Rhetoric and Composition Commons^™

After The Shoe Fits: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Four Versions Of The Cinderella Narrative, Faith L. Boren

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fairy tales hold the power to influence societies and to challenge societal injustices, and the story of Cinderella exemplifies both of these roles. In this study, I conduct a rhetorical analysis of four different versions of the Cinderella narrative: Charles Perrault’s “Cendrillon,” the Brothers Grimm’s “Ascenputtel,” Anne Sexton’s "Cinderella,” and Disney’s Cinderella (2015). I examine Perrault’s “Cendrillon” and the Grimms’ “Aschenputtel” using constitutive rhetoric. This theory operates around the basic premise that rhetoric holds the power to aid in the shaping of societies. While analyzing “Cendrillon” and “Aschenputtel,” I specifically look for themes of classism and nationalism, respectively. I then …

An Ecological Application Of Kleinian Theory To Political And Social Discourses As A Means To Extend Ecological Modernization Discourse, Gage Peterson

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Though largely marginalized within its own discipline, Psychoanalytic theory, specifically object relation’s theory, promises a breadth of value to ecological modernization (EM) discourse when appropriated interdisciplinarily as a rhetorical frame or lens. This project incorporates and extends the ecopsychological application of Kleinian object relations to the human-nature relationship, previously researched by Joseph Dodds (2011). Through the application of Kleinian theory to environmental rhetoric, both within political and social discourses, this paper explores the psychological processes that characterize political decision-making regarding the economy versus ecology debate, as well as exploring cultural ideologies that perpetuate the forgetting of our integral relations with …

Bound To A Brothel: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Institutional And Non-Institutional Anti-Trafficking Training Curriculum And Awareness-Raising Material, Kaylen Runyan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores various facets of human trafficking ranging from signs of victims to recruitment methods of traffickers, focusing specifically on the inherent connection of complex trauma as an effect of experiencing exploitation. Trauma serves as the overarching theme throughout this paper as I analyze anti-trafficking institutional organizations and their training curricula as well as non-institutional organizations and their awareness-raising material. The questions I focus on are: How do institutional texts and training curriculum prepare individuals to interact with victims of trauma? And how do non-institutional awareness-raising materials educate audiences who do not work directly with victims of trafficking on …

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 …

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 …

Hard To See Through The Smoke : Remembering The 1912 Hillsville, Virginia Courthouse Shootout., Travis A. Rountree

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines rhetorical rememberings of the 1912 Hillsville, Virginia courthouse shootout. It begins with an overview of the historical event, then through four chapters focuses on different rememberings that take up the event. Using Burke’s terministic screens, the study presents several lenses through which to view these rememberings. Chapter One presents the national and local newspaper constructions of the shootout in three terministic screens: the violent mountaineer, the gangster, and the uncolonized other. These three screens predate what is now the hillbilly image of the mountaineer. Chapter Two analyzes performative actions of the shootout. The ballads about the event …

Launching Conservative Resistance: A Rhetorical Criticism Of The Young Americans For Freedom, Tyler John Snelling

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

At the end of the 1940s, conservatives faced internal divisions, an elitist image, and people supporting government post Great Depression. Liberalism seemed entrenched throughout society. Yet, the Young Americans for Freedom (YAF), the first national, conservative movement, formed in 1960. This thesis investigates YAF’s earliest “publicity” in National Review, an influential magazine, to understand part of what preceded conservatism’s evolution. Publishing “The Ivory Tower: Young Americans for Freedom” by William F. Buckley and the “Sharon Statement,” YAF’s manifesto, side-by-side formed a new identity—young conservative—that empowered activists. From Maurice Charland’s “constitutive rhetoric,” chapter two investigates Buckley’s telling of the past as …

Believing Mary Karr, Stephanie Rae Guedet

Theses and Dissertations

Believing Mary Karr examines how belief, represented in the memoirs of Mary Karr, works in our contemporary moment. This examination is supported by the argument that our identities and the stories we tell about them are always constructions of belief, and that these beliefs are ultimately relational, enacted in the intersubjective relationship between writers and readers of autobiography. This dissertation provides the fields of both rhetoric and life writing studies not only an awareness of how ideas about belief—how beliefs about belief—have already shaped our scholarly imagination but also the possibilities a rhetoric of belief can offer to future conversations …

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.

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 …

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 …

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

Masters Essays

No abstract provided.

