Rhetorical theory as message reception: A cognitive response approach to rhetorical theory and criticism

Traditional rhetorical theory tends to adopt the rhetor's point of view, emphasizing invention of rhetorical messages, rather than the audience's reception and interpretation of messages. The audience is ordinarily conceptualized in humanistic rhetorical theory as a target, a source of expectations to guide the rhetor's invention, a means to accomplish the rhetor's ends, or even an obstacle. We argue that a more complete view of rhetoric should include the audience as a potentially active part of the process of persuasion. Accordingly, we propose to supplement our traditional theories of rhetoric by sketching a complementary view of rhetoric as the process of an auditor's processing and responding to messages. The inspiration for this conception, Petty and Cacioppo's Elaboration Likelihood Model, is sketched, and implications for rhetorical theory and criticism are discussed.     

American political rhetoric and the jeremiad tradition: Presidential nomination acceptance addresses, 1960–1976

The nomination acceptance addresses of recent presidential candidates constitute a significant aspect of an American political ritual. These addresses might be termed a “modern jeremiad”; because they conform to the jeremiad tradition in American rhetoric. Like the Puritan jeremiad which was central to a religious ritual, the modern jeremiad continues to function rhetorically as a means for interpreting the meaning of America's past and unifying the audience around a shared vision of America's future.     

Muscle spasticity in functional aphonia and dysphonia

Gains Suetonius Tranquillus, Roman historian and biographer of the first and second centuries A.D., wrote De Rhetoribus,the only Latin treatise concerned directly with pre‐Ciceronian rhetoricians and providing information on the strong opposition to rhetoric, the radical changes in the educational system of Rome, and the influence of otherwise unknown rhetoricians. After placing Suetonius in the rhetorical tradition of the early Roman Empire, a translation of De Rhetoribus and an extensive commentary on the major points are presented. The major significance of Suetonius's De Rhetoribus in the history of rhetoric was its demonstration that transplanted Greek rhetoric survived the dark ages of the early Roman Republic because rhetoric was a source of political power.     

Readers theatre bibliography

Several recent developments in rhetorical theory display a disturbing tendency to overemphasize change at the expense of enduring elements of the rhetorical tradition. These tendencies, which include attention to symbolism as an end in itself and accentuation of rhetorical methodology over substantive considerations, obfuscate the core concepts of rhetoric and detract from the purposes of a fully humane rhetoric. In contrast, a renewed sense of the permanent aspects of the rhetorical tradition is found in the centrality of language in human experience and is manifest in several key dimensions. Language as a means of exploration and education, as a form of social transformation, and as a means of vision and valuation are discussed as constituting a permanent core in rhetorical theory and forming the basis of rhetoric as a humane and, substantive art.     

Jimmy Carter and the rhetoric of charisma

Jimmy Carter's unusual success in the Presidential Primaries of 1976 has been the subject of much discussion. One rhetorical explanation posits that Carter's message may be described in terms of Weber's concept of charisma, and Bormann's theory of rhetorical vision. The charismatic message was caught up in a unique rhetorical situation, the social fantasies attending the Bicentennial Celebration. Carter's rhetoric and the people's fantasies transcended along similar lines. This confluence helped to carry Carter to the White House.     

An experimental study of the effect of three speech variables on listener comprehension

Though the scope of Aristotle's Rhetoric is at once broader and more limited than Bacon's theory, the Englishman owes most of his primary rhetorical doctrines to his predecessor. The two philosophers agree on the nature and general function of rhetoric, its place among the arts and sciences, its psychological basis, and the use to which it puts logical, ethical, and pathetic proofs. Some of Aristotle's hints are expanded by Bacon, mainly those regarding the philosophical style, and Bacon often corrects what he takes to be inconsistencies and errors in Aristotle's work. Moreover, because he looks to the past only for material to change and augment, Bacon does original and important new things to Aristotle as he re‐works him for a new English rhetoric.     

