A speech communication professor applies his rhetorical training to an analysis of the NRA's opposition to gun control legislation. (Available from City News Publishing Co., Box 606, Southold, NY 11971; sc $1.25.) (PD)

Recommends teaching syllogistic reasoning and fallacies in the undergraduate writing course. (JL)

Explores reasons why there are few rhetorical criticisms of political television commercials. Suggests two critical methods which can be applied to commercial messages. (PD)

Examines the role of a specific rhetorical form, the protest song, in social movements. Analyzes the content of songs from the labor and anti-war movements of the 1960s. Concludes that these songs--generally negative, simplistic, and expressive--are in-group messages designed to reinforce feelings of solidarity. (PD)

Analyzes the language and rhetoric of persuasive discourse as employed in advertising. Uses a selection of bank advertisements as a corpus, identifying and discussing four basic models of discourse. The discussion focuses on the rhetorical devices that characterize each type of text. (MES)

Defines gastronomic reference, or mention of what public figures eat, as synecdoche. Illustrates how use of this rhetorical device contributed to public figures and public images in the 1980 presidential campaign. Argues that interest in gastronomic reference leads to a broader concern for how synecdoche functions in public discourse. (PD)

In two experiments, college students wrote preliminary and final drafts of a persuasive document. Elimination of sentence-formation and sequence operations produced corresponding increments in persuasive argument production, with average-ability writers benefiting more than low-ability writers. Comparatively few new arguments were constructed…

Investigates differing perspectives on the role played by rhetoric in the acquisition of knowledge. Concludes that rhetoric, if viewed as an act of striving for audience adherence and consensus, can be a tool of critical inquiry which moves its practitioners (scientists, philosophers, or public communicators) toward apprehending reality. (PD)

Defines the terms "rhetorical discourse" and "knowledge" and explains the inherent relationship between the two concepts. Outlines some of the more important tenets for a systematic theory of rhetorical epistemology. (PD)

Identifies nine rhetorical strategies in Nixon's public utterances on Watergate and traces their development through four phases. Examines polls which reveal that these strategies failed to stem the tide of negative opinion. (PD)

Notes that utility theory has enjoyed renewed interest among debate critics and other decision makers. Some of the problems with its application are identified and guidelines for debaters are suggested. (PD)

Counterplans have become commonplace in intercollegiate debate, yet misconceptions abound. This article attempts to integrate thinking about counterplans with general debate theory. It reexamines the issue of topicality and sketches the basis for comparison of affirmative proposals with negative counterplans in the areas of presumption, inherency,…

Discusses the relationship between rhetoric (the study of effective communication) and hermeneutics (the study of how to interpret and understand any kind of communication). Illustrates how principles of rhetoric and hermeneutics apply to lecturing. (PD)

Examines the history of the "Blavatsky" phase of the London Theosophical movement. Focuses on the disparity between the public rhetoric of the Theosophical Society's leadership and the deeper motivations which inspired many Londoners to join the movement. (JMF)

Gender differences in resistance to stress are not rooted in recognition of coercive elements, but in differences in responding to coercive elements. Type As are particularly sensitive to threats to personal control. The critical difference may be in the frequency rather than the intensity of the stress. (JAC)