A number of college students in forensic debate may be deterred from debating broad topics due to a lack of appropriate cognitive development and a perception of unacceptable certainty. These students have failed to develop formal thinking patterns because they lack reinforcing experiences in reasoning at that level. A sequenced pattern of…

The functional writing model is a method by which students learn to devise and organize a written argument. Salient features of functional writing include the organizing idea (a component that logically unifies a paragraph or sequence of paragraphs), the reader's frame of reference, forecasting (prediction of the sequence by which the organizing…

"Freedom's Journal," the first newspaper published by blacks in the United States, originated in 1827 and lasted for two years. This article examines the form and content of the journal and considers some of the previous research on it. The article states that the journal contained the first report of a lynching that was published in the United…

The Cuban missile crisis of October 1962 forced the Canadian House of Commons to consider whether Canadian forces in NORAD and NATO were effective without nuclear warheads on special weapons systems. This paper provides an overview of the debates and their milieu, identifies the issues involved, and analyzes the effects of the argumentation. The…

This paper reports part of the results from a three-stage panel study of the Fall 1976 presidential campaigns; 1,927 interviews were conducted in all, 594 occurring in the week prior to the election. Results indicated that voters did not change their voting intentions significantly during the fall campaigns; that they did change the certainty with…

Examines one current theory for the rhetorical analysis of movements and proposes a parallel theory for examining innovational movements. (MH)

The pro/con forum presents opposing viewpoints on the controversial MACOS curriculum (Educational Development Corporation) by Peter Dow, Director of EDC and Congressman John B. Conlan, Arizona. (JR)

The development of message strategies is dependent on the underlying social cognitive structures through which they are formulated. (1) Research in the area has produced six generalizations concerning the development of persuasive skills: individuals' interpersonal perceptions change systematically with age; (2) children's persuasive strategies…

The two articles in this publication focus on ways of teaching argumentation and debate in the college setting. The first article examines the place of the argumentation and debate course in the speech communication curriculum and suggests cognitive and behavioral objectives and assignments for use in such a course. The second article discusses…

Classroom speaking poses a unique opportunity for the evaluation and the clarification of human values. Value clarification is possible when a specific method is followed that encourages potential behavior change on the part of the speaker. Value clarification can thus be usefully applied by speech communication teachers as a natural, integral…

An individual may be sex typed (masculine male or feminine female), cross typed (masculine female or feminine male), or not sex typed (androgynous or undifferentiated). The use of psychological sex typing, in place of or in addition to gender, as an independent or mediating variable should, given reliable measurement, enhance the validity of…

Noting that the terms used by the Western media in describing the establishment of the Islamic Republic in Iran by the Ayatollah Khomeini have created the impression that the Ayatollah is both irrational and inhumane, this paper argues from contemporary eclectic rhetorical theory--that "rationality" is a function of perspective--to…

Kenneth Burke, whose positions have served as the basis for countless research projects in speech communication, believes that people are actors acting out life in the social drama with the purpose of achieving the ultimate good. Considering speakers as actors centers attention on the analysis of individuals in terms of their actions as actors and…

This paper considers three issues related to the philosophical struggle between journalism and speech communication departments in developing a public relations curriculum. The three issues are as follows: (1) the definition of public relations, with an emphasis on persuasion; (2) the design of a public relations curriculum, using the one at…

The 73 papers in this collection were presented at the 1981 Summer Argumentation Conference, the purpose of which was to bring together interested scholars to discuss recent developments and research in argumentation. The four primary areas of study considered at the conference--argument, argumentation and forensics, philosophy and argument, and…