Examines the "ethos" (the perceived trustworthiness of authors by readers) gained for Charles Darwin by means of the interpersonal metadiscourse he used in two chapters of the "Origin of Species." Concludes that Darwin used metadiscourse to create an "ethos" for his readers that informs, impresses, and wins them over…

Demonstrates that fiction can stand as a form of scholarly writing by blurring the genres of scholarship and fiction. (RAE)

States that changes in the United States Senate evolve slowly and idiosyncratically. Discusses Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania's violation of the Senate's style of rhetorical decorum. Concludes that, while clinging to the customs of the past and slowness of pace that distinguish it from the House of Representatives, the Senate has not escaped the…

From the late 1860s through the mid-1870s, woman suffrage activists developed an ingenious legal argument, claiming that the U.S. Constitution already enfranchised women citizens. The argument, first articulated by St. Louis activists Virginia and Francis Minor, precipitated rhetorical performances by movement activists on public platforms and in…

The author writes that his experience in teaching has taught him that the perfect text simply does not exist, however the closest approximation to perfection lies in the direction of the classical world. Hal McDonald says that he cannot see how one can teach rhetoric without passing through pedagogical territory first cleared by Aristotle,…

Rock music is ideological both implicitly (in its intrinsic valuing of change, and resistance to authority, for instance), and explicitly (in political records from activist artists such as John Lennon and U2). The texts of the rock genre offer rhetorical experiences. A dialogic conception may help scholars to account for and describe the…

In his analysis of Cicero's "Philippics," Cecil Wooten (1983) describes the strategy the Roman advocate used in a rhetorical situation of national crisis as a contest of black and white, the struggle of good against evil; at stake is the very existence of the civilization that he is defending. Choices offered in crisis situations can be…

Considers the use and significance of catachresis in Giambattista Vico and James Joyce: in Vico's case the linguistic and metaphysical background is the one defined as actuating the utterances of the theological poets, the first mortals; and in Joyce's case it is the background of newly discovered psychological forces and their role in the conduct…

Discusses secrecy and disclosure as rhetorical forms, especially as expressed in the archetypal role of translator and in commonplaces. (JK)

Maintains that John Quincy Adams'"Lectures on Rhetoric and Oratory" and Adams Sherman Hill's "Principles of Rhetoric" reveal significant differences in what their authors perceive to be the most salient environmental conditions facing their students. (JK)

Suggests that excellent writing results when writers achieve oneness with their subject, and that students can achieve this oneness only when allowed freedom to discover their own subjects. (ARH)

Describes how letter writing, especially business letters, was influenced by Greek and Roman oral rhetoricians. Discusses three precepts of oral rhetoric--inventio, dispositio, and style--and notes that the classical theories' reflection in written communication can be seen in selected Italian, German, and English epistolographic works. (MM)

Presents a model of visual coding for analyzing how visual elements affect the readability and rhetoric of business documents. Asserts that this type of systematic approach is needed for visual language to take a functional, rhetorical role in the communication process. (MM)

Explores the rhetorical nature of political cartoons by applying Kenneth Burke's concepts and terminology to this graphic art form. Examines (1) formal strategy of "perspective by incongruity," (2) burlesque attitude in political cartoons, and (3) fusion of form and attitude in the tropal principles of this graphic art. Draws from…

Analyzes speeches in which Reagan challenges the following convention: science will continue to create technologically advanced weapons against which no effective defense will be developed, making deterrence through an assured retaliatory capability the only possible defense. Textual analysis reveals how public discourse can achieve unities of…