Epideictic rhetoric, expression of praise or blame, animates much communication, from gossip to sermons, from commercial ads to love letters. Even when writing for purposes other than to judge, writers often frame their talk with implicit or explicit expressions of praise for individuals or groups or ideas considered "good." Epideictic…

Despite their success at improving writing, learning, writing in the disciplines, and teaching, writing-across-the-curriculum (WAC) programs are seen by several researchers to be in difficulty. Increasingly, one of the most pressing questions for WAC advocates is how to keep such programs going in the face of numerous difficulties. Case histories…

In his book, "Illiberal Education," Dinesh D'Souza dramatizes the transformation of American campuses and the academic revolution that is allegedly toppling traditional notions of Western civilization. However, many scholars are concerned that D'Souza'a collection of examples might leave readers with a false impression of the severity of…

Two studies compared the impact of black and white audiences on black students' writing style. In the first study, eight students in an all-black intermediate composition class completed one argumentative draft addressed to black opponents and one addressed to white opponents on two different topics. The essays were examined for stylistic features…

This paper examines and explains the elements of the paranoid style in rhetoric (first noted by Richard Hofstader in 1966) employed by Leonard Jeffries, Chairman of the Black Studies Department at City College of New York, in his July 1991 speech at the Empire State Black Arts and Cultural Festival in Albany, New York. The paper also suggests that…

The 4MAT system (an eight-step cycle of instruction that combines four learning style types and students' preferences for right-brain or left-brain modes of learning) can guide instructors in planning teaching strategies to meet students' diverse learning needs. Each of the eight steps of the system emphasizes one of the learning types and…

Understanding the connections between students' levels of intellectual development, their view of the nature of knowledge, and their developing argumentative writing skills is central to helping students learn to write good argumentation. The first researcher to develop a model of intellectual development among college students was William Perry…

A set of much examined scientific papers which specifically portray a controversial topic and also manifest ally-peer and competitor-peer enscripted audiences are those written by James Watson and Francis Crick concerning their discovery of the structure of deoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA). The theoretical perspective of an ally-peer and…

Public relations (PR) research on the teaching of critical thinking shows that PR practitioners must possess the communications skills and social sensitivity necessary to help organizations adapt to their environments. PR students must learn to think critically and to take an active role in learning. Practice in questioning educators' and…

A study investigated the impact of a procedure called Thesis Analysis and Synthesis Key (TASK), which was embedded in a curriculum designed to help high school students read and write arguments. Subjects, 120 11th-graders in San Francisco were instructed in argumentation under 3 conditions. Their gains in the ability to read arguments were…

A critical rhetoric is needed for those interested in feminist discourse, a means of both persuasion and critique. It has been suggested that monologic, fundamentally one-sided argument is inappropriate for a feminist discourse that should instead teach methods of negotiation and mediation. Kenneth Burke proposed shattering views of ideological…

This book, which is based on the premise that teaching is basically a performing art, focuses on the issues involved in training teachers to become excellent performers. The book's 15 chapters describe how teacher can, through demonstration and coaching by other expert teachers, learn the generic skills and performing moves of exceptional…

A study examined the influence of physical attractiveness and trait argumentativeness as predictors of responses to an argumentative situation. Subjects, 152 college students identified as either high or low in trait argumentativeness, were randomly assigned to one of two treatment conditions: attractive or unattractive anticipated adversary. A…

Argues that the success of 'The Letter' can be attributed to the confluence of three distinct rhetorical traits: King's heritage of the highly emotional Negro preaching tradition, his shrewd sense of political timing and polemical skill, and his conscious literary ability, and notes that 'The Letter' is one of the most frequently collected items…

Reports the results of three separate studies designed to test hypotheses about the effects of language intensity on attitude change. See CS 703 560 for availability. (MH)