Rhetoric and Composition Commons^™

Fed Up With The Personal Responsibility Of Obesity: A Pentadic Analysis Of Fed Up, Rebekah Peterson

SCOM Undergraduate Research Conference

This paper uses Kenneth Burke’s pentadic criticism to examine the reality Fed Up, a documentary about obesity in the United States, wants its audience to accept about the obesity epidemic and why. The first half of the documentary frames the obesity epidemic as scene-act in order to change the audience’s reality of the issue because the obesity epidemic has been framed in society as agent-act, portraying obesity as the individual’s fault. The second half shifts to an agent-scene ratio to answer why Fed Up attempts to change the audience’s reality. The implications of the pentadic ratios and shift are discussed …

A Rhetorical Analysis Of Desmond Tutu’S 1976 Letter To Prime Minister John Vorster, Nicholas Anguiano

SCOM Undergraduate Research Conference

In 1976, South African clergyman Desmond Tutu wrote an open letter to Prime Minister B.J. Vorster urging him to end the apartheid system of racial segregation. In the midst of growing frustration amongst the black population and fear of violence, the letter pleads for the Prime Minister to recognize their shared humanity, showing that they share the same interests for preserving peace and prosperity for all South Africans, warning of potential widespread violence in the near future. Tutu's appeals can be viewed through the lens of Kenneth Burke's theory of consubstantiality. As Burke's theory indicates concerning all rhetoric, Tutu's letter …

Girls Are Us: A Collection Of Oral Histories From The Jmu Community, Anne M. Sherman

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

On a campus where women make up a majority of the student population, it is especially important that female voices are heard and given a platform on which they can control their own narrative. I wanted to give those female-identifying voices that platform. I conducted a series of interviews to examine how college-aged female-identifying students feel about their identity and how they construct that identity within the climate of the JMU community. I was particularly interested in the intersections of gender, race, ethnicity, class, sexual preference, and ability. I asked each person to share their stories of times when they …

Media Framing And The Cancellation Of Nasa's Space Shuttle Program, Nicholas J. Lepp

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This study researches and discusses the discourse surrounding the retirement of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s manned space shuttle program in 2011, drawing conclusions about the public’s reaction towards the event. This study first examines framing as a method for understanding how information gets coded in people’s brains, and then gives a brief history of the space shuttle program and its cancellation. It then analyzes the rhetoric presented to the public through the three most popular newspapers by website traffic to understand the public’s reaction towards this event, and draws conclusions about the likely effect of those reactions on …

Creative Advertising Portfolio, Hayley E. Sunderman

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Since I was a young child, all I wanted was to draw and write. I would compose entire binders of my artwork, as well as Microsoft Word documents of the beginnings of mystery novels. As I grew older, I let my self-doubt take over and I convinced myself that I was not talented enough to pursue any type of creative career path. I came into college as a Marketing major knowing that my future career options would be fairly vast. During my junior year, I realized my strong desire to work in creative advertising. Graphic design, copywriting, photography, videography, and …

Tension And Complexity In Decolonial Advocacy: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Situated Approach In Western Shoshone, Bikinian, And Hawaiian Resistance To Militarized Colonialism, Taylor Johnson

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Decolonial advocacy is a difficult, complex, tension-filled realm. Indigenous advocates working for decolonization must navigate decisions about whether or not to utilize rhetorics derived from the colonial systems they challenge, when to make material demands on colonial states and when to turn inward, and when and how to build coalitions with non-indigenous people. Decolonial movements in the Western Shoshone Nation, the Marshall Islands, and Hawai’i have approached these questions in differing but overlapping ways that address the varied colonial histories each nation faces.

This thesis argues that each of these movements has alternatively utilized and rejected colonial rhetorics to serve …

How Native American Rappers Communicate And Create A Modern Identity, Hannah J. Berge

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Current research concerning identity and Native Americans is sparse outside the realm of expressly Native American scholarship. While most conversations about identity and Native Americans focuses on historical and political aspects, many sources do not explore alternative avenues of contemporary identity creation. This thesis uses Kenneth Burke’s pentad to analyze the lyrics for “AbOriginal” by Frank Waln. The pentad is used to analyze each line of the rap. A new term, alter-agent, is used to identify agents who the agent either associates with or who the agent views as hindering his progress. There is then a count of the number …

