Rhetoric and Composition Commons^™

Beware The ‘Monological Imperatives’: Scholarly Writing For The Reader, Joan A. Magat

Faculty Scholarship

This article describes principles of effective academic writing - offered not as edicts, but as guidelines - for legal scholars in particular. The overall focus is style, but the discussion begins with observations of format. These are followed by a few stylistic principles that govern clear and effective writing. None of these principles is a revelation to the student of method or to the accomplished writer. But for the academic writer less focused on or less familiar with such principles, being aware of and practicing them can clear the fog from syntax, illuminate the writer's thesis and its development, and …

On Rhetoric As Gift/Giving, Mari Lee Mifsud

Rhetoric and Communication Studies Faculty Publications

In this essay, I explore the possibilities of rhetoric as gift. I begin with the Homeric gift economy and the rhetorical resources of this economy. My use of "economy" here is not reducible to a monetary exchange system, but rather a more general system of practices orchestrating cultural identity and relations. As Georges Bataille suggests, studying a general economy may hold the key to all the problems posed by every discipline (1991, 10). For Bataille everything from geophysics to political economy, by way of sociology, history and biology, to psychology, philosophy, art, literature, and poetry has an essential connection with …

The Bridge, Volume 4, 2007, Bridgewater State College

the bridge

Volume 4 Staff

Laura Viola Maccarone, Editor-in-Chief
Shaylin Walsh, Editor-in-Chief
Cheryl Tullis, Webmaster
Maria Alonso
Michael Carter
Emily Goodwin
Ben Hogan
Michele Lyons
Shawna Macaulay
Corey Ritch
Charlie Robinson
Eric Smith
Emily Anne White
Derrick Zellmann

Mary Dondero, Faculty Advisor
Jerald Walker, Faculty Advisor
Linda Hall, Alumni Consultant
Rosann Kozlowski, Alumni Consultant

The Torah As The Rhetoric Of Priesthood, James W. Watts

Religion - All Scholarship

In the Second Temple period, the Torah gained scriptural authority through its association with the priesthoods of the Jerusalem and Samaritan temples. The Torah, in tum, legitimized these priests' control over both the temples and, for much of the period, over the territory of Judah as well. An original function of the Pentateuch then was to legitimize the religious and, by extension, the political claims of priestly dynasties. This point has rarely been discussed and never been emphasized by biblical scholars, however, which makes the subject of the Torah's relationship to the Second Temple Aaronide priesthood as much about the …

Engendering Agency: Literacies, Social Action, And Wangari Maathai S Green Belt Movement, Cassandra Marie Allen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes the life and work of Nobel Peace Laureate Wangari Maathai, one of the foremost African woman rhetors of our time. Wangari Maathai--founder of Kenya's Green Belt Movement (GBM), Member of Parliament, and activist for democracy, sustainable development, and human rights--has cultivated a multidimensional literacy that has allowed her to truly understand and address the problems that post-colonial Kenyans face. Her strong solution-oriented approach has allowed her to develop and refine operation of the GBM, which began simply planting trees, to produce a worldwide organization that works for sustainable development, human rights, and environmental conservation/restoration (among many others) …

'Time In A Bottle': Temporal Discontinuities In Narratives Of Diaspora, Emily Churilla

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

The concepts of home have been, and continue to be, the foundation of much of the contention surrounding all sides of discourse regarding diaspora and immigration - through both viewing the home as threatened and defiled as well as redefining the imagined reality of home. It is the impasse of working around and against the frame of Western temporality and space from within the trope of home that this paper will explore; specifically how narratives of diasporic subjectivity disrupt and threaten normalized constructs of origin and time, history, and identity. Because to only consider the question of "home" leaves a …

Threatening Bodies Resisting Containment: Enemy Combatants, War Protestors And Same-Sex Couples, Mary K. Bloodsworth-Lugo, Carmen R. Lugo-Lugo

