Rhetoric and Composition Commons^™

Pipe Dream: Eugene O'Neill's Rhetoric Of Tragedy, Ryan Francis Murphy

Theses Digitization Project

This thesis applies a rhetorical lens to the work of Eugene O'Neill, specifically, those plays written between the years 1939 and 1942-the height of his dramatic genius. This thesis works to reimagine Eugene O'Neill, often looked upon as "lacking rhetorical exuberance," as a distinctive and successful rhetor, in addition to installing the "pipe dream" as his foremost rhetorical device.

The Materiality Of The Female In Shirley Jackson's Short Fiction, Lydia Marie Pearson

Theses Digitization Project

Shirley Jackson's fiction continues to be placed within the gothic horror genre because of its supernatural and horror images. I contend the major focus of her work is her critique of the social norms constructed for women by an archaic and inauthentic patriarchial system of rules and domestic expectation for women that result in madness for the resisting female.

George Orwell And The Rhetoric Of Tyranny, Charlene Ann Stark

Theses Digitization Project

This thesis examines Orwell's language theories and how rhetoric affects our civil liberities, specifically since 9/11. Rights are often taken for granted, but in fact our civil liberties are constantly reinterpreted and are affected by political rhetoric.

Is There A Male Victim?: Discursive Subjection In Representations Of Female-On-Male Childhood Sexual Abuse, James Ireland Ducat

Theses Digitization Project

This thesis investigates established theoretical and embodied accounts of identities excluded within Western heteronormative society in order to seek out how those embodiments and theories may parallel what is contended that another impossible subject position -- the child male victim of adult female sexual violence.

The Rhetoric Of Dean Koontz's Intensity, Krista Michelle Wagner

Theses Digitization Project

This thesis examines the revision of eighteenth century gothic fiction by Dean Koontz's twentieth century horror novel, Intensity. In particular, the novel invites Aristotelian rhetorical analysis through the competing appeals staged by its antagonist, Vess, and its protagonist, Chyna.

The Sound Bites Of George W. Bush During The 2004 Presidential Election Examined And Unpacked, Jack Mckelvey

Theses Digitization Project

Three sound bites, Whatever it takes (55 seconds), Safer, Stronger (30 seconds), and War on Terror (30 seconds), of President George W. Bush during the presidential election of 2004 will be explored and unpacked.

United States Media Portrayals Of The Developing World: A Semiotic Analysis Of The One Campaign's Internet Web Site, Lindsey Marie Haussamen

Theses Digitization Project

The goal of this research was to examine how the One organization's web site either supports or rejects established literature that concludes that U.S. media contains negative representations of the developing world.

The Rhetoric Of Nonfiction: An Examination Of Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm, Lashawn Jon Janice Cole

Theses Digitization Project

The thesis begins with a brief description and analysis of various genres Junger blends in his text. What follows is a look at the challenges of interpretation in historical writing and theoretical framing of the genre distinctions regarding new journalism and nonfiction narrative.

The Space Between Aristotle And The Bush Administration: Considering The Impact Of "Goodwill" On International Relations, Anke Thorey Wolbert

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Focusing on the Bush Administration’s post-September 11 rhetoric, this thesis investigates the impact this rhetoric had on the Administration’s perceived credibility by the international community with specific focus on Germany’s, France’s, and Great Britain’s reactions. Of particular interest is the importance of eunoia (goodwill) as an aspect of the speaker’s ethos. Considering that goodwill has been viewed as the lost dimension of Aristotle’s ethos (credibility) this analysis provides the basis to argue that goodwill should be treated as a major component of ethos.

A textual analysis of rhetorical acts as well as media reactions sheds light on the role goodwill …

The Politics Of Persuasion Versus The Construction Of Alternative Communities: Zines In The Writing Classroom, Aneil Rallin, Ian Barnard

English Faculty Articles and Research

We discuss how studying and creating zines in our composition classes allows our students to negotiate and explore the complexities of writing without the compulsions of many of the politically problematic commonplaces of composition pedagogy. We use zines to examine the unique ways in which their rhetorical devices address conflicts around questions of audience and diversity, as well as the particular questions that the zines raise about the politics of persuasion, our own writing practices, writing strategies that the zines suggest to us, and the construction of alternative communities.

Out Of Style: Reanimating Stylistic Study In Composition And Rhetoric, Paul Butler

All USU Press Publications

Paul Butler applauds the emerging interest in the study of style among compositionists, arguing that the loss of stylistics from composition in recent decades left it alive only in the popular imagination as a set of grammar conventions. Butler's goal in Out of Style is to articulate style as a vital and productive source of invention, and to redefine its importance for current research, theory, and pedagogy. In so doing, he offers an important revisionist history of the field by reading it specifically through the canon of style. In addition, Butler argues that it is through style that scholars in …

Representations: Doing Asian American Rhetoric, Luming Mao, Morris Young

All USU Press Publications

Despite tremendous growth in attention to and scholarship about Asian Americans and their cultural work, little research has emerged that focuses directly on Asian American rhetoric. Representations: Doing Asian American Rhetoric addresses this need by examining the systematic, effective use of symbolic resources by Asians and Asian Americans in social, cultural, and political contexts. Such rhetoric challenges, disrupts, and transforms the dominant European American rhetoric and it commands a sense of unity or collective identity. However, such rhetoric also embodies internal differences and even contradictions, as each specific communicative situation is informed and inflected by particularizing contexts, by different relations …

