Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Social Influence and Political Communication

Theses/Dissertations

Ronald Reagan

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Speech and Rhetorical Studies

Applause, Laughter, Chants, And Cheers: An Analysis Of The Rhetorical Skill Of The “Great Communicator”, Reagan Gresham Dye May 2018

Applause, Laughter, Chants, And Cheers: An Analysis Of The Rhetorical Skill Of The “Great Communicator”, Reagan Gresham Dye

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study takes a content analytic approach to analyze the use of rhetorical devices in televised Republican National Convention (RNC) addresses by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan. By measuring rhetorical strategies and their relationship with the type, strength, synchrony, and duration of audience responses during the 1976, 1980, 1984, and 1992 RNCs, this study finds that Reagan had the ability to control speech factors to his advantage to promote positive audience response. This study finds that Reagan was adept at utilizing humor, external attacks, and advocating for his policy agenda in a way that elicited positive audience responses such as …

Go to article

The Politicization Of Popular Culture: A Case Study In Reagan And Star Wars, Nathan A. Wingert Jan 2013

The Politicization Of Popular Culture: A Case Study In Reagan And Star Wars, Nathan A. Wingert

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This project examined the use of Ronald Reagan’s rhetoric, specifically the “Star Wars,” “Zero Option” and “Evil Empire” speeches. It answers the question: Why do we know SDI as Star Wars? It also The rationale for the study came from myriad sources, including the historical and political undertones of the Star Wars films and rhetorical criticism of other Reagan speeches. G. Thomas Goodnight’s analysis linked all three speeches together as a reformulation of wartime rhetoric, so that was the rationale for analyzing three speeches. After performing a rhetorical criticism using Burkean identification as the lens, there are several results: Reagan …

Go to article