Burkean transcendence and ultimate terms in rhetoric by and about James Watt

The essay examines some Burkean theory to show how governments should rhetorically manage the distribution of scarce resources. Interior Secretary James Watt's rhetoric is shown to be flawed because it is based on dialectical rather than ultimate frames of acceptance, and because his persona is inconsistent with his rhetoric.     

The Rules-Based Process of Revealing/Concealing the Family Planning Decisions of Voluntarily Child-Free Couples: A Communication Privacy Management Perspective

Critical literature has largely ignored the element of purpose in Kenneth Burke's dramatistic pentad, along with its attendant philosophy of mysticism. Chiara Lubich's 1977 Templeton Prize Acceptance Speech presents rhetorical critics with a valuable opportunity to observe in practice the features of a rhetoric of purpose, as Burke has disseminated them. In fact, analysis of Lubich's speech according to Burke's criteria of purposive rhetoric suggests the existence of a discrete sub‐class of purposive rhetoric identified here as the mystical narrative.     

Campbell's the philosophy of rhetoric and the advancement of rhetorical theory: The integration of philosophical antecedents

George Campbell's The Philosophy of Rhetoric is one of the most significant works of rhetoric in the new‐classical period. Campbell's work provides an example of theory development, for his theory integrates competing psychological/philosophical theories of his era. Campbell's classification aligns the ends of discourse with specific mental faculties: Rhetors enlighten the understanding, please the imagination, move the passions, and influence the will. The philosophy of association underlies the materials for these appeals, utilizing ideas obtained from experience and memory. The foundation for this structure, common sense philosophy, supplies information (i.e., testimony) and assumptions essential to all reasoning. Implications for work on rhetorical theory development are addressed.     

Constituting “the People” as Rhetorical Interruption: Barack Obama and the Unfinished Hopes of an Imperfect People

This article explores how Barack Obama's oratory positions “the people” as a site of ongoing rhetorical negotiation regarding national identity, ideology, and potentiality. Like the subjects implicated in Charland's consideration of constitutive rhetoric, “the people” of Obama's rhetoric emerge as the choosers, deciders, and accomplishers of collaborative identity performance. Unlike Charland's subjects, however, Obama's rhetoric of imperfection and dissent positions “the people” as never fully constituted but always engaged in the act of constitution. The people, like the country they constitute, are flawed, never perfect, and always in the process of perfecting.     

Aristotle on psychology and rhetoric

When Aristotle's Rhetoric is viewed in the light of his psychological treatise, De Anima, it becomes evident that the latter work both illuminates his conception of rhetoric and reveals the psychological assumptions underlying his theory of persuasion.     

Modern Mimicry and YouTube: How Technology Has Influenced Pedagogy and Performance of Poetry Interpretation Within Competitive Forensics

Plato's mimetic theory proposes art is an imitative representation of nature. Mimesis and imitation have a long history of rhetorical significance. This article investigates the potential impact increased technology might have upon the mimetic nature of the interpretation of poetry within modern forensics performances. Technological advances have made millions of performances available immediately. This vast increase in performance accessibility has created serious implications for repetition and impersonation within the genre of interpretation. As YouTube has made poetry performances visibly and audibly accessible to the masses, literal mimetic performances are quickly taking shape. This article utilizes a classical rhetorical framework upon modern-day technological advancements in an attempt to articulate significant educational benefits and limitations technology has had on mimetic performances for students, coaches, and judges.     

Abandonment of genus: The evolution of political rhetoric

Richard Weaver's notion that the forms of argument used by a speaker—genus, similitude, cause and effect, or circumstance‐indicate the speaker's ideology is used to analyze speeches of Jimmy Carter, Lyndon Johnson, and Jane Byrne, mayor of Chicago. Their early rhetoric was characterized by argument from genus, their later rhetoric by less idealistic forms of argument, suggesting that their world view has changed and with it the public's view of their performance.     

