Rhetoric and Composition Commons^™

The Affective Presidency, John Patrick Koch

Wayne State University Dissertations

This dissertation explores the relationship between affect, political emotions, and presidential rhetoric. In examining the political philosophy and presidency of Woodrow Wilson, this dissertation explores how presidential rhetoric captures, channels, and/or directs the passions of the people. Drawing on research by Sarah Ahmed and Brian Masummi, this dissertation argues that presidential rhetoric intervenes into the affective process by directing the passions of citizens towards promises of happiness and investment in presidential power. Two case studies, one focusing on Wilson’s tour in support of the League of Nations and the other on presidential museums, highlight the affective function of presidential rhetoric. …

Clusivity In Presidential Discourse: A Rhetorical Discourse Analysis Of State-Of-The-Nation Addresses In Ghana And The United States, Stephen K. Dadugblor

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This thesis examines the ways in which rhetors in presidential discourse simultaneously associate with and dissociate from their audiences in an attempt to consolidate power while subtly masking their actions. Drawing on comparative rhetoric and Andrus’ (2013) Rhetorical Discourse Analysis (RDA) that combines rhetoric and (critical) discourse analysis, I analyze the expressive values of selected lexical items, and the inclusive and exclusive uses of “we” in selected State of the Nation/Union Addresses in Ghana and the United States. I argue that presidents’ unique position during these speeches as both heads of nations and heads of their political parties presents a …

Attitudes Toward Execution: The Tragic And Grotesque Framing Of Capital Punishment In The News, Katherine Shuy

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This essay undertakes a detailed frame analysis of print and electronic media coverage of three nationally publicized death penalty cases between the years of 2014 and 2015. Drawing specifically from the work of Kenneth Burke (1984), this research argues that tragically framed death penalty cases reify victim/perpetrator discourses and cause the actual act of execution to be a fitting resolution within a narrative. Burke’s (1984) grotesque-mystical frame and Bakhtin’s (1984) theory of the grotesque body are used to argue that the media’s portrayal of botched executions help highlight the incongruities with the system of capital punishment, and cause audiences to …

Shorts

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

This is the entirety of the WordPress blog that accompanied Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion. SHORTS was a blog that began July 7, 2007 and ended December 21, 2015.

The Rhetoric Of Law And The Epistle To The Hebrews, Theodore A. Holt Iv

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Epistle to the Hebrews demonstrates a complex of what scholars label technical legal terms. Enlisting a series of word studies, this thesis attempts to uncover where the author learned the terminology in order to understand more about the anonymous author and the theology of the Epistle to the Hebrews. This thesis examines terms in Heb 2:2-4; 6:13-18; 7:11-19; 8:13; 9:15-18; 10:9.

Knowing Your Place: The Impact Of Public Sphere Rhetoric On Face-To-Face Communities, And The Rhetorics That Support Racial Equality, Laura Hanson Ells

Master’s Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

#Networkedglobe: Making The Connection Between Social Media And Intercultural Technical Communication, Laura Anne Ewing

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Preparing students of technical communication in the twenty-first century means training them to rhetorically utilize a wide variety of online tools. Technical communicators are now required to employ social media applications on a daily basis to communicate with clients, consumers, colleagues, and other organizations. These online modes have also opened the door to global communication wider and continue to present opportunities and challenges to technical communicators worldwide. Using Japan as a model, this dissertation sought to demonstrate a rhetorical exigency for teaching intercultural social media communication strategies to future technical communicators in the United States. The goal of this dissertation …

A More Perfect European Union?: The Transnational Networks Of The European Union’S Embassy Open House In Washington, D.C., Timothy Barney

Rhetoric and Communication Studies Faculty Publications

Annually, the Delegation of the European Union (EU) in Washington, D.C., holds an embassy open house day for its 27 member nations to celebrate European culture and educate tourists on the functions of EU politics and international relations. Amidst an ongoing debt crisis and a continuing exploration of its identity as a supranational entity, “Embassy Day” affords an opportunity to see the EU as a spatial network uneasily caught in the tensions between the often nostalgic nationalism of its constituent countries and the future-oriented technocratic transnationalism of its composite alliance. By analyzing the cultural artifacts of Embassy Day from its …

"Carried Away": Love, Bly, And Secrecy In Henry James' The Turn Of The Screw 2015, Natalie G. El-Eid

Master's Theses

The function of the prologue in Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw is decidedly ambiguous, as the characters in the prologue, much like the uncle of the main text, are seemingly never seen again. For this reason, the purpose of this prologue is much debated.1 As Rolf Lundén states in his article “‘Not in any literal, vulgar way’: The Encoded Love Story of Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw,” “The openness of Henry James' The Turn of the Screw has invited more analytical attempts, and more critical controversy, than most literary texts” (30). Lundén summarizes four schools of …

On Rage, Shame, "Realness," And Accountability To Survivors, Kathleen Ann Livingston

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

This essay examines the rhetorical moves made on all sides of the recent conversation on trigger warnings. Calling for accountability to survivors, it positions trigger warnings as one practice of consent. Though in practice trigger warnings bring up issues of censorship, they can be understood as a way for survivors to take their power back by telling a bit of their trauma narrative and requesting accommodations and accountability. Unpacking the histories and the language of trigger warnings reveals how our culture thinks of survivors and how far anti-violence movements have to go.