Unboxing Magic: An Exploratory Ethnography Of A Collectible Card Game Discourse Community, Rodolfo Barrett

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

This exploratory ethnography hopes to turn communication scholars’ attention to tabletop gaming communities and genres by presenting relevant theory and a pilot study on the community of Magic: The Gathering, the world’s most popular collectable card game. By approaching Magic’s gameplay as discursive action and its fandom as a discourse community, this thesis applies a critical genre lens to inclusivity issues in Magic as a microcosm of “geek” or gamer subcultures. A body of qualitative and quantitative data was gathered through semi-structured interviews with Magic players and ethnographic observations of both local weekly tournaments (Friday Night Magic events) in …

The Role Of Refugee Women Narratives In The U.S. Resettlement Process, Alys N. Sink

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Within resettlement scholarship, there exists a distinct absence of direct narratives by refugee women about their resettlement experiences within the United States. This absence of voice has even been noted by refugee women representatives during a 2013 UNHCR dialogue stating that: “We call for a model in which the State, the municipalities, NGOs and refugees work together to learn from each other, hear the voices from the grassroots and together develop comprehensive, coordinated and long-term responses” (Speaking for Ourselves: Hearing Refugee Voices, A Journey Towards Empowerment). This study delves into this absence of voice locally, investigating the ways in which …

Issues Of Universal Design And The Relational Model Of Disability In Avatar: The Last Airbender, Mackenzie K. Kelley

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Disability issues are prevalent throughout the animated series Avatar the Last Airbender. This thesis focuses specifically on issues of universal design throughout the show, while also understanding disability through the relational model. In particular, two episodes are rhetorically analyzed for their representation of universal design philosophies and the body-environment relationship.

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.

Cross-Cultural Solutions Volunteer Handbook, Alexa Senio

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Alexa worked with Cross-Cultural Solutions to design and create a handbook that could prepare volunteers for their experience abroad. By using her personal experience abroad at El Pueblito, an orphanage in Cartago, Costa Rica, Alexa was able to compile resources and information that would be useful for a first-time volunteer to make the most out of their experience and to make sure they are prepared for working with the children. The final product is an interactive PDF handbook and an accompanying classroom activity bank on Pinterest that can be accessed digitally by CCS volunteers worldwide.

Tracing The Past And Outlining The Future: The James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal As A Genre System, Lindsey R. Campbell

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Through my analysis of JMURJ as a genre system and my examination of the Screening Criteria document as a central point of communication and meaning, I will explain the value of such genre analyses and how certain texts embody an organization’s purpose and organize its communicative activities. As genre theorists Carol Berkenkotter and Thomas Huckin suggest, “Understanding the genres of written communication in one’s field is [...] essential to professional success” (“Rethinking Genre”). I hope to show how an understanding of the way genres function in an organizational context provides valuable insight into the process of carrying out a purpose. …

Contesting “Obligation”: Memory, Morality, And The (Re)Construction Of Divestment Narratives, Christina Quint

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Leaders in the medical field representing organizations abroad such as the British Medical Association (BMA) and MedAct have called for health care organizations to divest from fossil fuels, on the grounds that it is hypocritical for health care leaders to take the Hippocratic Oath and be implicated in the health impacts for which the burning of fossil fuels is responsible. The emerging discourse highlighting the imperative to divest draws parallels to the health care sector’s leadership in divesting from tobacco in the 1990s on the grounds of its health implications. Even before the current fossil fuel divestment movement and the …

Isis Rhetoric: A War Of Online Videos, Kathryn Mcdearis

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

In an attempt to combat ISIS recruitment videos, the United States Department of State (USDS) developed the Think Again, Turn Away social media campaign featuring videos attempting to persuade viewers to resist the message of ISIS. In the article “U.S. government: A war of online video propaganda,” authors William Allendorfer and Susan Herring (2015) analyze the textual rhetoric of the ISIS video series Flames of War in comparison to eight Think Again, Turn Away videos. To add to Allendorfer and Herring’s (2015) textual analysis, this study uses the framework of scholar David Blakesley’s (2004) four elements of film rhetoric ( …

Examining Humor As A Rheotrical Tool: A Case Study On The Read, Edrees Nawabi

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

As race relations reach their worst state since the early 1990s, the Black American community has resorted to new and savvy rhetorical moves to communicate their point of view. This thesis takes on the podcast, The Read, in order to examine how humor is used as a rhetorical tool within the Black American community. Using a case study method, this research takes on a close examination of the five most popular episodes of The Read that aired between August 2015 and December 2015. The three philosophical theories of humor, superiority, relief, and incongruity, are coded within eleven controversial topics …