Consensus theory and religious belief

David Tukey has argued recently that the consensus theory of epistemic rhetoric reduces spiritual experience to a social construct and therefore denies the possibility of a divine reality. This essay argues that consensus theory can account for religious beliefs and spiritual experiences, and that consensus theory provides a useful framework within which to understand the rhetorical dimensions of these beliefs and experiences. Walter Rauschenbusch's classic A Theology for the Social Gospel is examined as a theology that is consistent with the basic tenets of consensus theory.     

On the aesthetic production of atmospheres: the rhetorical workings of biopower at The CELL

Drawing upon Foucault's notion of biopower and Böhme's theory of atmospheres, we analyze The Counterterrorism Education Learning Lab (The CELL), a nonprofit institution in Denver, Colorado dedicated to preventing terrorism. Specifically, we argue that The CELL rhetorically induces visitors to submit to and actively participate in continuous surveillance by subjecting them to a strategic succession of atmospheres that affectively and emotively enlists their bodies in its cause. This largely material rhetoric utilizes the design aesthetics of controlled movement, simulation, interactivity, and pseudodialogue. We conclude by reflecting on the implications for rhetorical and security studies.     

Testing the rhetoric of China's soft power campaign: a case analysis of its strategic ambiguity in the Six Party Talks over North Korea's nuclear program

China's soft power campaign has spawned many scholarly studies on it, but few have examined its rhetorical aspect. Through keyword analysis, this research examines strategic ambiguity in China's public affairs rhetoric surrounding the Six Party Talks over North Korea's nuclear program. The two keywords, ‘the Six Party Talks’ and ‘da ju’ (big picture, overall view), are semantically open and central to China's rhetoric in defining ‘What is it?’ and ‘Why is it?’ with regard to the talks. Analysis shows that strategic ambiguity contributed to some of China's goals. However, it was not adjusted when it stopped working. Its effectiveness was undercut by certain inconsistent messages, and da ju failed to differentiate between domestic and international political context and was also culturally maladaptive. This research contributes to public diplomacy and public affairs rhetoric research.     

Villains and heroes of the great depression: The evolution of Father Coughlin's fantasy themes

This article traces the development of Father Charles E. Coughlin's rhetoric as it evolved over a six‐year period during the height of his popularity, from 1930 to 1936. Bormann's Fantasy‐Theme method was used to evaluate Coughlin's rhetoric. The findings offer insight into Symbolic Convergence Theory by demonstrating how Coughlin attempted to integrate his political and personal agenda with changing social context and audience needs. The implication is that fantasy themes are open systems, which are circumstantially constructed and thus evolve and change over time.     

The rhetoric of Indonesian technology development: An analysis of B.J. Habibie's speeches 1

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the rhetoric of Habibie's speeches in order to explain his rhetorical strategies in intensifying Indonesian science and technology development using Kenneth Burke's ‘dramatistic analysis’. It examines significant key terms selected from Habibie's campaign speeches (1983–1993), discusses the symbolic relationships among the key elements of the drama of Indonesian technology development, as well as interprets the rhetor's strategies and motivations. It also describes the significance of Habibie's roles in recent political develompent with the background of Indonesian ideologies and traditional values. It concludes that Habibie's rhetoric points to ‘technologically modern society’ as the national goal, technologists and scientists as the leaders, and intensive science and technology development as the means, which marks a dramatic change in the already changing traditional concepts of development, political leadership and prosperity.     

Finding a Socratic Method for Information Literacy Instruction

ABSTRACT

Librarians can find techniques for improving information literacy in Plato's Socratic dialogs. The Socratic Method is an effective tool that can help engage students in critical thinking about their research, guide students to reveal flaws in their reasoning, and prepare them to learn new research skills. Examples of information literacy instruction drawn from Socratic dialogs are given in this article along with tips for avoiding pitfalls associated with the Socratic Method.