This study (N=103) sought to determine if there was a statistically significant difference between the art criticism abilities of an experimental group of preservice elementary teachers who had received supplemental instruction in visually analyzing works of art and the art criticism abilities of a control group who had not received the…

An extension of conversations that originally took place at summer institutes devoted to literary theory (sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English), this book presents diverse critical perspectives on current topics of literature, such as post-structuralism, cultural criticism, reader-response theory, and issues of gender and…

Speech writing can be an excellent vehicle for helping students develop writing skills. The course described in this paper blends rhetorical principles and practices from public speaking, speech composition, persuasion and public relations with "real world applications." Students work on developing purposeful communication, a consistent…

Although memory was one of the five canons of classical rhetoric, the more contemporary, narrower definition of memory as the training of the mind to remember certain things has eliminated memory as a useful rhetorical canon. However, teachers of writing who do regard memory highly, can redefine memory to restore it as one of the canons of…

A historical overview of the concept of transformational leadership is presented through an analysis of its inherent metaphors, with a focus on the implications for women and ethnic group members. A hermeneutical process within a Foucauldian framework is used to interpret leadership themes in "Little Women" and girl and boy scout handbooks.…

This paper discusses the positive impact of American Indian cultures on three twentieth-century non-Indian authors (Willa Cather, Frank Waters, and Margaret Craven), as portrayed through their Indianized protagonists. First, the influence of American Indian culture on the protagonists of two novels by Willa Cather, "The Professor's…

An examination of letters left at the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in Washington, D.C. between November, 1984 and April, 1986 revealed that the memorial serves as a rhetorical situation that urges its visitors to eloquence. The memorial is an excellent proving ground for situational theory because the interaction of site and perception is vital to…

A study examined the effect of communication style on use of different persuasive strategies. Subjects responded to a rhetorical sensitivity scale (RHETSEN) to determine their communication style: noble self, rhetorically sensitive, and rhetorical reflector. The persuasive style of the noble self can be characterized as straightforward and direct;…

Three typical television news reports broadcast on the "CBS Evening News with Dan Rather" in early 1987 were analyzed (1) to test the validity of the assumption that news reports of this type are persuasive and therefore can be classified as rhetoric and (2) to gain insights into the message structure of the reports. The three reports…

Using Jean Baudrillard's postmodernist theories, this paper analyzes how the television program, "Miami Vice," operationalizes his theory through its attention to surfaces and style. The paper notes that Baudrillard proposes life as a surface comprised of animated models indistinguishable from the reality these models represent and…

An upper school English program has been experimenting with ways to reinforce its traditional literary curriculum with contemporary works. Three contemporary novels in particular (Naylor's "The Women of Brewster Place," Walker's "The Color Purple," and Miller's "A Canticle for Leibowitz") have been found to foster a sense of continuity with the…

Arguing that developmental writing programs should remain rhetorical rather than philosophical, this paper reviews some issues in the history of rhetoric that are relevant to those who teach writing in open-door colleges. The paper begins with an explanation of some of the basic arguments between the Greek philosophers and the…

A study examined the general structure of children's information books and their use of language. A corpus of over 110 information books was examined for (1) obligatory elements of the genre, (2) optional elements, (3) iterative or repeating elements, (4) elements with fixed orders of occurrence in relation to other elements, and (5) elements with…

Drawing on Michael Halloran's genre of public proceedings, the Iran-contra hearings can be viewed from a celebratory or epideictic perspective, with several conceptualizations of the genre combined to illuminate the functions of the hearings. The primary function of the hearings, at least from an epideictic viewpoint, was the reassurance of the…

Both rhetorical theorists and attitude change theorists agree that characteristics of the source of persuasive communication can improve the persuasiveness of that message. Writers from both perspectives have approached this notion from two divergent perspectives. Isocrates was concerned with the speaker's prior reputation, which is quite similar…