Emoji, Emoji, What For Art Thou?, Lisa Lebduska

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

This essay provides a history and context for emoji as a way of re-materializing composing while simultaneously arguing that emoji do not threaten alphabetic literacy and instead provide a means of creative graphic expression. The essay acknowledges that n some instances emoji do help to clarify the intent or tone of alphabetic writing, but it notes that emoji, like alphabetic writing, is culturally and contextually bound. Emoji expand expression and doing so open themselves to re-appropriation, intepretation and even misinterpretation, along with the affirming possibilities of artistic creation.

Undo It Yourself: Challenging Normalizing Discourses Of Pinterest? Nailed It!, Morgan C Leckie

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

This project explores the resistant rhetorics of online environments through site discourse analysis and person-based research of participants on popular social media scrapbooking and crafting website, Pinterest.

Encomium On The Overlord, Kt Torrey

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

As a new fan of the CW's paranormal series, Supernatural, I paid little attention to actor Misha Collins outside the omnipresent trenchcoat of his character, Castiel until a kairotic question from a fellow conference panelist pointed me in the direction of Collins' Twitter feed. I was struck by Collins' 140-character shots of performative trolling, Tweets that sang to me in shades, gleeful rhetorical waves, of the sophists, particularly because of the actor's interest in, and unique definition of, social change. Building on that sophistic seed, I argue here that Collins' construction of a megalomaniacal Twitter persona known as the Overlord …

Doing It Our (Dang) Selves: Making, Experimenting, And Becoming Through Craft, Amber Buck, Megan Condis, Kristin Prins, Marilee Brooks-Gillies, Martha Webber

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

No abstract provided.

Beer, Blogs, And Bitches, Lauren Murray

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

Beer has been branded as a product that is available to men; we see this in popular advertisements online and on television. The heteronormatively-masculine image that is created presents a complicated rhetorical situation for women interested in beer. When searching the online community for female beer bloggers, I came across blogs that seemed to be addressing women who are alienated in the beer community with hyper-feminine rhetoric. This stark contrast to the rhetoric that we typically see in beer advertisements did not appeal to me either. I've been referred to as "the girlfriend with great taste in beer" and intercepted …

Craft As A Memorializing Rhetoric, Maria Novotny

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

This video essay functions as a reflective piece pondering the intersections between craft, family, and the act of memorializing. Specifically, this essay attempts to push beyond traditional assumptions of craft as a discourse related to home projects or food. Instead, suggesting that the craft is a practice that memorializes bodies that have passed away and/or pain and sorrow carried on our own bodies. To make these claims, the author narrates two personal stories of craft as a memorializing rhetoric. The first narrative recounts how she came to realize craft as an essential practice embedded in the passing away of relatives. …

Crafting A Music Community: Making Music And Musicians In Concert, Joyce Reenste Walker

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

In this webtext the author(s) will explore the process of writing, recording, and producing a song, within a group of musicians & sound engineers who have all be fostered/encouraged in some way through participation in a "music community" in Kalamazoo, MI. The goal of the project is threefold: (1) To actually explore the timeline of production (an EP-length set of songs) with the group, who are all working from "amateur" status -- learning the tools, practices, and skills as they compose; (2) to explore (through short video vignettes) how this particular production has been shaped by participation in the community …

The "Hatting" Of The Clock: Crafting Juniata's Knitting Community Through Yarn Bombing The Clock Tower, Hannah Bellwoar, Scarlett Berrones

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

This piece explores how knitting creates community. We've found that the materiality of knitting, by which we mean the physical making of knitted objects, creates a feeling of community that connects people across physical and digital spaces. We discuss how the authors' personal knitting experiences with a college knitting club and yarn bombing the clock tower on campus relate to theory about the materiality of making knitted things. We argue that crafted rhetorical actions such as the yarn bomb enable knitters and non-knitters to connect more broadly around central community spaces.

