Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons^™

Performance Attitudes Toward Read Or Imagined Events In “Scenes Of Passion And Despair” By Joyce Carol Oates, Bruce Creed

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The object of this study is to examine the diction of “Scenes of Passion and Despair” by Joyce Carol Oates in an attempt to discover performative attitudes for the interpreter. The discussion centers on the theme of illusion and reality as it manifests itself in the story. Because this theme superimposes itself on diction, it becomes necessary to examine words in detail, searching for the manner in which words are used to create a certain degree of reality for each character of the story. The discovery of these realities reassures the interpreter that his is a faithful rendering of one …