Apologies For Cross-Posting: Composing Disciplinary Affects And Conflicts On The Wpa Listserv, Zachary Beare

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Drawing on theories of counterpublics, online communication, and affect, this dissertation argues that the Writing Program Administrators Listserv (WPA-L) functions as an important site of disciplinary knowledge-making and theory-building for the field of Composition and Rhetoric. The dissertation examines the WPA-L as a discursive space in which members of the discipline build community, debate pressing issues, and strategize how best to advocate for their individual and collective interests. At the same time that these qualities reveal how the listserv functions as counterpublic space for the discipline at large, the dissertation argues that sub-disciplinary counterpublics made up of individuals marginalized within …

Becoming “Forces Of Change”: Making A Case For Engaged Rhetoric Of Science, Technology, Engineering, And Medicine, Lauren E. Cagle

Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies Faculty Publications

In Poroi’s 2013 special issue “Inventing the Future: The Rhetorics of Science, Technology, and Medicine,” Lisa Keränen reflected on the variety of purposes contributing authors ascribe to the scholarship and practice of rhetoric of science, technology, and medicine (RSTM).¹ Keränen especially noted the distinction Randy Harris, Lynda Walsh, and Carolyn Miller draw between studying persuasion and making persuasion happen. As Harris puts it, it’s the difference between “the impulse to understand persuasion and the impulse to achieve persuasion” (Keränen, 2013, para. 7; emphasis in original). The latter is the active choice, which Keränen refers as “engagement,” a term …

She Dreams In Burkean Color (Or, On Rhetoric And Writing Pedagogy), Paul Walker

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Toggling The Switches, Zach Thomas

Bridges: A Journal of Student Research

In this paper, I use Richard Lanham's work within the field of rhetoric to explore the rhetorical implications of multilingualism and code switching. Specifically, I will discuss and question some of the basic assumptions of employing another language: What is at stake when we communicate with others in another language, especially native speakers? How might using an L2 language and recognizing/using different dialects within that language cause a speaker to reconsider their native tongue? What does the presence of numerous regional peculiarities and nonstandard varieties within languages say about our desire for "ideal" or "standard" speech?

Bad Ideas About Writing, Cheryl E. Ball, Drew M. Loewe

Open Access Textbooks

Bad Ideas About Writing counters major myths about writing instruction. Inspired by the provocative science- and social-science-focused book This Idea Must Die and written for a general audience, the collection offers opinionated, research-based statements intended to spark debate and to offer a better way of teaching writing. Contributors, as scholars of rhetoric and composition, provide a snapshot of and antidotes to major myths in writing instruction. This collection is published in whole by the Digital Publishing Institute at WVU Libraries and in part by Inside Higher Ed.

Supplemental files feature archived episodes of the Bad Ideas About Writing Podcast …

Multimodal Pedagogies, Processes And Projects: Writing Teachers Know More Than We May Think About Teaching Multimodal Composition, Jessica B. Gordon

Theses and Dissertations

Multimodal writing refers to texts that use more than one communicative mode to convey information. While there is much scholarship that examines the history of alphabetic writing instruction and the alphabetic composing processes of students, little research explores the historical origins of multimodal composition and the processes in which students engage as they compose multimodal texts. This two-part project takes a fresh approach to studying multimodal writing by exploring the multimodal pedagogies of ancient Greek and Roman rhetoric and writing teachers, analyzing the role of mental and physical images in modern writers’ composing practices, and investigating contemporary students’ processes for …

There's No Space Like Home : Locavore Writing And Rhetorics Of Place, Darcy Mullen

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This project seeks to treat the word “local” as a social construct that, if left unexamined, has concrete consequences, from seed to fork, and from reader to student writer. As a study in contemporary rhetorical formations, I focus on what I term the genre of Locavore writing as a discrete genre of social movement writing, to intervene in definitions and applications of a set of rhetorical concepts; discourse communities, rhetorical situations, and proverbial knowledge. Additionally, I reframe the need for post-spatial turn considerations within rhetorical studies in spatial rhetoric for both the study of literature, and writing pedagogy. The focus …

New Black Boxes: Technologically Mediated Intercultural Rhetorical Encounters On The U.S.-Mexico Border, Beau Scott Pihlaja

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Activity theory (AT) and actor-network theory (ANT) as theoretical frameworks begin their analysis of the world with the concept of "actors" engaged in activity towards some objective and with other actors in the human and non-human world. In this project, I use AT and ANT to analyze the mediating effect of communication technologies in intercultural rhetorical contexts, in this case a binational small business, and address two questions: 1.) How do common communication technologies (email, phone, IM chat, texting applications) define and transform intercultural rhetorical encounters? And 2.) How do individuals rhetorically engage perceived cultural others using common communication technologies …

This Is Us Saying Who We Are: Speaking The Rhetoric Of Mental Disability, Renuka Uthappa

Wayne State University Dissertations

People with mental disabilities, or what are sometimes referred to as “mental illnesses,” face stigma when they interact with the public. To fight this stigma, the members of a small, grassroots, advocacy organization known as the Speakers Bureau travel to high school and college classrooms narrating their experiences with mental disability. They do so to replace culturally circulating stereotypes regarding such disability with more accurate and positive images. This dissertation is an auto-ethnographic exploration of the rhetoric of the Speakers Bureau. Through rhetorical analysis of members’ classroom speeches, of interviews with each speaker, and of the speaker’s self- assessment of …

Pathetic Politics: An Analysis Of Emotion And Embodiment In First Lady Rhetoric, Stephanie Lynn Wideman

Wayne State University Dissertations

This dissertation explores the theoretical and practical relationship between our understandings of emotion’s role in political decision-making. In this pursuit I seek a resurrection for pathos’s legitimacy in persuasive studies through the pursuit of the pathetic political realm. This work has three primary concerns: how may pathetic power be accessed, from where does this power originate, and how might political actors enact this power for their own political goals. I draw primarily from theories related to visual rhetoric and the body in order to provide perspective on how the body is politicized through the pathetic realm. Theoretical perspectives are drawn …