A Tank Full Of Wishful Thinking: Crystallizing The Rhythms Of The Road, Leanna K. Smithberger

Showcase of Graduate Student Scholarship and Creative Activities

This presentation is a personal exploration of American car culture — the roads that enable it, the everyday actions that sustain it, and the values that justify it. I use a constellation of mobilities, autoethnography, and rhythmanalysis in order to tap into the political, personal, and aesthetic ways our road-centered culture shapes and constrains our lives in mundane and extraordinary ways. I argue that our road system of mobility is largely taken for granted, and is stubbornly persistent due to deeply held cultural values. I use a variety of artistic, evocative methods, including narrative, poetry, and music, because I argue …

“That Sucks?”: An Evaluation Of The Communication Competence And Enacted Social Support Of Response Messages To Depression Disclosures In College-Aged Students, Daniel Vieth

James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal (JMURJ)

Recent communication research on depression has focused on which response messages are most effective in providing emotional comfort to depressed individuals during depression dialogues. This study investigates the impact that a confidant’s initial response to a disclosure has on the disclosing individual, a key moment of dialogue for those with depression. It examines the relationship between the communication competence of responses to depression disclosures and how individuals rate those responses’ enacted social support, hypothesizing that the higher the communication competence of a confidant’s response (where competence reflects the effectiveness of interdependent communication), the more enacted social support the discloser will …

Human-Animal Communication In Captive Species: Dogs, Horses, And Whales, Mackenzie K. Kelley

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

My hopes for this project are to collect and analyze the current research in the field of animal communication. In the first part, my goal is to define animal communication, specifically within human contexts. I will look at how the history of humans and certain species have intertwined to result in their modern day relationships. I will also explain why we should care about animal communication. In the second part, I will look at three specific species I have chosen to study: dogs, horses, and cetaceans. I will provide a brief history of our roles as humans in the evolution …

The Professional Writer's Many Personae: Creative Nonfiction, Popular Writing, Speechwriting, And Personal Narrative, Rosemary Girard

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This book discusses in detail four genres of professional writing that are interwoven but also distinct: creative nonfiction, popular writing, speechwriting, and personal narrative. As such, it is organized in four chapters—one for each genre of professional writing. Each chapter is then broken down further into three sections—research, rhetorical analysis, and creative work. The research sections of each chapter are didactic, providing an understanding of what the genre is, what unique characteristics it has, and how a writer might go about writing a piece in that style. The rhetorical analysis sections look critically at a published piece of writing in …

Local Flavors: An Exploration Of Food Writing In The Shenandoah Valley, Allison Michelli

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Food holds an intrinsic fascination for human beings. Not only do we rely on it biologically for nourishment, but we also identify with it culturally. This celebration of different types of food allows people to seek familiarity in a place and belonging in a community. This article discusses the rich food culture of the Shenandoah Valley through the exploration of food blogging.

Vanguardia Mujerista Haciendo Escuela: An Oral History Of Cuban Feminism, Marie Eszenyi

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

The high rate of female political participation in Cuba has led many journalists, political scientists, and activists to claim that the country is quite possibly the most feminist in Latin America (Torregrosa, 2012). As the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality (2012) indicates, Cuba ranks third in the world for female participation in legislative bodies. Indeed, Cuba has a long history of female political and revolutionary involvement that positions Cuban feminism both on the forefront and the margins of the economy, governmental institutions, culture, society, military systems, and the workplace during various historical points. Moreover, Cuba’s location just 90 miles …

Occupy The Future: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Dystopian Film And The Occupy Movement, Justin J. Grandinetti

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

The anarchic Occupy Wall Street protests, which began in 2011, had an immediate impact on politics and the global lexicon. By introducing the terms “the one percent” and “the 99%” into the public sphere, Occupy was able to draw attention to growing global income inequality. This revolutionary spirit was not lost on popular culture, as a number of films that followed the protests were linked to Occupy. The Hunger Games (2012), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), and Elysium (2013) represent films that were not only extremely successful in the box office, but were also connected to the Occupy Movement because …

The Sentence Continues: Breaking Silences And Becoming Authors Through The Semicolon Project, Brooke E. Covington

