Objectivity in style description is desirable, but three elements of any literary work make objectivity difficult: subject matter, context, and audience. Keeping aware of these subjective factors can help in achieving a measure of objective description. Two methods of stylistic analysis can be conducive to objectivity: propositional reduction and…

A COMPREHENSIVE MODEL OF LANGUAGE SHOULD ACCOUNT FOR ENTIRE DISCOURSES. BY REGARDING THE UNDERLYING STRUCTURE OF DISCOURSE AS A COLLECTION OF TREES GENERATED BY A PREDICATE GRAMMAR AND RELATED TO EACH OTHER ON THE BASIS OF FOCUS, IT APPEARS POSSIBLE TO FIT A MODEL TO LINGUISTIC BEHAVIOR BOTH ABOVE AND BELOW THE LEVEL OF THE SENTENCE. THE BASE OF…

John Dewey's educational and philosophical writings are broadly known, but not well-known. This study of his work is organized around his concept of change. (Nothing is permanent, all is change, permanence itself being a pseudonym for that which changes slowly. Man is unique in his ability to understand and control change for his benefit. Thus, it…

Contends that is sometimes rhetorical genres and not rhetorical situations that are decisively formative, and cites the papal encyclical, early state of the union addresses and their replies as supporting evidence. (MH)

Presents a linguistic and sociolinguistic analysis of the use of the words "socialism" and "socialist" in Jean Jaures' discourse, with a view to answering the following questions: (1) what is the process of semantic change, from a philosophical term to a political one; and (2) what is the nature of "political…

Examines Senator George McGovern's speech, "Sources of Our Strength," delivered at Wheaton College, Illinois in 1972 and contends that this address reveals the motivation underlying his bid for the Presidency. (MH)

Examines the semantic articulations of the notions of "consensus" and "conflict" within the framework of political power. (Text is in French.) (CDSH/AM)

Presents the views of a scholar in speech communication on Henry Johnstone's ideas about rhetoric. Concludes that rhetoric that "appeals" wedges apart percipient and objects of perception, or that it forces a person to examine what he or she knows or is, as well as examining the proffered rhetoric. (NKA)

Proposes an approach to rhetorical criticism that features the relationship between a message and a culturally distanced interpreter or critic. Applies Paul Ricoeur's critical approach to an interpretation of the Gettysburg Address to illustrate how hermeneutics reveals the underlying meaning and cultural significance of enduring texts. (NKA)

Argues that American literature courses need stories about surviving within American civilization. Asserts that critical analyses should identify American themes and characters who survive the "civilizing" experience in ways that grow out of a female tradition, but are symbolic enough to embody American traditions. (RAE)

Discusses the presence of an implied author and its appropriateness as a rhetorical device in technical discourse. Concludes that it enhances the information transfer from writer to text to reader. (MS)

Argues that the nuclear threat is fundamentally a textual problem, a problem created and perpetuated by argumentative and rhetorical practices. Maintains that argument critics need to formulate a politically powerful "nuclear criticism" in order to subvert and dismantle argument formations which might motivate nations to engage in…

Examines four autobiographical self-narratives to see not what they are about, but how the narrators construct themselves. Proposes that an individual's ways of telling and conceptualizing eventually become recipes for structuring experience itself (past and future). (SR)

Traces the rhetorical relationship between the ritual path taken by each rhetor and the types of messages they leave behind at the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial in Washington D.C., especially in the rhetoric "as addressed" to an audience. Reveals the interplay of ritual choice and message. (MS)

Considers the conventions of quotation marks--or "perverted commas"--and identifies seven uses, including shudder quotes (slang or inappropriate words) and scare quotes (used for attention or emphasis). Notes that quotation marks influence meaning and that finding a personal voice entails using language without quotes. (MM)