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Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons™

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Theses/Dissertations

2003

Louisiana State University

Articles 1 - 9 of 9

Full-Text Articles in Speech and Rhetorical Studies

Augusto Boal's Theatre Of The Oppressed In The Public Speaking And Interpersonal Communication Classrooms, Jacqueline D. Burleson Jan 2003

Augusto Boal's Theatre Of The Oppressed In The Public Speaking And Interpersonal Communication Classrooms, Jacqueline D. Burleson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this study, I document and analyze how I applied Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed (TO) techniques in introductory Public Speaking and Interpersonal Communication (IPC) courses. In the first chapter, Boal's democratic praxis is discussed in terms of critical performance pedagogy and Brecht's social aesthetics. I identify the qualitative social scientific method of data collection and analysis I used and base the significance of the study in my testing of TO in non-performance educational contexts and in the integrated communication studies curricula that resulted. In Chapter Two, I summarize Boal's career as an interactive theatre practitioner. My review includes synopses …

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The Dual Paths Of A Political Movement: Convergence And Divergence In Contemporary Conservative Public Address, Lyman Davis Hunt Jan 2003

The Dual Paths Of A Political Movement: Convergence And Divergence In Contemporary Conservative Public Address, Lyman Davis Hunt

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study examines the rhetorical choices made in public addresses by members of the contemporary conservative movement in the United States during the 1990s. The contemporary conservative movement in this instance is defined as a post World War II phenomenon. Specifically, it is argued that the popular notion of a unified conservative ascendence in America is but an illusion. Rather, two distinct tribes of conservatives, the economic and the traditional conservative, participate in a rhetorical homology that serves to hide significant ontological differences beneath the dialectical God terms freedom and order. Additionally, the charismatic nature of the term freedom authorizes …

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The Effects Of Message Direction And Sex Differences On The Interpretation Of Workplace Gossip, Kristen Marie Berkos Jan 2003

The Effects Of Message Direction And Sex Differences On The Interpretation Of Workplace Gossip, Kristen Marie Berkos

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Gossip occurs in the organization and individuals exposed to these gossip messages must decide how to interpret the gossip. This dissertation explains the definitions and research for gossip, message direction, sex differences, message interpretation, politicalism, and believability. Applying symbolic interactionism and social exchange theory, seven relationships between variables are proposed. The seven hypotheses are tested via a web-based questionnaire that manipulated the message direction and sex of the gossiper and gossip receiver. Two hundred seventy-six full time employees completed instruments measuring gossip believability, purpose, and politicalism. Data were subjected to a MANCOVA, and correlation statistics. Results supported three of the …

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The Means Of Ignorance: Genuine Dialogue And A Rhetoric Of Virtue, Daniel Anthony Grano Jan 2003

The Means Of Ignorance: Genuine Dialogue And A Rhetoric Of Virtue, Daniel Anthony Grano

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Aimed at core problems of contemporary moral rhetoric - pluralistic argument, incommensurable disagreement on ordering terms, and a theoretical move away from essence to relativism - this study is an attempt to restore rhetoric as an art capable of investigating and positing terms of order and being. This restoration relies upon viewing rhetoric as a practice of epistemic mediation between the experiential and language-based knowledge of the local, and the perfected knowledge of the Absolute. I propose characteristically Socratic notions of contingency and ignorance as the bases for this mediated approach. As a recognition of what is unknown and uncertain …

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"You Stupid, Lazy Kid": Perceptions Of Verbal Aggressiveness In Older Adults, Jon M. Croghan Jan 2003

"You Stupid, Lazy Kid": Perceptions Of Verbal Aggressiveness In Older Adults, Jon M. Croghan

