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Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons

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Articles 1 - 6 of 6

Full-Text Articles in Speech and Rhetorical Studies

How Attorneys Judge Collegiate Mock Trials, Ruth R. Wagoner, R. Adam Molnar Dec 2015

How Attorneys Judge Collegiate Mock Trials, Ruth R. Wagoner, R. Adam Molnar

Speaker & Gavel

In collegiate mock trial competition, practicing attorneys who don’t coach or know the participating schools judge the students' persuasive skill. Fifty-six attorneys were interviewed after they judged collegiate mock trials. They were asked which student behaviors they rewarded, which behaviors they punished, and overall which team presented more effectively. The attorneys' responses were grouped into thematic categories and arranged by priorities. Attorneys were consistent in what they said they valued in student performances. Interviewees' answers to the question about overall team performance were compared with the numeric ballots. If global assessment were included, it would change the outcome of a …


I Need Help Finding It: Understanding The Benefits Of Research Skill Acquisition In Competitive Forensics, Jessica L. Furgerson Dec 2015

I Need Help Finding It: Understanding The Benefits Of Research Skill Acquisition In Competitive Forensics, Jessica L. Furgerson

Speaker & Gavel

Research skill acquisition is an invaluable but under explored benefit of forensics participation. Although coaches, students, and administrators acknowledge that participants gain research skills via forensics, little is known about what these skills are and how they specifically benefit students. This paper isolates three specific research dimensions students learn while participating in competitive speech and debate: locating, examining, and applying source mate-rial. Connections are then drawn between these dimensions and the attainment of high level learning resulting in the creation of educational outcomes related to research skill acquisition via forensics. Understanding the process and importance of research skill acquisition is …


What’S In A Name? Defending Forensics: A Response To Kimble’S “By Any Other Name”, Christopher P. Outzen, Daniel Cronn-Mills Dec 2015

What’S In A Name? Defending Forensics: A Response To Kimble’S “By Any Other Name”, Christopher P. Outzen, Daniel Cronn-Mills

Speaker & Gavel

Our essay is a response to Kimble’s “By Any Other Name: On the Merits of Moving Beyond Forensics.” We argue forensics has not lost the battle for its name, since the battle does not necessarily exist. We contend changing the name is unnecessary since forensics is the most accurate label one may apply to inter-scholastic speaking and debating. Furthermore, changing the name would have considerable negative repercussions. Instead, the forensic community needs to return to its roots as educators and activists to enhance public understanding of the term to include forensic speaking and debate. We conclude the name forensics is …


By Any Other Name: On The Merits Of Moving Beyond Forensics, James Kimble Dec 2015

By Any Other Name: On The Merits Of Moving Beyond Forensics, James Kimble

Speaker & Gavel

This essay argues that the interscholastic speaking and debating activity that calls itself forensics has effectively lost the battle for its own name. As students of and experts in rhetoric and performance, members of the forensics community should be the first to recognize the importance of an undisputed name. Yet the community continues to call itself by a name that medical science has overtaken. The resulting confusion does the community no favors and weakens the activity within the academy. The essay concludes that it might be time for a new name that the activity can claim for its own.


A Rationale For Incorporating Dystopian Literature Into Introductory Speaking Courses, James P. Dimock, Chad Kuyper, Peggy Dimock Nov 2015

A Rationale For Incorporating Dystopian Literature Into Introductory Speaking Courses, James P. Dimock, Chad Kuyper, Peggy Dimock

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

Since Aristotle, teachers of public speaking have argued that an understanding of the audience’s beliefs, values, and assumptions about the world are the key to effective, persuasive speaking. All too often, however, public speaking courses either avoid audience analysis or focus on superficial details of the audience demographics. This paper makes the argument that by reading and discussing novels, students can develop an appreciation of their classmates as audience members and that dystopian fiction is especially well-suited to developing speech ideas that connect public speaking with the world outside the classroom. Teaching suggestions and lesson plans are included.


Sit, Stand, Speak: Examining The Perceptions Of The Basic Public Speaking Student On Normative Forensic Practices And Their Effect On Competitor Credibility In Oratory, Katie Marie Brunner Jan 2015

Sit, Stand, Speak: Examining The Perceptions Of The Basic Public Speaking Student On Normative Forensic Practices And Their Effect On Competitor Credibility In Oratory, Katie Marie Brunner

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This paper examines basic public speaking students' perceptions forensic competitor credibility based on normative factors present within the forensic community. Anecdotal and experiential evidence provided this researcher with reason to believe that the unwritten rules and normative expectations of forensics were so far-removed from what students were used to seeing in their classrooms and in the media, that they could have a negative impact on a competitor's ethos, from the basic public speaking students' perspective. This research was performed in an attempt to determine whether these anecdotal and experiential assumptions were accurate and also to gain insight into the how …