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Through its many digital platforms, The Semicolon Project, a suicide and self-harm prevention initiative, offers its users a creative means of using writing to heal. As its name suggests, the semicolon is an essential mark for this group—grammatically a semicolon represents a place in the sentence that an author could have ended and for the members of this prevention initiative, the semicolon acts in a similar way. By tattooing or drawing a semicolon on the body, the semicolon bearer embody a sense of authorial agency, positioning herself as author and using the semicolon as a representation of her dedication to …

Perceived Difficulty Differences In Print And Online Patient Education Materials, Michael Arlington Farnsworth

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

The empirical study that is the subject of this essay extends work on readability with an explicit focus on whether readers report difficulty understanding health information in print versus on screen. The central concern of this essay, then, is not a matter of reading levels or penetrability of the text, but of how the delivery mechanism interferes with or enhances a person's reading experience through their perception of its difficulty. Though the study relies on convenience sampling with a limited number of participants, findings suggests that some first-year college students perceive online PEMs to be more difficult to read than …

Using Pedagogical And Rhetorical Strategies To Examine The Medical Ethics Of Human Egg Donation, Emiline Grace Buhler

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Oocyte retrieval, more commonly referred to as human egg donation, is an outpatient surgical procedure commonly used to obtain reproductive cells for fertility treatments. Before retrieval, donors have to complete physical and mental health screenings, and are responsible for self-injecting a three-week series of intramuscular hormones. The known side effects of human egg donation include: ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome (OHSS), acute ovarian trauma, infection, and, in extreme cases, infertility. There are currently no empirically-validated studies regarding presence or prevalence of long-term side effects. Further, because of its unique bio-commerce framework, there are currently no federal regulations for this procedure. Increasingly, ethicists, …

The Emergence Of Language As A Function Of Brain-Hemispheric Feedback, Eric Alexander La Freniere

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

This text posits the emergence of language as a function of brain-hemispheric feedback, where “emergence” refers to the generation of complex patterns from relatively simple interactions, “language” refers to an abstraction-based and representational-recombinatorial-recursive mapping-signaling system, “function” refers to an input-output relationship described by fractal algorithms, “brain-hemispheric” refers to complementary (approach-abstraction / avoidance-gestalt) cognitive modules, and “feedback” refers to self-regulation driven by neural inhibition and recruitment. The origin of language marks the dawn of human self-awareness and culture, and is thus a matter of fundamental and cross-disciplinary interest. This text is a synthesized research essay that constructs its argument by drawing …

The Necessary Blend Of Narrative And Technology In Composition: Identity Crisis Embraced, Jessica A. Lewis

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Wendy Bishop’s work, “Suddenly Sexy: Creative Writing Rear-ends Composition,” is focused on the necessity of flexible relationships between first-year composition professors and creative nonfiction writers for the improvement of composition pedagogy. This emphasis on collaboration and merging is even more important now due to the personal relationships and self-awareness established in online writing environments. In addition to the exploration of confused definitions in expressivist theory and the negotiation that Bishop puts forth in her work, this thesis focuses on the new influences of online writing environments on writing culture. Through the process of research and narrative, Bishop’s ideals and goals …

Integrating Multimodal Composition Techniques In First-Year Writing Courses: Theory And Praxis, Bret Zawilski

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

The body of this thesis seeks to explore the costs and benefits of instituting a multimodal composition pedagogy within first-year writing. Contested definitions of multimodality and multimedia provide a background for delving into the printed-word dominated discourse, where image, sound, and animation are all placed in a subordinate position relative to that of the written word. Within, many theories of multimodality and composition pedagogy are placed in contrast with one another in an attempt to discern connections in the body of already published theoretical material. The primary method of data collection for this document involved the investigation of secondary sources …

Rhetoric Of Plagiarism: Problems, Opportunities, And Interactions, Michael Patrick Morrison

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

This thesis explores the question of how James Madison University (JMU) communicates information concerning plagiarism policy and values to students, especially first-year composition students. The research covers some history of plagiarism issues, questions of why plagiarism is so difficult for scholars to define, why students plagiarize, and how attitudes in academia are changing as definitions continue to evolve. Overall, JMU communicates plagiarism poorly to students in their early stages of integrating into life at JMU, though the university still takes pains to inform students of the consequences of plagiarism through first-year composition instructors. The implications of this writing are an …