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

The U.S.-launched "War on Terror" has been a major driving force in political discourses during the last few years, including presidential discourse. Since September 11, 2001, presidential rhetoric has systematically entangled international efforts, such as "the War on Terror" and the War in Iraq, with domestic issues, such as same-sex marriages and civil unions. In so doing, international and domestic threats have been effectively merged into one, and in the process, specific bodies have been constructed as "terrorist" agents in need of strict containment (for example, enemy combatant bodies, war protestor bodies, and the bodies of same-sex couples). This paper …

Constructing Muammar Al-Gaddafi, Kristin Kushlan

Honors Theses

Rhetoricians such as Robert Ivie and George Lakoffhave examined the use of language of opposition to create and control various enemies during the War on Terror, but they have also ignored or overlooked numerous cases. This paper will examine one such case, that of Muammar al-Gaddafi, whose reciprocal violence eventually succumbed to the oppressor's global economic power. This case study will explore how the U.S. government rhetorically constructed Gaddafi in order to control both his identity within American society (as either an enemy or an ally), as well as the counter-violence that Gaddafi supposedly enacted against Western systems of power. …

Religion And The Academy: Report On The Western Conference On British Studies Roundtable, Robert Ellison

English Faculty Research

This article is a report of a roundtable I moderated at the 2006 meeting of the Western Conference on British Studies. It proposes some directions religious studies might take in the 21st century; it is also the first publication to mention of the British Pulpit Online, an emerging digital resource for the study of the sermon from 1688-1901.

The Undergraduate 2007, Saint Mary's College Of California

The Undergraduate Spectrum

No abstract provided.

Encyclopedia Of Gender And Technology, Priscilla Finley

Library Faculty Research

This encyclopedia compiles 213 four- to five-page entries making observations about the role of gender in human interaction with information technology and the IT profession. Intended as a preliminary research agenda encompassing essays on gender and IT education and the workplace, the volume contains many essays that simply survey struggles faced by women in many parts of the world who interact with the Internet or telecommunications technology.

Spectrum 2007, Saint Mary's College Of California

The Undergraduate Spectrum

No abstract provided.

Postmodern Feminism, Hypertext, And The Rhetoric Of Cooking Websites, Heather Eaton Mcgrane

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the ways cookbooks and their rhetorical dimensions have been re-imagined using hypertext and Web technology. Using the tenets of postmodern feminist rhetoric and Web design theory, the study considers how commercial cooking hypertexts construct users' identities. Although hypertext is a potentially empowering technology, democratizing rhetoric and knowledge making practices, commercial hypertext often circumscribes agency formation and prohibits participation. Participatory, constructive hypertexts are difficult to design and costly to maintain. Of the three sites studied, Epicurious.com, BettyCrocker.com, and FoodNetwork.com, only Epicurious.com encourages meaningful communication between users and between users and designers. In many ways, Epicurious.com conceives of its …

Invitational Rhetoric : Alternative Rhetorical Strategy For Transformation Of Perception And Use Of Energy In The Residential Built Environment From The Keweenaw To Kerala, Merle Niemi Kindred

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

This dissertation explores the viability of invitational rhetoric as a mode of advocacy for sustainable energy use in the residential built environment. The theoretical foundations for this study join ecofeminist concepts and commitments with the conditions and resources of invitational rhetoric, developing in particular the rhetorical potency of the concepts of re-sourcement and enfoldment. The methodological approach is autoethnography using narrative reflection and journaling, both adapted to and developed within the autoethnographic project.

Through narrative reflection, the author explores her lived experiences in advocating for energy-responsible residential construction in the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan. The analysis reveals the opportunities for …

La Discussió Deliberativa: Usar El Discurs De Classe Per Promoure El Pensament Crític, Mark Felton

Faculty Publications

Per potenciar el pensament creatiu a classe cal comprendre les arrels d’aquest pensament en el raonament argumentatiu. El pensament crític inclou la recerca i l’avaluació de les raons que hi ha darrere d’una afirmació. Per prendre part en aquesta activitat d’investigació, cal entendre els elements sobre els quals es discuteix i com aquests es combinen per justificar una conclusió. Les investigacions es mostren cada vegada més unànimes en el fet que els estudiants experimenten una millora substancial en el desenvolupament del pensament crític (i que aquesta millora es transfereix també a nous temes) a mesura que van adquirint experiència en …