Uses a quasi-experimental design to test the effects of exposure to the miniseries "Amerika" on attitudes about communism and United States/Soviet relations. Finds that viewers of the miniseries believe that Americans should guard against a very real communist threat by supporting a strong military defense, including the development of…

Examines a campaign's effectiveness in reaching various audience segments with information on heart disease risk reduction. Shows that both ability to process health information and motivation to learn about health are significant predictors of learning in both the education and reference communities. (MM)

Shows how grammar may be used conceptually to help students cultivate an understanding of the conventions of authorial presence in technical writing. (MM)

Analyzes "The Italian" (1915), an early "immigrant" film, examining its problematic relation to questions of working-class and middle-class audience composition. Shows how this film reveals that the creation of narratives suitable for diverse audiences requires continuous readjustment of an adequate mode of address. (MM)

Professional event planners give advice on producing pleasing alumni special events. Planning elements include creating a theme, picking the place, finding talented people to help, thinking carefully about seating options, setting the mood, having clear objectives, drafting a detailed script, and managing last-minute changes. (MSE)

Discusses the plays of Wendy Kesselman. Analyzes the plays in light of the special demands they make upon young audiences. (MS)

Describes a writing exercise to help technical writing students determine the appropriate methods of extension for technical definitions, decide which terms need to be defined for a particular audience, and place definitions effectively in the document. (MM)

Finds that both severity of violation and recipient of explanation affect the linguistic content of elementary school-aged girls' excuses. Concludes that older girls used fewer single apologies, incorporated more repair components, and tailored their explanations to the nature of each violation. (JAD)

Examines the rhetorical constructs of the "question-and-answer format" as it has been used widely both in popular, informative, advertising, and journalistic literature. Considers its classical origins, its intent and effect, and the ways in which it plays on the reader's resistance. (TB)

Looks back at 150 years of writing for children in Australia through the illumination cast by Wolfgang Iser's notion of "the implied reader." Suggests that the implied reader in 1841 was of the educated elite; by 1941 the reader was more likely to be middle-class with popular tastes and interests; and the reader of 1991 reflected a…

Explains the concepts of spectator positioning, supplement (as defined by Jacques Derrida), and plenitude in relation to the study of woman's films, in general, and the film "Committed" (1984), in particular. Considers how the film's indirect mode of public address disturbs conventional gender alignments and the distinction between…

States that Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam relied heavily upon debate as a form of public address through which to enact and publicize confrontation with other civil rights organizations. Examines Malcolm X's first experience and training in debate as a prison inmate and later public experiences. Provides detailed accounts and analysis of his…

Reformulates the audience autonomy debate in epistemological terms. Outlines a model of the audience member as a lay theorist who develops a hierarchically structured theory system that is based on and tested against everyday experience, including experience supplied by the mass media. (PRA)

Finds that, among college students, (1) both related and unrelated cuts resulted in cardiac orienting responses; (2) processing unrelated cuts required more capacity than processing related cuts; and (3) memory was better for information presented after related cuts, with this effect greater for visual memory than for audio memory. (SR)

Finds that more permissive sexual attitudes and lower levels of punitiveness were associated with adolescents' greater enjoyment of "slasher films." Shows that traditional attitudes toward females' sexuality were positively associated with gore-watching motivations and with greater enjoyment of previews featuring female victims. (SR)