Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons^™

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 …

Cmst Connect, Vol. 4, Nos. 1-2, Spring 2012, St. Cloud State University

CMST Connect

This issue of CMST Connect combines Vol. 4, No. 1 Fall/Winter 2011 and Vol. 4, No. 2 Spring/Summer 2012.

Contents of this issue:

• Letter from the Chair, Dr. Roseanna Ross
• New Curriculum
• Featured Alumni: Justin Wampach
• Internships: Gateway to a Successful Career, by Molly Willms
• Featured Professor: Dr. Jeff Ringer
• Communication Studies Club, by Cimarron Burt
• Where are they now? Sascha Blocker, Pat Arneson, Erich Mische

Is It Sexy? A Semiotic Analysis Of Sexual Imagery In Japanese And United States Advertising, Marc P. Pereira

Northwest Communication Association Conference Papers & Presentations

This study presents a semiotic analysis of several magazine advertisements in an attempt to explore body image and sexuality as it is illustrated in marketing campaigns in both the United States and Japan. Each of the magazines from which the artifacts were drawn was published in 2011, and each presents a similar focus on fitness, fashion, and television in each country. A comparison of the sexuality portrayed in advertisements was conducted to explore similarities and differences. It was found that there is a difference in how sexual imagery was used between the United States and Japan, with the United States …

From A Rodent To A Rhetorician: An Ideological Analysis Of George Alexander Kennedy's Comparative Rhetoric, James Begley

Masters Theses

George Alexander Kennedy, a professor of classics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has given birth to a new understanding of rhetorical studies: he argues for the evolution of rhetoric from animals to humans. Using Sonja Foss's methodology of "ideological criticism," this thesis examined Kennedy's case as presented in his book, Comparative Rhetoric: an Historical and Cross-Cultural Introduction. This study discovered that the book was heavily influenced by a secular, pro-evolutionary ideology which dually contributed to its selective use of scientific evidences and production of inconsistent arguments. Evaluated on the basis of Biblical principles, this thesis concluded …

You Say You Want A (Nonviolent) Revolution, Well Then What? Translating Western Thought, Strategic Ideological Cooptation, And Institution Building For Freedom For Governments Emerging Out Of Peaceful Chaos, Donald J. Kochan

Donald J. Kochan

With nonviolent revolution in particular, displaced governments leave a power and governance vacuum waiting to be filled. Such vacuums are particularly susceptible to what this Article will call “strategic ideological cooptation.” Following the regime disruption, peaceful chaos transitions into a period in which it is necessary to structure and order the emergent governance scheme. That period in which the new government scheme emerges is particularly fraught with danger when growing from peaceful chaos because nonviolent revolutions tend to be decentralized, unorganized, unsophisticated, and particularly vulnerable to cooptation. Any external power wishing to influence events in societies emerging out of peaceful …

Operationele Ontwikkeling Van De Nederlandse Special Operations Forces, 2005-2010, George Dimitriu, Gijs Tuinman, Martijn Van Der Vorm

George Dimitriu

Between 2005 and 2010 Dutch Special Operations Forces (SOF) carried out three mission in Afghanistan. The authors describe these missions in which both Army SOF and Marine SOF took part. They describe SOF and analyze the planning and execution of SOF missions. Further, they discuss the insights and developments that resulted from these experiences. By doing this, they not only clarify but also explain recent developments in the Dutch SOF realm. The lessons learned and best practices identified are a sound foundation for the future of Dutch SOF. (article in Dutch).

California State 4-H Interview Contest And Manual, Kelly M. Bishop

Agricultural Education and Communication

The identified problem for this project is a lack of information and practice for youth to feel confident in effectively presenting themselves in interview settings. The purpose of this project is to provide youth information on how to prepare for an interview and how to put these necessary life skills into practice. It also provides a contest where the skills can be practiced and refined. The manual created in this project is the vessel for the needed information and provides the necessary guidelines and materials for continuing this contest at various levels.

This project included a base evaluation contest in …

A Rhetorical Criticism Of Susan B. Anthony’S Speech On Women’S Right To Vote, Shabnam Kohan

Communication Studies

No abstract provided.

Can You Hear Me Now?, Edwige Charles

Lake Union Herald

No abstract provided.