Ritual Rhetoric In The Pentateuch: The Case Of Leviticus 1-16, James W. Watts

Religion - All Scholarship

The writers of the Pentateuch combined distinct ancient literary conventions of ritual rhetoric from diverse genres in order to place ritual concerns at the thematic and literary center of the Torah. The combination emphasizes the ritual texts as key components of the Pentateuch's persuasive strategy. Ritual rhetoric plays a vital role in unifying the Pentateuch's diverse contents into a persuasive argument for obedience to Torah and for cultic mediation by Aaronide priests. In the Second Temple period, Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers presented a utopian religious ideal (worship in the Tent of Meeting surrounded by the idealized camp of the twelve …

A Fresh Riff On J. Denny Weaver’S A-Theology Or Prolegomenon To A Stewardship Rhetoric, Susan L. Trollinger, Jason R. Moyer

English Faculty Publications

J. Denny Weaver's "theology" is irritating. Its style is impolite, its substance improper. Weaver writes, albeit in postmodern fashion, as one who speaks the truth. Although he recognizes that his truth is particular to an Anabaptist perspective, he also notes that every other truth-claim is similarly particular. However, while refusing to adopt common responses to this condition-polite tolerance, on the one hand, or self-righteous fundamentalism, on the other-Weaver nevertheless confesses that his truth has universal aspirations.

The Rhetoric Of Leadership: A Look At Leadership Through The Rhetorical Triangle, Kathryn M. Oliverio

Theses and Dissertations

The rhetorical triangle (sender/message/receiver) applies to more than just writing papers and delivering speeches. It is applicable to effective leadership as well. This leadership triangle includes the leader, the message or the leader's goals, and the follower. In order for leaders to be effective, they must understand their strengths and weaknesses, because both help form a leader's morale character (ethos). Leaders must also analyze their audience. A leader's audience, referred to as followers in this Final Project, is made up of human beings and all humans are different. These differences can be analyzed by looking at differences in personality, needs, …

The Bridge, Volume 5, 2008, Bridgewater State College

the bridge

Volume 5 Staff

Maria Alonso, Editor-in-Chief
Whitney White, Editor-in-Chief
Theressa Barnes
David Bevans, Jr.
Laura Bowen
Jason R. Gregory
Victoria Large
Mandy Lyons
Kurt M. Schleehauf
Tara M. Sullivan
Cheryl Tullis
Shaylin Walsh

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

Student Performance With And Attitudes Toward Electronic Distributed Assessment In First-Year Composition Classes, Annette Arrigucci

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In Fall 2008, UTEP's composition department implemented a pilot program to test a redesign of English 1312, their second-semester freshman composition course. In addition to a redesigned curriculum, a system of electronic distributed assessment was implemented in ten sections of English 1312. Instead of the traditional format of a class where instructors grade all student assignments, a group of teaching assistants graded student writing anonymously using standardized grading rubrics. The system, which has been used at Texas Tech University since 2002, was put in place at UTEP in order to enhance efficiency and consistency in the teaching of this course. …

Listening To Revise: Mainstream Uses Of Text-To-Speech Software In The Writing Center, Tammy Conard-Salvo, John M. Spartz

Purdue Writing Lab/Purdue OWL Presentations

This presentation from the 2008 Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) offers results from an a study of text-to-speech software in a writing center and explores the effect that writing centers and tutors have on students’ use of and attitudes toward technology and writing. Initial results confirm our hypothesis that Kurzweil’s text-to-speech features provides considerable benefit to students, and that students identified additional errors during the revision and editing stages of writing than during revision done independently.

From Textbooks To Safety Briefings: Helping Technical Writers Negotiate Complex Rhetorical Situations, Brian Blackburne

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, I analyze the organizational and political constraints that technical writers encounter when dealing with complex rhetorical situations, particularly within risk-management discourse. I ground my research in case studies of safety briefings that airlines provide to their passengers because these important documents have long been regarded as ineffective, yet they ve gone largely unchanged in the last 20 years. Airlines are required to produce these safety briefings, which must satisfy multiple audiences, such as corporate executives, federal safety inspectors, flight attendants, and passengers. Because space and time are limited when presenting safety information to passengers, the technical writers …

Spectrum 2008, Saint Mary's College Of California

The Undergraduate Spectrum

No abstract provided.

Can Patriotism Be Carved In Stone?: A Critical Analysis Of Mt. Rushmore's Orientation Films, Teresa Bergman

College of the Pacific Faculty Articles

This essay examines the three orientation films that have been shown at the Mt. Rushmore National Memorial since 1965, and analyzes how these films interpret the memorial as a patriotic symbol. Although the site was originally conceived to celebrate U.S. imperialism, each film moves away from that interpretation. This analysis tracks how these films’ interpretations of this patriotic icon have evolved to suit contemporary political exigencies rather than a fixed definition of Mt. Rushmore. I draw on memory studies, rhetoric, historical theory, and documentary film theory to examine the changing representations of nationalism and patriotism in these films.

The Undergraduate 2008, Saint Mary's College Of California

The Undergraduate Spectrum

No abstract provided.

Reviewing The Author-Function In The Age Of Wikipedia, Amit Ray, Erhardt Graeff

Articles

In "Reviewing the Author-Function in the Age of Wikipedia," Amit Ray and Erhardt Graeff examine how wiki technology challenges traditional concepts of authorship and authority in knowledge production. The authors build on poststructuralist theory, particularly Roland Barthes's "Death of the Author" and Michel Foucault's concept of the "author-function," to analyze how wikis destabilize individual authorship in favor of collaborative, community-driven content creation.

The essay argues that wikis represent a fundamental shift from the Romantic notion of the solitary author-genius to what they term the "wiki writing process"—a dynamic system where traditional roles of reader, writer, and editor blur into a …