This essay summarizes and evaluates the work of Lawrence Cremin. It reviews the criticism of Cremin's approach as a context for appraising the achievement of a third volume in his trilogy, "American Education: The Metropolitan Experience," and finds it lacking in both historical comprehensiveness and in adequacy of execution. (Author/MLW)

Examines the opposition of objectified exposition and personal narrative posited by rhetorical tradition and maintained by most composition texts and syllabi today. Argues that the best thinking and writing are simultaneously personal and public, infused with private meaning and focused upon the world beyond the self.(MG)

Analyzes how John Dickinson's "Letter from a Farmer in Pennsylvania" appropriates pastoral design and convention for rhetorical ends. Explores how literary idiom lends its force of expression to meet the needs of public controversy and how rhetorical judgment is both insubstantiated in the argument and is its chief mode of appeal. (KEH)

Explores the effects of terrorism by approaching it as a persuasive form of communication rather than a dysfunctional sociological act. Describes the rhetorical functions of terrorism, evaluates the persuasive appeal of a mediated narrative, and applies narrative theory to analyze the 1985 TWA Flight 847 hijacking and its terrorist spokesman. (KEH)

Analyzes the depiction of Black characters in children's fiction series since 1968. Discusses the following new trends: (1) revisions that eliminate stereotypes; (2) introduction of realistic contemporary Black characters; (3) tokenism; and (4) elimination of Black characters altogether. (FMW)

Suggests that focusing on paradigms of work--the way it is described, together with the thematic implications it embodies--can be useful in teaching literature to young adults. Examines how examples from literature illustrate Erik H. Erikson's paradigm of the psychosocial stages of development in late childhood and adolescence. (MM)

Examines three goals of teaching rhetorical criticism in view of Isocratean ideals, which unite practical and critical training: developing students' talents in critical description, contextualization, and judgment. Discusses several pedagogical practices to operationalize these goals. (MM)

Argues that a thematic approach to teaching criticism--based on frequent, integrated writing tasks--accommodates the constraints found in the typical undergraduate course on rhetorical criticism. Illustrates this approach with reference to two themes: Ronald Reagan's discourse and the rhetoric of war and peace. (MM)

Describes a sequential model (organized around seven writing assignments that culminate in a substantial essay in rhetorical/critical analysis) for teaching rhetorical criticism as written argument. Asserts that learning to write argumentative prose should be a central concern of undergraduate courses in rhetorical criticism. (MM)

Outlines the Laguna (Pueblo) symbolic geography or world view as it is woven into Leslie Silko's novel "Ceremony." Explains the protagonist's spiritual journey toward health and harmony in terms of symbols and beliefs in Laguna mythology. Contains 21 references. (SV)

Examines the moral orientations of 212 male and female characters in 50 works of fiction for school-aged children using a modified version of Lyon's coding scheme. Findings confirm sex role stereotypic characterizations that could influence development of moral decision-making. (FMW)

Traces the history of the Chippewa tribe of Turtle Mountain Reservation, and relates it to Louise Erdrich's fictional depiction of assimilation over four generations. Discusses the French heritage of reservation families; development of Michif, a mixture of Cree and French; and effects of land allotment and BIA schooling. (SV)

Discusses feminine symbolism in the American frontier myth as an evolving cultural/rhetorical manifestation of a developing archetypal process. Analyzes the films "Alien" and "Aliens," in which the lost feminine is encountered, found to be vengeful of exploitation of her domain, and then killed by a patriarchalized heroine. (SR)

Argues that if the study of language is to become important again in the teaching of writing, it will be through an expanded notion of rhetoric that understands language as the site of struggle over socially produced meaning. (RAE)

Argues that survey courses can teach students about values underlying syllabi and show that literary interpretations are political. Suggests four ways to change the survey course syllabus, and discusses the effects of these changes on classroom discussions. Emphasizes the need to undermine the patriarchal authority of the traditional literary…