LSU Master's Theses

Young adults' stereotypes of older adults has been well-documented in communication literature, however, there has been a lack of research on the impact of message strategy on intergenerational interactions. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among three factors that previous research suggests should influence the activation of stereotypes toward a target: age, relational level, and message strategy. This study examines the role that message strategy, in this case, verbal aggressiveness, plays in activating young adults' (n = 186) negative stereotypes of older adults. The young adults' self-reported levels of trait verbal aggressiveness was positively correlated with …

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The Bardic Utterance In Situation Comedy Theme Songs, 1960-2000, Joni Melissa Butcher Jan 2003

The Bardic Utterance In Situation Comedy Theme Songs, 1960-2000, Joni Melissa Butcher

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine the function of the bard in situation comedy theme songs. This study calls upon Fiske and Hartley's concept of television as a cultural bard, a singer and teller of stories that create and conserve community. The bard reaffirms the culture's identity while delivering social and political messages relevant to the culture at specific times throughout history. This study also draws upon social-historical and cultural perspectives, and a selective semiotic analysis to investigate the visual, vocal, and musical themes from four decades of television sitcoms. The shows and themes from the 1960s include …

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Will The Real Jesus Please Stand Up?: Bridging The Divide Between The Jesus Seminar And Its Opponents Through A Burkeian Approach, Carol Melissa Hopson-Sparks Jan 2003

Will The Real Jesus Please Stand Up?: Bridging The Divide Between The Jesus Seminar And Its Opponents Through A Burkeian Approach, Carol Melissa Hopson-Sparks

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study employs a Burkeian cluster-agon analysis approach to analyze the rhetoric of four members of the Jesus Seminar; namely, Robert Funk, Marcus Borg, John Dominic Crossan, and John Shelby Spong as well as that of two of the Jesus Seminar’s critics; Luke Timothy Johnson and N. Thomas Wright. Specifically, this study sought to discern the orientations or perspectives held by each of the examined rhetors in an effort to locate common ground or similar foundations within two seemingly disparate points of view. In doing so, this study creates a third perspective, or corrective, based on the orthopraxis approach of …

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The Role Of Imagined Interaction And Self-Efficacay In Psychosocial Adjustment To Spousal Bereavement: A Communication Perspective, Sherry Greenwood Ford Jan 2003

The Role Of Imagined Interaction And Self-Efficacay In Psychosocial Adjustment To Spousal Bereavement: A Communication Perspective, Sherry Greenwood Ford

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study explored imagined interaction (IIs) and bereavement coping self-efficacy in psychosocial adjustment to spousal bereavement. II characteristics and functions explored include discrepancy, activity, proactivity, specificity, retroactivity, variety, valence, catharsis, self-understanding, rehearsal, compensation and use of IIs with the deceased spouse. The current study's primary contribution is the introduction of bereavement phenomena into the framework of intrapersonal communication. The present investigation includes results of two studies. The first included a sample of 232 individuals at varying lengths of widowhood who completed the Adjustment Survey, a 15-page survey instrument consisting of II factors, IIs with deceased spouse, bereavement coping self-efficacy, social …

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Chairmen Of The Joint Chiefs Of Staff: Monitoring The Evolution Of An Agency Through Rhetorical Snapshots Of Speeches By Generals Omar N. Bradley, Earle G. Wheeler, George S. Brown And Colin L. Powell, John Robert Foster Jan 2003

Chairmen Of The Joint Chiefs Of Staff: Monitoring The Evolution Of An Agency Through Rhetorical Snapshots Of Speeches By Generals Omar N. Bradley, Earle G. Wheeler, George S. Brown And Colin L. Powell, John Robert Foster

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

There is a need to examine the long term rhetorical strategies of military spokesmen within a democratic state characterized by civilian hegemony. This study uses Kenneth Burke's discussion of cluster analysis to discover the various recurring themes from Chairman to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. This form of analysis enabled the researcher to document periodic variances or shifts in emphasis among the four Chairmen whose speeches will be examined. The investigation involved two speeches representative of each of these four distinct periods of the discourse of Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, one given to a civilian …

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