Examines two popular children's books, Enid Blyton's "The Mountain of Adventure" and Judy Blume's "Forever...." Concludes that these books actively work against achieving a sense of the "fullness of human experience," and isolate individual experiences from a broader social context. (MM)

Analyzes Betty Friedan's crucial feminist document, "The Feminine Mystique," arguing that Friedan strategically employed an androgynous rhetorical style. Maintains that Friedan thus, without explicitly advocating androgyny, created an audience which accepts an ideology transcending oppressive gender dichotomies. (SR)

Studies the rhetorical aspects of "Reaganomics," describing Reagan's rhetorical skills in promoting a vision of economic prosperity: a vision of America as a shining city on a hill, deemphasizing negative economic occurrences. Examines Reagan's rhetorical strategies in 10 speeches spanning his 8 years in office. (SR)

Follows particular parallels between oralist and electronic mediation to explore narrative or storytelling as a rhetorical form that transcends mediation. Reviews how writing-based cognition may bind progress in rhetorical practice and theory. Examines how narrative is media-transcendent. Reflects on the nature of media shifts. (SR)

Recollects summer 1964, when hundreds of civil rights workers went to Mississippi to aid Black voter registration. Points out that the movie "Mississippi Burning" ignores the courageous struggle of Mississippi Blacks and, instead, presents a disempowering version of history focusing on violent White males (the Klan and the FBI). (SV)

Reappraises Edward R. Murrow's "Report on Senator McCarthy" from the documentary series "See It Now." Argues that the text situates itself between the genres of objective news documentary and of public argument through the ironic "use" of objectivity as a fabricated strategy of appeal. (SR)

Analyzes 140 pastoral letters issued by the American Catholic bishops before, during, and after Vatican II (1947 through 1981). Suggests that doctrinal rhetoric has a tremendous capacity to endure accelerated social and institutional change, and that the rhetorical impact of Vatican II was quickly institutionalized in the public communications of…

Investigates the underlying rhetorical functions of how Benjamin Franklin used the medal to praise the national characters of France and the United States in those two countries, while he also used it to influence government policy in Malta and to vindicate himself from criticism in England. (KEH)

Analyzes Alexander Richardson's clothing metaphors which connected Ramist precepts to social values and philosophic assumptions drawn from the fields of fashion, psychology, and Puritan theology. Describes how these metaphors presented the Puritan community with an orientation toward listening and inculcated the Puritan speech community with…

Discusses current thinking on the theory-practice relationship within both literary and curriculum theory by presenting ideas and positions of representative figures from each discipline. Suggests an approach that seeks to capitalize on the important and common aspects of both. (KEH)

Argues that the individualism-collectivism dichotomy overlooks values that inherently serve both individual and collective interests, ignores values that foster the goals of collectives other than the ingroup, and promotes the mistaken assumption that individualist and collectivist values form opposing syndromes. Suggests refined value types. (FMW)

Discusses characteristics of poststructuralism, and describes some applications of poststructural theory in the English classroom. Argues that a poststructuralist pedagogy need not neglect traditional terminology and traditional close reading of texts. (RS)

Performs a Burkean analysis of Russell H. Conwell's once famous speech, "Acres of Diamonds." Reveals that Conwell's success relied upon a masterful transformation of pentadic ratios, in the medium of the "true-life" success story. Illustrates this narrative's power in altering an audience's perception of its role in a greater…

Examines cultural and personal values constraints on apologia through a case study of Governor Ray Blanton's apologia. Applies Bitzer's concept of functional communication and extends Jamieson's concept of the constraint of antecedent genre upon the rhetorical situation, examining of the impact of a speaker's antecedent rhetorical style upon later…

Discusses two objectives in teaching rhetorical criticism to undergraduates: helping students develop a critical perspective that embraces criticism as illumination and evaluation; and helping students gain knowledge and abilities relevant to responding critically to communication. Describes strategies for achieving these objectives. (MM)