Engl 254: Writing And Communities—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Rachael Wendler Shah

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This course portfolio analyzes a section of English 254: Writing and Communities, exploring how well the course met individual teaching goals and the departmental course goals for English 254, with a particular focus on how the new English Department mission statement priorities are actualized in the class and how well the class supported learning to communicate across difference. The portfolio includes an outline of institutional context, course outcomes, and student background, as well as a backwards planning chart that demonstrates alignment between outcomes, activities, and assessment strategy. Then, the portfolio examines student data from each of the three major assignments, …

Reimagining The Stacks: Classroom Technology And Library Collaboration For Writing In The Disciplines, Jossalyn Larson, Daniel C. Reardon

Journal of Student Success in Writing (Archived)

This article details the process by which one university redesigned a first year writing course to better promote discipline-specific and best-practice research techniques. The program offers experiential learning activities through scholarly collaboration, using library staff as mentors, producing an open-access peer-reviewed student journal, and emphasizing face-to-face interaction of peer research communities. It has the potential to establish for students in high school, community colleges and universities that research writing is fundamentally about joining and contributing to a conversation.

Language, Rhetoric, And Politics In A Global Context: A Decolonial Critical Discourse Perspective On Nigeria’S 2015 Presidential Campaign, Yunana Ahmed

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

In this dissertation, I conceptualize a rhetorical and linguistic analysis of politics from a decolonial framework (Mignolo, 2011; Smith, 2012). My analysis draws on classical rhetoric (Aristotle, 2007), cultural rhetoric (Mao, 2014; Powell, et al., 2014; Yankah, 1995), and linguistics (Chilton, 2004) to reveal the different ways ideological and hegemonic struggles are discursively constructed in Nigerian political campaign discourse. The data for this study come from two speeches delivered by former President of Nigeria Goodluck Jonathan during the 2015 electoral campaign. This includes his declaration-of-intent speech and his speech marking the commencement of his formal campaign activities. My …

Digital Literacies And Visual Rhetoric: Scaffolding A Meme-Based Assignment Sequence For Introductory Composition Classes, Andie Silva

Publications and Research

Introducing students to the practice of academic writing ideally goes beyond teaching strategies like drafting, outlining, and revising in order to encourage deeper skills such as critical thinking and metacognition. This post discusses an assignment series focusing on reflection, genre analysis, and multiliteracies leading up to the design of original memes.

Play This Paper: Forms Of Time In The Open World, Branching Narrative, Roleplaying Game, Jimmy Evans

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

This paper is an analysis of chronotopes in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt that reveals how the procedurality of video games might suggest a refined heteroglossic form. Synthesizing contemporary american philosopher Ian Bogost’s concept of procedural rhetoric with the materialist linguistic theory of Mikhail Bakhtin, this ultimately hypertextual and interactive article reflects on language as Bakhtin once did: as "agent and agency” (MPL 146). After detailing how the three major processes of the game coordinate spacetime, it is necessary to conclude that its kaleidoscopic nature provides new opportunities for the rendering of the geometry of thought in what is a …

"If This Stuff Matters, Why Isn't It Being Shared?" : Citations, Hyperlinks, And Potential Public Futures Of Online Writing In Rhetoric And Composition., Elizabeth Frances Bergeron Chamberlain

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation addresses two deceptively discrete questions: (1) how academics might reach wider public audiences, and (2) how and why people cite the way they do. It takes citation practices as a telling though often tacit practice, one through which it is possible trace the contours of a larger story about how writing is changing as it moves online. That story: Writers increasingly reflect goals of provocation, of attracting a wider and potentially global audience, of spreading a message rapidly and virally, of responding to recent events and conversations, of sharing sources and resources. To explore these questions, this dissertation …

Rhetoric As Inquiry: Personal Writing And Academic Success In The English Classroom, Erica E. Rogers

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Holistic and critical pedagogy, an approach to learning and teaching, integrates the everyday realities students live, with the systemic and institutional objectives of education itself. Working with theories from composition, rhetoric, feminist studies, and cognitive psychology from a teacher-researcher perspective, this dissertation explores and theorizes holistic, critical pedagogy within the composition classroom while outlining the use of personal writing as a means to develop critical consciousness. Student study participants kept “Inquiry Notebooks,” semester-long personal writing projects that served as receptacles for practical and theoretical engagement with a variety of texts and ideas, then interviewed after the course to discuss their …

Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, And The Populist Tradition In Presidential Rhetoric, Sarah Beth Shaw

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Populism is one of the most ambiguous terms in rhetorical scholarship. It can be a political strategy, a genuine reflection of personality, a deep manipulation of core American values, and much more. Political pundits have used it as a descriptive term, and on occasion as an insult. Some have deemed the concept’s flexibility confusing and even counterproductive, which sparked an interest in studying what is meant when analysts and scholars address political speakers as populist. This thesis examines populism in detail, by analyzing the rhetoric of former presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. Two questions drove the research: (1) What …