Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons^™

Critically Thinking About Real-World Content And Practices: The Theory Show & Tell, Erika Engstrom

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

Analytical and communication skills list high on employers’ priorities. Beyond assessing comprehension through exams and research papers, this project requires, pilot research using content analysis, in-class presentation, short-form synthesis of findings.

Reducing Anxiety While Boosting Creativity: Lessons From The Progymnasmata, Bryan Blankfield

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

The fear of public speaking is a widely shared among individuals. This can be difficult to overcome when students are assigned several large, heavily-weighted speeches with few opportunities to become acclimated to standing in front of an audience. Several times throughout the semester students are assigned a 2–3 minute long speech inspired by the progymnasmata (a series of rhetorical exercises from Ancient Greece). The speeches vary widely from presenting a fable to impersonating an individual.

Reality In The Classroom: Teaching Critical Thinking With Scenarios, Timothy T. Self

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

One of the challenges for hospitality educators is to develop critical thinking skills in the future leaders of the industry. It is often thought that students will develop this skill as a by product of course work, but research indicates that it must be explicitly taught.

Jiahd In The Global Village: Al-Qaeda's Digital Radicalization And Recruitment Campaign, Katie Cannata

Honors College Theses

Following America’s “War on Terror,” al-Qaeda and its affiliates became highly decentralized in terms of organizational and media operations. Though mass media outlets continue to play a significant role in drawing attention to al-Qaeda’s transnational campaign, Salafi Jihadists have recently begun to rely on new media for purposes of legitimization and promotion. The Internet serves as a suitable platform for these groups’ media objectives since it is inherently anonymous and absent of censorship. Most importantly, the Internet facilitates al-Qaeda in reaching a global audience, which is made evident by the growing amount of Salafi Jihadist media that is translated or …

Presidential Epideictic Rhetoric During Times Of Crisis: Barack Obama's "9/11" Moment, Michael Eisenstadt

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Epideictic or ceremonial rhetoric, in its most basic and essential function, praises or blames an object. Ceremonial speakers seek to articulate why those particular objects are worthy of honor or the reverse. In the unfortunate event of a national tragedy, citizens may be confused or troubled, presenting the need for clarification and reassurance. Often times, concrete political solutions do not satisfy these needs because they do not explain what has occurred in terms the public can understand and proceed from. Presidents often inject memories of the past into public address to define these troubling situations in ways that broad, national …

President Barack Obama And The Commencement Of A New Perspective On Epideictic Speeches, Milene Ortega Ribeiro

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Commencement speakers are typically expected to praise students and motivate them. When the commencement speaker is a President, the expectation is different. This thesis investigated the functions of epideictic address in light of the rhetorical presidency doctrine. Close textual analysis of the three most controversial commencement speeches delivered by President Barack Obama revealed that the challenge of fulfilling the expectations of a commencement address, while responding to rhetorical problems, required the President to adopt complex rhetorical strategies. The predominant strategies included humor, strategic use of rhetorical presence, and ideological identification. The President used strategies that allowed him to be the …

President Barack Obama's Commencement Addresses: Revising The Functions Of Ceremonial Rhetoric, Milene Ortega Ribeiro

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

Commencement speakers are typically expected to praise students for their achievements and motivate them for the path that is to come. When the commencement speaker is a President, however, the expectation is different. In times of rhetorical presidency, no presidential address is apolitical, and this project investigated the functions of ceremonial rhetoric in light of the rhetorical presidency doctrine. Close textual analysis of the three most controversial commencement speeches delivered by President Obama, revealed that the challenge of fulfilling the expectations of a commencement address, while also responding to rhetorical problems, required the President to adopt complex rhetorical strategies. The …

August 28, 1963: Building Community Through Collective Discourse, Jennifer Nestelberger

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The August 28, 1963 March on Washington is often remembered primarily for Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, which serves as the pinnacle of civil rights movement oratory. This thesis, in contrast, examines speeches of the leaders of the "Big Six" organizations that preceded King's well-known words in order to shed light on the complexities of the movement and the outcomes that can result from meaningful dissent. Occurring at a time of division, the March emerged as a symbol of hope for change in the nation. The addresses of the day reflected this hope and helped build …

Mother Knows Best The Rhetorical Persona Of Michelle Obama And The "Let's Move" Campaign, Monika Bertaki

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

Some first ladies are often condemned for being too involved with the presidents' power in politics and other first ladies find themselves condemned for the lack of involvement. First ladies, it seems, are damned if they do and damned if they don't. Consequently, Michelle Obama faces rhetorical problems, which in some respects are similar to those of previous first ladies, and in other respects are quite different. Along with the criticisms encountered by previous presidential wives, Obama faces the stereotypes African American women have endured since the inception of the nation. Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" campaign serves as a rhetorical …

Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton And The Use Of Presidential Surrogacy In Foreign Policy Discourse, Mary Mcinturff

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

Abstract: Through a case study utilizing the rhetoric of President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, this essay reveals the value of investigating the rhetoric of presidential surrogates in conjunction with presidential discourse. Support for this argument is derived from a close analysis of the combined rhetorical tactics of Obama and Clinton, illuminated by dramatistic criticism, value analysis, and mode of argument. Although an essential foundation for an analysis of an administration’s foreign policy rhetoric, the president’s discourse is not the only data that merits attention. For foreign policy rhetoric, this essay elucidates both the importance and utility …

Kairotic Strategema: A Rhetorical Investigation Of Barack Obama’S 2009 Health Care Address, Serena M. Sánchez-Wilson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis examines President Barack Obama’s address given on September 9, 2009 entitled “Remarks by the President to a Joint Session of Congress on Health Care.” In order to address various situational and contextual elements such as legislative ambiguity, national expense, bureaucratic intrusion, abortion, euthanasia and illegal immigration, President Obama opportunely enters the conversation at a particular time so as to benefit his agenda of passing health care reform. Revolving around the notion of kairotic strategema, which includes the understating of deliberative address as well as the possession of kairos and phronesis, I assert that this aids President …

