In this policy brief, former P/PV President Gary Walker asks, "Is mentoring now a durable part of American social policy? If so, is this unalloyed good news?" Adapted from an article that first appeared in "The Handbook of Youth Mentoring" (DuBois and Karcher, ed. 2005), the brief reflects on the impact and appeal of mentoring, addresses various…

Examines three rhetorical techniques that Franklin D. Roosevelt used in his "First Inaugural Address" to announce and implement his New Deal. The various speech drafts examined reveal that he purposefully used military metaphor, the scapegoat, and the carrot-and-stick approach to accomplish certain persuasive goals. (JMF)

This essay sketches out the reasons for Clement Greenberg's influence and the relationship between his reception as a critic and the emergence of art criticism as a "discipline," a phenomenon that corresponds, as Amy Newman observes, with the early history of "Artforum". But it is much more than mere "correspondence." This essay also suggests,…

Discusses problems of achieving balance and objectivity in dealing with the energy crisis, and describes ten instructional films that might be useful in achieving objective, unbiased instruction. (CMV)

Uses the Vietnamese War as a metaphor for student and instructor approaches to language in composition classes. Explores George Orwell's "Politics and the English Language" in its relationship to the rhetoric surrounding United States intervention. (MM)

Studies the composition of Roosevelt's fourth inaugural address from its inception to its delivery on January 20, 1945. Clarifies the confusion about authorship and analyzes the speech drafts to determine which thoughts were FDR's and which were contributed by speech writers. Includes verbatim transcript of the address. (PD)

Contrasts the ritual forms of the two major political nominating conventions in 1976. The Democrats played upon the theme of unity, the Republicans upon the theme of conflict, as each sought legitimation of the party and its chosen leader. (JMF)

Discusses how the alienation of the electorate and the incessant probing of the press came together in 1976 to affect the rhetorical techniques and strategies available to presidential candidates to defend themselves from attacks on their character and integrity. (JMF)

Using the historic debates as a case study, the author draws inferences about how and why conspiracy arguments become credible and concludes that Lincoln's achievement was strategic and tactical, reflecting an intuitive understanding of how political arguments involving moral questions are discussed in the public sphere. (PD)

Discusses the appropriateness of Richard Nixon's staging a ceremony to nominate Gerald Ford as vice-president following Spiro Agnew's resignation, in terms of generic transference (superimposing an established rhetorical form onto an unprecedented rhetorical situation). The ceremony reaffirmed American values and temporarily suspended growing…

The Canadian Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism raises questions about a social situation which involves claims to special status, principally in school curricula, for a number of languages spoken by Canadian subpopulations. This paper examines the specific circumstances and expression of these claims to the Commission. (Author)

Argues that literary theory is a fact of professional life in English departments and that differences of intellectual concern will always remain. Discusses what should be the object of critical analysis, and questions whether answering such a question is even possible. (HB)

Discusses President Carter's televised address on the Panama Canal Treaties in terms of five "topoi" for a rhetoric of retreat: timeliness, urgency, value, advantage, and shrewdness. Compares his failure to employ the commonsense arguments that a policy of retreat requires in the televised speech with his more successful impromptu…

Describes a set of instrumental and consummatory functions served by presidential campaigning, and analyzes the objects and acts which manifest those functions. (JMF)

Testing Kenneth Burke's theory on dramatistic frames, the attitudes and motivations reflected in the rhetoric of Watergate participants were analyzed in terms of literary forms: epic, tragic, comic, elegiac, satiric, burlesque, grotesque, and didactic. Nixon tried to transcend the Watergate conflict by stressing the greatness of his achievements…