This paper uses an epistemological framework to address the nature of the interactions among authors and responders in professional journals in the context of how such dialog affects the "states-of-the arts." It articulates the rhetorical strategies in four logics-in-use relating to posited epistemological domains, as well as…

Using a textualist approach (looking at meaning above and beyond overt message elements), a study examined televised public service announcements (PSAs) about Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) produced by the Ad Council and the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Both ads identify young people who should be concerned…

A study examined the relationships between the media, public opinion and the Medicare Catastrophic Act of 1988 which was repealed in 1989. Using the NEXIS electronic database, 11 years (1977-89) of news articles, opinion pieces, editorials, and letters to the editor were harvested in random sequence from the Associated Press news wire, the…

To examine the relationship between children's social-cognitive status and the production of persuasive arguments and to determine the effects of age and the channel of communication on these arguments, 16 first grade, 17 third grade, and 16 fifth grade students were asked to produce both oral and written persuasive messages and were administered…

A study examined the effect of role playing on persuasive letters written by 84 fourth and 70 eighth graders. Role playing was defined as improvised, unrehearsed oral interaction in a simulated context. Randomly selected students from 11 comparable heterogeneous classes in a middle-class suburb wrote to their school principals on three different…

As P. L. Berger and T. Luckmann argue, what the public regards as social reality is a construction to which each member contributes by selecting from all available information to develop a picture of the world. To do so, people negotiate with other people regarding the meaning of the information provided. A logical extension of this theory is that…

Pericles' Funeral Oration, delivered at a mass funeral for a number of Athenian soldiers who had died during an attack against their rival Sparta's allies, is an example of a form of rhetoric, epideictic, that functioned as a means of developing a sense of community. In order to make the mourners at the funeral believe the soldiers had died good,…

Much of the rhetoric used by world leaders is one of violence, based on destructive myths and images, which increases the probability of war. Such leaders attempt to persuade the public that militarism, threats, and sociopolitical superiority are effective strategies for peace, when in fact they maximize cultural and political differences. The…

This paper examines the ethos-centered crusade in which the evangelist, not a doctrine or a political/social issue, becomes the reason the audience attends to the message. The paper analyses how the Billy Graham crusades fit this definition--the fame of the evangelist extends beyond any individual crusade, the message preached by the evangelist…

A survey involving 98 speech communication majors enrolled in a leadership communication course at a large midwestern university was conducted to determine what students in the field of communication think regarding leadership. Respondents were asked for their opinions regarding the ideal traits of leaders, how leadership has changed in the last…

Nukespeak--euphemisms or jargon that serve to hide the horrific nature of nuclear weapons systems and nuclear war--uses the strategies of domestication and bureaucratization to represent itself to the public. Domestication employs everyday language to introduce nuclear concepts into public discourse in a non-threatening manner, as when President…

Intended for forensic educators and debate teams, this document details how one university debate team, at the University of Iowa, makes use of computer resources on campus to facilitate storage and retrieval of information useful to debaters. The introduction notes the problem of storing and retrieving the amount of information required by debate…

An oral communication course, offered at Michigan State University during the 5-week summer session, was conducted for academically talented high school students. Students learned about the responsibility of creating and delivering ethical, informed, and rhetorically sensitive messages. Each student researched one socially significant issue, and…

In an electoral process in 1988 and 1989, voters replaced General Augusto Pinochet as leader of Chile. The use of political cartoons by both pro- and anti-Pinochet forces is explored in this paper. Cartoons have long been recognized as a form of mass communication. In the Chilean elections cartoons played an important role in the battle for the…

The philosophical and educational significance of the present study lies in its attempt to clarify the value and importance of the Socratic legacy for education, in addition to underscoring the difficulty of understanding that legacy. Perspectives on Socrates and his legacy, from Friedrich Nietzsche to contemporary critics, such as Bruce Kimball…