Rhetoric and Composition Commons^™

Female Autonomy: An Analysis Of Privacy And Equality Doctrine For Reproductive Rights, Elizabeth Levi

Political Science Honors Projects

What is the constitutional basis for women’s equality? Recently, scholars have suggested that as the right to privacy has floundered against the political undoing of women's access to abortion, equal protection arguments have grown stronger. This thesis investigates the feminist utility and limits of the equality and privacy arguments. Taking liberal feminism and feminist legal theory as analytical lenses, I offer interpretations of gender discrimination, reproductive rights, and marriage equality case law. By this framework, I argue that while an equality argument is less inherently oppressive towards women than the privacy doctrine, equality doctrine has been constructed thus far to …

Reflections In Passion And Progress: Blending Vision, Resilience, And Evolution As A Writer And Scholar Of The English Language, Elizabeth Scoville

Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects

The following is a final master's degree portfolio of revised graduate work in English composition. Consisting of four projects, this portfolio highlights research, theory, and applications in multidisciplinary writing, visual argumentation, linguistics pedagogy, and professional editing. The pieces within reflect significant growth and adaptation in the field of English comprehension and writing, where successful compositions walk hand-in-hand with innovation, audience acknowledgement, and the willingness to change as language ebbs and flows with the passage of time.

Final Ma Portfolio, Mary O'Hara

Master of Arts in English Plan II Graduate Projects

This portfolio contains four essays primarily focused upon composition and rhetoric.

Images, Speech Balloons, And Artful Representation: Comics As Visual Narratives Of Early Career Teachers, Julian Lawrence, Ching-Chiu Lin, Rita Irwin

SANE journal: Sequential Art Narrative in Education

The ways in which teachers adjust to challenges in the process of becoming professionals are complicated. Teacher mentorship, however, is an important step to creating and sustaining a strong professional career. This article discusses new understandings from a Canadian research project: Pedagogical Assemblage: Building and Sustaining Teacher Capacity through Mentoring Programs in British Columbia. Through our use of an a/r/tography informed methodology in teacher mentorship, we have come to understand how the use of comics permits an unfolding of visual narratives as a unique way of contextualizing the complex stories of teaching and learning. Our motivation in employing comics as …

Teaching Critical Looking: Pedagogical Approaches To Using Comics As Queer Theory, Ashley Manchester

SANE journal: Sequential Art Narrative in Education

Given the challenging depth of queer theoretical concepts, this article argues that one of the most effective ways to teach the complexities of queer theory is by utilizing comics in the classroom. I focus on how college-level instructors can use the content, form, and history of comics to teach students how to enact and do queer theory. By reading and making comics, students learn concrete and theoretical tools for combatting oppressive discourses and modes of meaning making. Teaching comics as queer theory promotes both innovative critical thinking and critical looking skills by centralizing both the rich history of queer comics …

Review Of Captain Marvel And The Art Of Nostalgia, By Brian Cremins, Sean Kleefeld

SANE journal: Sequential Art Narrative in Education

No abstract provided.

The Newsroom, Anthony W. Smyth

SCOM Undergraduate Research Conference

An ideological criticism of the speech, "Why America isn't the greatest country in the world anymore" from HBO's The Newsroom. With a comparison to the roles of the other main characters from Aaron Sorkin's (the producer) work.

It’S About ‘That Time’ To Break The Cycle: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Challenging Menstrual Taboos, Audrey Marie Lamborn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Menstrual taboos exist around the world, and while new conversations are starting to address these issues, in many regions these taboos limit women’s daily lives and can even lead to serious health problems. Artifacts around the world are starting to emerge to challenge these preconceived notions and bring menstrual hygiene awareness as well as products to women in need. While the origination of the menstrual taboo is not clearly defined, various literature discusses both the cultural and religious origin and perpetuation of menstrual taboos. This thesis examines various artifacts found in the regions of the United States and the United …

Traveling To Different Worlds: Toward A Rhetorical “Linds”, Lindsay Taylor Hastings

Theses and Dissertations

This project explores memories of special places and happenings, including visiting and living on the family’s farm, vacationing in NYC, cruising to the Mexican Riviera for my 16th birthday, traveling to the Bahamas for my 21st birthday, coming out as bisexual at an International Writing Centers Association conference, hiking and kayaking, and working in the University Writing Center. This thesis is a collage of memoirs, which explore the important topics of home, media perception, femininity, unity/solidarity, writing centers as queer discourse communities, teaching English as a foreign language, being an outdoors woman, and my academic journey.

