles deal with the following topics: the rhetorical dimensions of nondiscursive, fragmentary communication; perceptions of persuasion situations and the question of transituational consistency of behavior; alcohol use and…