Analyzes the junk mail received by the author. Describes a class activity in which students, working in small groups, discuss particular pieces of junk mail and decide which elements of persuasion are the most effective. Describes how students design their own flyers or letters to advertise something. (RS)

Discusses rhetoric as mirroring psychology. Examines Aristotle's three "pisteis"--the pathetic, logical, and ethical proofs, paralleling them to Freud's id, ego, and super-ego. Explores an adequate feminine psychology and a corresponding rhetoric. Outlines two models of persuasive discourse, the rational world paradigm and the narrative…

Examines transformation and transcendence as rhetorical strategies of definition and redefinition, in the controversy surrounding President Reagan's plan to visit the German war cemetery at Bitburg. Contrasts Reagan's scientistic perspective with his opponents' dramatistic perspective, and explores their clash in three dimensions: time, space, and…

Argues that traditional requirements that a counterplan cannot be topical should be reconsidered by the policy debate community. Contends that the acceptance of the topical counterplan reduces the schism between theory and practice in debate. (MS)

Philosophy neither competes with nor negates psychology findings, but goes beyond them, adding unique insights into the cognitive processes used to establish meaning. Philosophy and thinking are inextricably interwoven. Certain philosophy concepts (like reasoning, argumentation, and critical judgment) can help teachers improve student thinking.…

Argues against Thomas O. Sloane's allegation that John Milton's "Artis Logicae," a commentary on Pierre de la Ramee's "Dialecticae libri duo," manifests antihumanism characteristics of Milton and Ramus. Reexamines Milton's account of probability, the links between Ramus and Cicero, and the roles Ramism played in sixteenth- and…

Responds to two papers, written by Bruce E. Gronbeck and Allan Megill, which appeared in the 1987 Alta proceedings on argumentation. Questions the heavy distinction between narrative and argument which informs their positions. (MS)

Offers opinions about the 1988 Presidential Debates and their value to high school students. Notes that these debates are at best negative examples of debate. (MM)

Fleshes out a model of hysterical discourse, and applies it to an analysis of the charges and countercharges of "environmentalist hysteria." Gives special attention to the book that drew the earliest accusations of hysteria, Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring." (SR)

Points out that the condensed, mediated arguments found in today's public debates resemble Aristotle's enthymeme. Illustrates the similarities between classical and postmodern arguments through an analysis of the rhetoric of David Duke, and discusses the implications for how scholars conceptualize argument in the public sphere. (SR)

Examines the interrelationship among propaganda, effect, and the Cold War during congressional debates over America's first peacetime propaganda program. Argues that the "war of words" metaphor further heightened the need for empirical proof of America's status in that conflict. Suggests that the Cold War helped to ensure the…

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…

Discusses metaphor as a device for effective impromptu speaking. Illustrates how impromptu discussions of the Clarence Thomas versus Anita Hill saga utilized metaphors as perspectives from which to instantaneously organize thought and action or an entire situation. Discusses how to assist students to use metaphor in discussions of contemporary…

Offers a narrative based on a real event, in the form of a "docustory," describing that moment when teaching worked--when, in an instructional setting, communication was "perfect,""best," or "excellent." Describes five students, unlikely winners of a trophy at their first national forensics tournament, and…

Discusses Theodore Weld's "American Slavery As It Is," the largest selling antislavery text prior to "Uncle Tom's Cabin." Argues that it signaled a key moment in the abolitionist's efforts to represent slavery. Maintains that it helped to set in place a vocabulary of images that has implications for race relations today. (SR)