Argues that certain "ancient" writing practices can help attain the objective of making writing instruction truly democratic. Outlines key features in the discredited "old history" of composition to adduce ways of helping students think, feel, and write in heterogeneous ways. (HB)

Discusses ethos on a broader level than Aristotelian rhetoric generally does. Presents data from a case study of the outrageous ethos of a group of generative linguists on the cusp of the sixties and seventies. Considers the issues relevant to communal ethos as debated by this group of researchers. (HB)

Draws an extended analogy between what composition instructors do in the classroom and the process of religious witnessing and conversion. Describes a process of conversion in the context of an antifoundationalist writing class pedagogy. (HB)

Examines the ironic "problems" of the 1989 Hollywood film "Fat Man and Little Boy" (portraying the construction of the atomic bomb at the Los Alamos Laboratory during World War II) to demonstrate the ideological operations of nuclear texts, and the role of the nuclear weapons organization as a symbolic form in cultural…

Discusses the novel "Web of Dreams" by Virginia Andrews, a favorite among many secondary students. Considers the book as subject for secondary English study. Claims that the novel defies most teacherly prejudices about formula writing. Provides detailed criticism of the novel. (HB)

Emphasizes the importance of orality, a dimension of textual authenticity, that can influence the content, the form of a speech transcript, and the act of criticism. Demonstrates, with Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech, that incorporation of orality does not necessarily provide answers to all of the critic's questions. (SR)

Discusses how Katherine Paterson, in her novel "Jacob Have I Loved," chronicles the human search for identity. Summarizes the novel's plot involving twin sisters. Analyzes the novel's assertion of the importance of individuals set against the backdrop of all humanity. (HB)

Details the controversy surrounding the 1985 decision by the British Broadcasting Corporation's Board of Governors to withdraw a documentary entitled "Real Lives--At the Edge of the Union." Shows how this particular text works as a radical reflection of ideological anxiety in Great Britain and, thus, how the film functioned as an…

Suggests that Franklin Delano Roosevelt's First Inaugural Address is an example of a speech using metaphor to transcend a recurring rhetorical problem. Shows how Roosevelt merged two metaphoric clusters, religious and military, into the image of "Holy War," first to calm, then activate the American people. (SR)

Analyzes the way a specific narrative text (Lawrence Kasdan's 1983 feature film "The Big Chill") confronts the relationship between communal norms and political possibilities. Shows how the film enacts a complex disjunctive narrative argument endorsing a specific form of communal affiliation (what Hannah Arendt refers to as…

Discusses the relationship that exists between the study of cognitive science and literary studies. Outlines contributions to the emerging dialog between these two fields. Suggests that a closer alliance between the two fields might enhance both disciplines. (HB)

Claims that rhetorical voice is strategically vital for persuasion but that it is rarely discussed in business communication textbooks. Identifies aspects of the rhetorical situation that shape voice. Presents a heuristic that writers can use to construct their personae. (HB)

Contributes the first steps in the establishment of literary standards produced from readings of children's texts that are culturally different in form and context. Discusses instances in which the role of the literary critic comes into conflict with the responsibilities of the multicultural educator. Explores the relationship between aesthetics…

Considers how rhetorical scholars have theorized the potential of protest rhetoric to transform social and symbolic realities. Uses complicity theory to examine Louis Farrakhan's rhetoric, providing a theoretical amplification of "symbolic realignment," a critical examination of his epistemological commitments, and a practical…

Addresses critical aesthetic issues and concerns brought about by the advent of digital media. Utilizing a philosophical approach investigates the ways that computer-mediated art challenges existing Western aesthetic theory. Focuses on feminist aesthetic theory as a framework for reevaluating aesthetic concepts and criteria. (DSK)