The Conservative Rhetoric Of The Lutheran Confessions, Stephen Burns Burns

Theses and Dissertations

Although the Lutheran Reformation introduced a radical shift from the traditions of the Catholic Church, the Lutheran reformers had not initially sought to instigate a radical theological or institutional revolution. Especially in comparison with more radical groups within the Protestant movement, Martin Luther and his followers were cautious and slow to cast aside Catholic traditions and generally sought to maintain as much of the Catholic theology and practices as possible. The Lutheran reformers were conservative in their mindset, sharing medieval Catholic notions about the unitary nature of truth and the authority of God’s Word over and against the will of …

The Evolution Of A Black Butterfly: A Journey From Loss To Salvation, Subrinia Marie Bogan

Theses and Dissertations

“Honor thy Mother and thy Father” are the words that I have built my entire life around. After losing my dad, my world revolved solely around my mother. When her health started failing, I became her caregiver. I was there for the good days and the very bad ones. March 20, 2014, Mama died after a lengthy illness. My entire life was turned upside down. I had to learn how to build a life without her. Our lives were so intertwined that I ceased to exist. I had sacrificed my physical, spiritual, and emotional well-being in order to take care …

A Mother's Madness: One Child's Journey Out Of Darkness, Wendy Kay Mccloud

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is the story of a recalcitrant mother and me, her unwitting daughter, as I desperately tried to survive her insanity while growing up. It is a healing narrative, a therapeutic method accepted by mental health professionals around the world, allowing myself to express the rage and frustration towards a woman who should have been loving and nurturing instead was cold and neglectful. This healing narrative is one small step towards letting go of the years old anger and frustration inside me. It is a cathartic attempt to find internal peace and understanding for a woman who battled inner …

Institutional Review Boards And Writing Studies Research: A Justice-Oriented Study, Johanna Phelps-Hillen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this multi-method dissertation project I conduct policy analysis and utilize results from a discipline-wide survey (n=258) to examine the intersection of Writing Studies researchers’ disciplinary affiliation, research context, and personal disposition in relation to the local implementation of federal policy regarding human subjects research. I elaborate on the context of this project, discussing the September 2015 release of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to revise and update the Common Rule, 45.CFR Part 46, and the Conference on College Composition and Communication’s formal comment in response to the proposed rule’s provisions. I discuss the process of designing and implementing …

Composing Focus: Shaping Temporal, Social, Media, Social Media, And Attentional Environments, Jane Fife

English Faculty Publications

Writers must learn to control factors that influence the ability to focus, especially in what some call a culture of distraction. In our efforts to promote metacognition and flexible writing processes, writing teachers need to engage students in study and discussion of factors in our temporal, social, media, social media, and attentional environments that influence focus while composing. This article examines these facets of our contemporary scenes of writing by reviewing recent research in composition studies and psychology about writing and attention, discussing the results of a survey of undergraduate writers’ composing practices, and sharing insights from assignments that help …

Eng 200: The Consciousness Of Reality Through Poetry, Jill Matthews

English 100-200-300 Conference

No abstract provided.

Roasted: Coffee, Insult, Rhetoric, David Pharis Gifford

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

While insult has been a frequent topic for rhetorical study in the past, little if any work has gone toward the formation of a systematic theory of insult. Karina Korostelina has proposed a theory of intergroup identity insults, which appears promising from a socio-cultural perspective. However, her theory does not address the particularly rhetorical characteristics of insults, preferring instead to analyze them with reference to their socio-historic context. While her theory proves sound under scrutiny, it does little to shed light on pejorative rhetoric as rhetoric.

In what follows, I would like to propose certain characteristics of pejorative rhetoric that …

Singular They: The Best Epicene Pronoun, Brittney Grubber

Student Research Conference Select Presentations

The English language does not possess a third person epicene pronoun, and speakers must fill the gap, which they do most commonly with "they". Scholars understand the implications of a gender neutral pronoun for non-binary persons, but besides linguists, they do not thoroughly examine grammatical reasons for the resistance to new pronouns. This paper addresses the grammatical issues and options available to the language, including the strengths and weaknesses of "they." Even with minor faults, "they" is widely used in both spoken and written English and should be adopted by Standard English.

Spyfall: Information Games And Scholarly Conversation, Nancy M. Foasberg

Publications and Research

Social deduction games like Spyfall can be used to model the rhetorical concept of the Burkean parlor for students.

You Say (Re)Search, I Say Research: Locating The Language Divide Between Secondary And Postsecondary Classrooms, Elizabeth Malloy

Masters Essays

No abstract provided.

Being Retained: Perspective Of The Online First-Year Composition Student, Catrina Marie Mitchum

English Theses & Dissertations

Keeping students in college classrooms can be a struggle, but keeping them in an online classroom is an even more difficult feat. While the field of retention research has expanded its focus beyond traditional four-year students to include a variety of non-traditional student situations, including online, it has yet to focus efforts on online first-year composition at the community college. The first-year of college has been shown to be the most critical in student retention at the institutional level, which puts first-year composition in a potentially influential position. The fact that fewer students are retained in online courses than face-to-face …