Related videos on YouTube:
Connecting through Craft
Juanita College …

Call For Submissions: Craft Rhetorics, Amber Buck, Megan Condis, Kristen Prins, Marilee Brooks-Gillies, Martha Althea Webber

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

No abstract provided.

Harlot's Growing Community, Harlot Editors

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

No abstract provided.

#Definerhetoric 2014 Results, Harlot Editors

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

No abstract provided.

The Biopower Of Zombies: Or, How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Horde, Mary Hedengren

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

I like zombies. I really like zombies. But I'm not the only one: why do so many of us seem to be enjoying a zombie moment? What does it say about our fears of a decentralized government and the power of human bodies? And what is that faintly discernable groaning sound? In this article, I draw on the theories of Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri as well as Foucault's "biopower" concept to examine our collective fascination with a collective threat.

Super Mom In A Box, Lindsey Harding

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

Super Mom in a Box examines how Pinterest influences identity formation in mothers who interact with the site. In the essay, I use my own extensive interactions on Pinterest to investigate how the site's postfeminist content and interaction design create a hypermaternal identity for maternal interactors. This piece suggests that the celebration of domesticity and femininity on Pinterest validates a mother's home-oriented interests and reinforces her commitment to family; at the same time, this celebration contributes to a limited online identity for mothers, which can produce stress and alienation in real-world experiences of motherhood. In other words, because I've scrolled …

#Definerhetoric 2015 Results, Harlot Editors

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

Check out the winners from this year's contest!

Under The Mask: Creative Dis/Possessions Of Borderlands Remembrance Practices, Lizzy Bentley, Joanna Sanchez-Avila

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

Each November, thousands of people gather in the small downtown of Tucson, Arizona, for a ritualistic and participatory event known as the All Souls Procession. While the Procession has drawn criticism for the cultural appropriation embedded in many of its crafting practices, its stakeholders are hesitant to acknowledge a meaningful connection to Dia de los Muertos as they frame the procession as an “authentic" multicultural event. Rather than flattening our engagement with the All Souls Procession into an either/or binary by solely condemning its problematic dimensions or praising its creativity, we choose to embrace the event's complexity by continuing a …

Crafting Malfunction: Rhetoric And Circuit-Bending, Steven Hammer, Aimée Knight

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

Circuit-bending, an art practice developed in the 1960's, involves the creative short circuiting of battery-powered toys and instruments. Like many of its avant-garde precursors, circuit-bending is a composition practice that values access, chance, and indeterminacy. For this special issue of Harlot, we document our own circuit-bending process and make connections between the work of Qubais Reed Ghazala, the pioneer of circuit-bending, and rhetoric and writing. Specifically, we discuss the importance of access and creativity, invention and discovery, and the ways that composition is a collaborative performance between humans and nonhumans.

Crafting Change: Practicing Activism In Contemporary Australia, Tal Fitzpatrick, Katve-Kaisa Kontturi

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

This article brings together thoughts and practices of two Melbourne-based women working across the fields of craftivism, practice-led research and contemporary art history. While introducing and analysing Australian craft(ivist) projects, this article also suggests new concepts useful in tackling the contemporary phenomenon of craft activism.

"All The Lovely Ladies" And "Celestarium", Danika Paige Myers

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

These poems are part of a larger manuscript that explores the poet's lifelong engagement with knitting and sewing—and with the usually woman-centered communities that form around these crafts. The poems also respond to the cultural treatment of craft knowledge as frivolous or simple, highlighting the highly technical nature of such work and the mathematical, structural, and geometric knowledge required to successfully execute textile crafts. Densely referential, these poems invite the reader to play within their sounds and associations, making her own leaps and connections as she reads.

Buy-It-Yourself: How Diy Got Consumerized, Elizabeth Chamberlain

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

Looking at do-it-yourself (DIY) fashion blogs as a test case, 'Buy-It-Yourself' considers some of the consumerizing pressures that can turn an anti-consumption movement into another tool of the corporate machine. I examine the punk roots of the DIY movement, the recent flurry of maker activity, and a sampling of DIY fashion blogs from their 2009 heyday through the present. Ultimately, I suggest that online activists consider DIY fashion blogs as a warning tale: as a counterculture movement begins to pick up steam, it can morph into something that betrays its original goals.

Original Webtext (WayBack Machine)

The Suicide Survivor's Guide To Crafts, Joshua Adair

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

Written as a personal narrative, this essay explores the possibility of crafting as a coping mechanism of mourning by examining the relationship between the author and his mother-in-law after the suicide of his partner. Ultimately refusing to valorize crafting as a transformative or life-saving endeavor while still acknowledging its worth as a mode of living in times of trauma and otherwise, the author engages dark humor and sarcasm to look at how we craft our lives despite terrible loss.