Two major problem areas exist in current high school forensics. The first is the decline in the number of debate participants in some parts of the country. Contributing to this decline are demands on extracurricular time and money, a lack of strong leadership as coaches leave academia, barriers to participation such as increased difficulty in…

The essays contained in this volume are attempts not merely to inventory recent developments and disputes in the field of argumentation but also to sharpen them by carrying them as far as current thinking permits. The 16 essays, which show that argumentation scholars are still far from united around a single theory, are divided into four sections.…

A discussion of the argumentation fallacy of appeals to authority. (CH)

A proposal for the understanding of rhetorical theory in symbolic, logical terms. (CH)

An evaluation of the juridical model or "jurisprudential analogy" effect on the new rhetoric. (CH)

First affirmative rebuttal strategies are analyzed. (CH)

The rhetorical strategies of the speechmaker become more interesting as the involvement and risk assumed by the audience increase. Battle orations given by military leaders to their troops just before fighting the enemy provide the ultimate in audience involvement and risk. Of some 200 chronicles of northern Europe from the twelfth and thirteenth…

This paper provides an overview of the general types of evidence used by Ford and Carter in the first presidential campaign debate of 1976. This evidence is analyzed in relation to the key debate subtopics, and some standard tests of evidence are employed regarding accuracy and reliability. The types of evidence considered are statistics,…

In the 1968 political campaign, George Wallace consistently attracted auditors of diverse and highly polarized views, people who were negatively closed-minded and people who were positively closed-minded. He exploited this polarization to heighten the impact of his speaking and to rally and solidify the closed-positive auditors. For example, when…

Seeks to answer three questions: How successful are personal attempts to persuade others to change their opinions? How do conversations dealing with public affairs differ from conversations on other topics? and under what condition is information from the mass media cited in conversations? (RB)

Despite its rapid rise as leader of the religious broadcasting industry, Jim Bakker's "PTL Club" (People That Love) has experienced numerous financial problems. In 1979, three former PTL vice-presidents charged that the club was diverting thousands of dollars in donations for missionary projects to the club's general fund to pay bills.…

Points of similarity exist between rhetorical theorists George Campbell and Kenneth Burke, based on their acceptance of the universality of human nature. These similarities include the following: both use "strategic" definitions of rhetoric that are widely encompassing; Burke's central doctrine of "identification" resembles…

Legislative intent as a debate tactic is drawn from the judicial system as a fundamental concept in the interpretation of statutes. Two paradigms for the application of legislative intent have emerged: (1) the courts will examine the affirmative proposal after enactment to bring it into line with the intent of the affirmative team, and (2) the…

In recent years, many debates have concentrated on which level of government is most appropriate to adopt a given policy. One suggestion is that fiat power in debate be limited to actions of the federal government. In debate, it must often be decided who should attempt to solve the problem. Too often, debaters forget the real-world limitations on…

Five arguments supporting the existence of two national individual events tournaments in forensics are presented in this paper. The first argument offered is that two national tournaments are needed to accommodate two valid but divergent views of what a national tournament should be--the National Forensic Association's view that the national…