Agenda Setting From The Oval Office: An Experimental Examination Of Presidential Influence Over The Public Agenda, José D. Villalobos, Cigdem V. Sirin

José D. Villalobos

This study employs an experimental approach to isolate and directly test the extent to which presidents can affect public perceptions of issue importance and support for policy action, taking into consideration key factors that condition such effects. Our findings provide new empirical evidence that presidents can, in fact, positively influence public opinion through agenda setting, particularly by increasing the perceptual importance of low salience foreign policy issues. However, the results also indicate that such positive effects do not translate into public support for policy action; instead, presidential appeals actually decrease support. Last, our study offers new evidence that employing bipartisan …

Connecting Past And Present: A Rhetorical Analysis Of How Forensics Programs Use Storytelling To Promote Team Legacy, Stephanie Orme

National Forensic Journal

Given forensics programs' status as organizations at academic institutions, these teams experience changes in membership far more often than typical organizations. Each year, a team will graduate a class of seniors who, through their four years as a competitor, have helped shape the program's culture and legacy in numerous ways. Yet this void left by the graduating members is then filled by the incoming freshman or transfer student competitors who will now play a part in reshaping the team's culture. This constant change in organizational culture makes it vital that forensic programs go to extra lengths to ensure that their …

Questions Surrounding Questions: A Rhetorical Analysis Of The Use Of Research Questions In Academic Writing, Stephanie Orme

National Forensic Journal

The fact that researchers have begun to question the potentially unethical use of questions in research, and that the research question has become an increasing presence in all scholarly rhetorical criticism– including 99% of the speeches you will see this year– the use of the research question in a venue that has traditionally avoided it merits investigation. So in order to explore the objectivity and academic effectiveness of research questions in our field, I performed a content analysis of top rhetoric journals using Hyland’s method for analyzing questions found in the article “What do they mean? Questions in Academic 54 …

The Success Gap, Katie Donovan

National Forensic Journal

When Lisa Uhrig, Cathie Craig and Ruth Brisbain won Impromptu, ADS and Persuasive at the 1971 National Forensics Association National Tournament, the forensics community breathed a collective sigh of relief. These women had won three of the six events the NFA offered at the time. Apparently, the lack of women in the activity had been solved. Over the next several decades teams were encouraged to diversify and include more women. However, while these efforts brought women into the activity, they failed to create a culture of equal success between men and women in forensics. Instead, we have considered the issue …

Small World: A Forensic Dialectic, Jamie Bingham, Kylia Goodner

National Forensic Journal

No abstract provided.

Genesis In Hyperreality: Legitimizing Disingenuous Controversy At The Creation Museum, Casey R. Kelly, Kristen Hoerl

Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication

This essay analyzes the argumentative structure of the "Answers in Genesis" ministry's Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky. Founded by a $27 million grant, the 70,000 square-foot museum appropriates the stylistic and authoritative signifiers of natural history museums, complete with technically proficient hyperreal displays and modern curatorial techniques. In this essay, we argue that the museum provides a culturally authoritative space in which Young Earth Creationists can visually craft the appearance that there is an ongoing scientific controversy over matters long settled in the scientific community (evolution), or what scholars call a disingenuous or manufactured controversy. We analyze the displays and …

Neocolonialism And The Global Prison In National Geographic's Locked Up Abroad, Casey R. Kelly

Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication

This essay examines the reformulation of colonial ideologies in National Geographic Channel's Locked Up Abroad, a documentary program that chronicles the narratives of Westerner travelers incarcerated in foreign nations. An analysis of Locked Up Abroad evinces neocolonialism in contemporary media culture, including: the historic association between dark-skin and savagery, the backwardness of the non-Western world, and the Western imperative to civilize it. The program's documentary techniques and framing devises sustain an Otherizing gaze toward non-Western societies, and its portrayals elide a critical analysis of colonialism in its present forms. I advocate for neocolonial criticism to trace how NatGeo remains haunted …

The Ancient Roots Of Humor Theory, Lisa Glebatis Perks

Communication and Media Faculty Publications

Many modern humor scholars have oversimplified their summaries of Plato, Aristotle, Cicero and Quintilian's views on humor, focusing on the philosophers' cautionary warnings about the rhetorical efficacy and ethics of humor Although the philosophers did write much on the offensive nature of jests, which can be considered illustrative of superiority theory, I describe elements of the incongruity and relief theories of humor motivation in their work. There is evidence to suggest that all four philosophers found humor to be a fitting and effective response to certain exigencies. It is more accurate to summarize their views thus: Humor has the potential …

Special Section – Critical Thought In The Age Of Forensics, Bruce Wickelgren

National Forensic Journal

No abstract provided.

