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Memes, Themes, And Rhetorical Schemes: Analyzing The Themes And Rhetorical Devices Used By Meme Creators In American Political Internet Memes In The First Week Of The Ukrainian-Russian War, Edward B. Zimmerman
Memes, Themes, And Rhetorical Schemes: Analyzing The Themes And Rhetorical Devices Used By Meme Creators In American Political Internet Memes In The First Week Of The Ukrainian-Russian War, Edward B. Zimmerman
Communication Theses
Internet memes carry news messages to mass audiences through social media platforms. In seconds, global events can be transmitted to millions of users in the form of an image with text overlayed. Despite the power of memes, there has been little scholarly research devoted to the selection mechanism of meme-makers. As both audience and creator, meme-makers’ craft and consume messages capable of influence. Grounded in work on rhetorical analysis and framing, this study examined memes posted to conservative and liberal affiliated Reddit communities in the wake of the first days of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. The analysis focused on the themes …
The Identity Of Yoga: Contemporary Vs. Traditional Yogic Discourse, Octavia Nasr
The Identity Of Yoga: Contemporary Vs. Traditional Yogic Discourse, Octavia Nasr
Communication Theses
Modern yoga is a multibillion-dollar economy that penetrated many fields, from fitness to healthcare. Yoga’s popularity shows its relevance and adaptability. However, scholars found that modern yoga is synonymous with postural yoga. In this thesis, I establish that yoga’s identity is rooted in the Eight Limbs of the iconic Yoga Sutras of Patanjali ––postures being one of the limbs constituting yoga’s identifiers. Then, I link the yogic postural shift to the truncation of yoga’s identifiers in teacher training curricula. I argue that modern yoga schools focus more on postures and downplay the other limbs, especially the first two – ethical …
Legislation As A Site Of Contested Meaning In United States Congressional Debates, John Rountree
Legislation As A Site Of Contested Meaning In United States Congressional Debates, John Rountree
Communication Theses
Rhetoric and public policy scholars have shown interest in uncertainty and polysemy in Congress, but they have traditionally treated legislation as a given. Members of Congress disagree about what policy should be, but they also disagree about what any given bill proposes to do. From a rhetorical perspective, I investigate the creation of uncertainty about legislation through the 2013 Senate debate on immigration. I argue that legislation is inherently ambiguous because legislative debate is consistently pushed behind the language of statutes. Rather than consider statutes unto themselves, members of Congress understand them in terms of the potential acts they sanction. …
The Clinton Administration's Use Of Hermeneutic Opportunities In The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights And The Convention On The Prevention And Punishment Of The Crime Of Genocide During The Bosnia And Rwanda Genocides, Kimberly Overmier
Communication Theses
This thesis explores the hermeneutic opportunities in the United Nations’ human rights documents which are used by states, like the United States, to rhetorically circumvent the responsibilities the documents place on U.N. member states. The way these opportunities are strategically used is examined through case studies of the Clinton administration attempts to evade involvement in the Bosnian and Rwandan genocides. News conferences, press briefings and speeches are used to do a rhetorical analysis of Clinton’s strategy in order to determine how that strategy was shaped by the constraints and opportunities of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention …
Communicating With The World: History Of Rhetorical Responses To International Crisis And The 2007 U.S. National Strategy For Public Diplomacy And Strategic Communication, Laurel R. Berryman
Communicating With The World: History Of Rhetorical Responses To International Crisis And The 2007 U.S. National Strategy For Public Diplomacy And Strategic Communication, Laurel R. Berryman
Communication Theses
Following the events of September 11, 2001, we have seen a revival in American public diplomacy. I argue the U.S. continues to rely on similar rhetorical responses to crisis that are an essential part of American public diplomacy interconnected through history, from the birth of our country to the recent 2007 U.S. National Strategy for Public Diplomacy and Strategic Communication. Tracing this recurring rhetorical process from our founding to the Carter Administration illustrates our reliance on similar rhetoric despite changing contexts. I use Burke’s concept of identification and the interrelated use of ethos and enemy construction to demonstrate the rhetorical …
The Rhetorical Dimensions Of Place-Making: Texts, Structures, And Movement In Atlantic Station, Brook Alys Irving
The Rhetorical Dimensions Of Place-Making: Texts, Structures, And Movement In Atlantic Station, Brook Alys Irving
Communication Theses
The suggestion that cities “speak” has become a growing interest in communication scholarship, yet the particular ways city spaces communicate remains under theorized. I argue that the intersection of people with spaces, the networks between texts, objects, and movement are all implicated in the rhetorical process of place-making in which individuals are both shaped by and shaping space. I envision this process to involve three interdependent modes of symbolization: textual constructions about place, symbolic activities of place, and movement and action in space. The mode of inquiry proposed here contributes to a body of scholarship interested in exploring the multiple …
Hurricane Katrina And The Third World: A Cluster Analysis Of The "Third World" Label In The Mass Media Coverage Of Hurricane Katrina, Paul E. Mabrey Iii
Hurricane Katrina And The Third World: A Cluster Analysis Of The "Third World" Label In The Mass Media Coverage Of Hurricane Katrina, Paul E. Mabrey Iii
Communication Theses
Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, the Gulf Coast and the United States in August of 2005. While an emerging literature base details the consequences and lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina, a critical missing piece for understanding Hurricane Katrina American landfall is a rhetorical perspective. I argue a rhetorical perspective can significantly contribute to a better understanding of Hurricane Katrina’s implications for creating policy, community and identity. As a case study, I employ Kenneth Burke’s cluster analysis to examine the use of the label “Third World” to describe New Orleans, the Gulf Coast and the United States in the mass media …