A Rhetorical History Of The Office Of Legal Counsel, William O’Donnal Saas

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

For over seventy-five years, the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) has played a significant role in the crafting of executive policy rhetoric. Yet, within the scholarship in presidential and rhetorical studies, the OLC remains one of the least understood and, thus, underappreciated forces behind executive policy action. This thesis seeks to bridge the research gap by: (1) accounting for the OLC's rhetorical history through discussion of available "opinions" and their rhetorical consequences; and (2) by submitting a case study from the OLC's rhetorical history to critical analysis. Often, I will argue, the OLC "co-invented" international and domestic policies with White …

I Am Journalism (And So Can You!): Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, And The Role Of The Journalist, Eugene Wagner

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Satire news has garnered considerable critical attention, yet the question of just what mainstream journalism might take from it has yet to be asked. This study aims to clarify the normative potential of such alternative discursive approaches. Geoffrey Baym's theory of discursive integration, which argues that once distinct modes of discourse are now blending together, may help explain the relationship between humor and the mediation of current events. This study uses a discourse analysis to compare how mainstream television news outlets and The Daily Show approach truth claims, finding that journalistic credibility suffers, at least in part, from avoiding critical …

Ghost Hunting: A Rhetorical Analysis Of The American Media On The Waterboard, William Saas

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

This project looks at popular media hands-on investigations of the waterboard (an interrogation method used in the war on terror, viewed historically as "torture") to discover what I argue are the haunting effects of the second Bush administration's rhetorical war.

Analyzing Policy Issues In Presidential Speeches And The Media: An Agenda-Setting Study, Jessica L. Hughes

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

For decades, researchers have maintained that the president has a significant role in setting the policy-making agenda. In this study, a grounded theory approach was applied to determine President George W. Bush's success in focusing the media's attention toward policies mentioned in his State of the Union Addresses (2002-2008). Bush's issue priorities were determined by coding individual paragraphs as themes. To identify the frequency of these same themes in the media, the front pages of The L.A. Times, The New York Times, and The Washington Post were analyzed one week before and after each address. Coding was limited to every …

Effects Of Script Fading On The Abilities Of Children With Autism To Reciprocate Information, Marc Alan Tedoff

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Teaching communication skills to children with autism is a primary concern because speech and/or language delay characterize autism. One method of teaching verbal communication skills to children with autism is script fading.

This study examined the effects of teaching children with autism to exchange information to peers about objects and pictures using script fading. Six children with autism were recruited from a special program for children with autism at a public elementary school. Participants were formed into dyads that remained intact throughout the study. Two dyads consisted of first grade students, one dyad consisted of a second and a fifth …

The Cuban Missile Crisis Speech: An Analysis Of Text Evolution, Ashlyn Gentry

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

On October 22, 1962, President John F. Kennedy delivered a televised speech announcing the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba. This speech has been a subject of scholarship in the field of communication, yet no critic has performed a comprehensive analysis of its multiple drafts and their relationship to the final version. By using a comparative analysis, one can examine the process of presidential decision-making, the translation of those decisions into prose, and the strategic language used to communicate a particular message. This project follows the evolution of Kennedy's address, tracing the changes from one draft to the next, in …

American Speeches: Political Oratory From The Revolution To The Civil War And Political Oratory From Abraham Lincoln To Bill Clinton, Priscilla Finley

Library Faculty Publications

Ted Widmer (director, John Carter Brown Library; speechwriter, Clinton administration) has selected significant familiar examples of political oratory for this two-volume set. The first volume covers the Revolution to the Civil War, and includes selections from the expected Founding Fathers as well as leaders in the antislavery, women's rights, and labor movements.

Gardner’S Film, Video And Tv Dictionary, Priscilla Finley

Library Faculty Publications

Useful for professionals and students in broadcast media, multimedia production, or the film arts, Gardner's work is remarkable for its up-to-date coverage of digital production standards and terminology.

Bryson’S Dictionary Of Troublesome Words, Priscilla Finley

Library Faculty Publications

Travel writer and humorist Bryson has revised, adapted, and updated his style guide, first published in 1984 in Britain as Penguin Dictionary of Troublesome Words and in the US as Facts on File Dictionary of Troublesome Words, to appeal to contemporary American book buyers. Presenting itself as a "compilation of suggestions, observations, and treasured prejudices," the work compiles and comments on commonly misspelled words and proper nouns and other conundrums of usage scrupulous writers or copy editors may face.

The Oxford Guide To Style, Priscilla Finley

Library Faculty Publications

Oxford's style manual will be essential to users previously dependent on Hart's Rules for Compositors and Readers (39th ed., 1986)--those preparing manuscripts for Oxford University Press and other British publishers--which Ritter revises and enlarges. Chapters cover general publication topics such as front matter and preparation of copy and proofs; editorial issues like punctuation, numbers, and capitalization; special conventions regarding science and mathematics; and "specialist subjects" including British and EU law, music, poetry, drama, and sacred works.

Practice Makes Perfect (Or, At Least Better!), P. S. Mcmillen

Library Faculty Publications

I teach people to use library resources more effectively; however, the skills I’ll talk about below are useful when working with any adult audiences. This is not a comprehensive guide to teaching or public speaking, rather, it is a summary of some of the main ideas and practices that help me. I used to be so scared when I talked in front of other people — even a small group of people — that I would turn bright red and break out in a sweat. I couldn’t look people in the eye; I read from my notes; I stumbled over …