21 Building Bridges: Connecting Performance Studies And Forensic Oral Interpretation, Alyssa Reid

National Forensic Journal

Forensic educators have faced long standing criticism, within our discipline and beyond, in regards to the true educational benefits of forensic competition with particular scrutiny towards oral interpretation events. Although forensic interpretation events may seem like fun raucous performances, they are in many ways are grounded in sound pedagogy of oral interpretation scholarship. However in recent years, forensic oral interpretation has evolved to move beyond mere rendering of a text. In many ways forensic interpretation has shifted towards a paradigm of performance studies. Therefore, I shall reexplore past criticisms of forensic interp in order to argue for new ways to …

Addressing Corporate Ties To Slavery: Corporate Apologia In A Discourse Of Reconciliation, Claudia Irene Janssen

Claudia I. Janssen Danyi, PhD

Pressured by activists to take responsibility, American corporations recently found themselves in the spotlight for their past ties to slavery. Responding to the issue, they stepped into a complex discourse of reconciliation. Taking a rhetorical approach, this article analyzes the response of Aetna Inc. It explores how corporate rhetoric functions within present discourses about historical injustices and illustrates that Aetna's response informed by common strategies of corporate apologia inhibited meaningful reconciliation. The article thus furthers criticisms of (corporate) apologia in the context of historical injustice and raises questions about the potentialities and limitations of corporate rhetoric for reconciliation.

Kickin' Sand And Tellin' Lies, Jackson B. Miller, Christopher Forrer

Kickin' Sand and Tellin' Lies: The Play

This document is the script of the two-act play, Kickin’ Sand and Tellin’ Lies, by Jackson B. Miller and Christopher Forrer. The Linfield College Theatre Program presented the world premieres of the play in November 2012 in McMinnville, Oregon and in Pacific City, Oregon. The play was created as part of the Launching through the Surf: The Dory Fleet of Pacific City project, which focuses on the historical and contemporary role of dory fishers and dories in the life of the coastal village of Pacific City, Oregon. Inspired by stories from the project, Kickin’ Sand and Tellin’ Lies is a …

Webs Of Faith As A Source Of Reasonable Disagreement, Gregory Brazeal

Gregory Brazeal

Contemporary political theorists and philosophers of epistemology and religion have often drawn attention to the problem of reasonable disagreement. The idea that deliberators may reasonably persist in a disagreement even under ideal deliberative conditions and even over the long term poses a challenge to the common assumption that rationality should lead to consensus. This essay proposes a previously unrecognized source of reasonable disagreement, based on the notion that an individual's beliefs are rationally related to one another in a fabric of sentences or web of beliefs. The essay argues that an individual's beliefs may not form a single, seamless web, …

The Truths Of Chenglish: Logical Imperfection, Natural Language, And Philosophical Disagreement, Gregory Brazeal

Gregory Brazeal

Why is it that philosophy seems unable to obtain the kinds of agreement regularly achieved by mathematics and the natural sciences? The experimental philosophy movement emphasizes conflicting intuitions as a potential source of philosophical disagreement. This essay draws attention to another, complementary source: the logical imperfection of natural languages. Unlike logic as it is formalized in symbolic notation, the rules governing the correct use of terms in a natural language can be indeterminate, underdetermined, and inconsistent. Though most philosophers recognize the logical imperfection of natural languages in the abstract, everyday philosophical discussion is often conducted as though the argumentative moves …

Rhetorical Materialism: The Cognitive Division Of Labor And The Social Dimensions Of Argument, Ronald Walter Greene, Heather Ashley Hayes

Ronald Walter Greene

No abstract provided.

Lessons From The Ymca: The Material Rhetoric Of Criticism, Rhetorical Interpretation, And Pastoral Power, Ronald Walter Greene

Ronald Walter Greene

No abstract provided.

The Conservative Canon And Its Uses, Michael J. Lee

Michael J Lee

In this essay, I aim to locate the scriptural force of American conservatism's secular canon. My basic claim is that the canon created and managed the potential for symbolic fusion and fracture among conservatives. The canon provided the tools to weather the rocky marriage between various conservative sects: traditionalists, libertarians, neoconservatives, and others; the canon afforded resources for each faction to establish their bona fides and to protect their version of authentic conservatism from impostors and apostates. I conclude by analyzing the link between the principles of classical conservatism and canonical politics.

Lessons From Libya: A Situational Approach To The Generic Criticism Of President Obama's March 28, 2011 Address To The Nation On Libya, Amy L. Schumacher

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Many scholars have called the utility of the generic method of rhetorical criticism into question. Adopting a situational approach to generic rhetorical criticism increases the value of the method considerably. By analyzing situational constituents (scene, purpose, agent, act, agency, and audience) surrounding a discourse, a critic gains a holistic understanding of that text. When coupled with generic comparisons - whether the critic proceeds inductively or deductively - he or she can then trace the recurrent rhetorical strategies across time and place and, simultaneously, highlight the elements unique to the particular rhetor and discourse. I demonstrate this approach through an analysis …

Front Cover

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.

Editorial Board

Basic Communication Course Annual

No abstract provided.