Though after dinner speaking attracts fewer participants than most other categories at American Forensic Association tournaments, it can be one of the most fulfilling for those participating, coaching and listening. One of the reasons for the low participation rate is that judges offer vague and sometimes insensitive evaluations. Judges must not…

Rock music is ideological both implicitly (in its intrinsic valuing of change, and resistance to authority, for instance), and explicitly (in political records from activist artists such as John Lennon and U2). The texts of the rock genre offer rhetorical experiences. A dialogic conception may help scholars to account for and describe the…

Biographical writing is highly imaginative writing and always has been. The task of the biographer is to weave a riveting story from the fabric of the subject's life. For example, a single pivotal incident in the lives of Percy Bysshe Shelley, the English poet, and Mary Godwin, author of "Frankenstein", at the grave of Mary's mother,…

Discusses rhetoric as mirroring psychology. Examines Aristotle's three "pisteis"--the pathetic, logical, and ethical proofs, paralleling them to Freud's id, ego, and super-ego. Explores an adequate feminine psychology and a corresponding rhetoric. Outlines two models of persuasive discourse, the rational world paradigm and the narrative…

Examines the rhetorical constructs of the "question-and-answer format" as it has been used widely both in popular, informative, advertising, and journalistic literature. Considers its classical origins, its intent and effect, and the ways in which it plays on the reader's resistance. (TB)

Explains the concepts of spectator positioning, supplement (as defined by Jacques Derrida), and plenitude in relation to the study of woman's films, in general, and the film "Committed" (1984), in particular. Considers how the film's indirect mode of public address disturbs conventional gender alignments and the distinction between…

Argues that technical writers must construct proper contexts for readers' understanding. Discusses reader-oriented syntax, rhetorical confidence, and three kinds of context qualifiers. Offers various examples. (SR)

Recounts when the Fluxus community first became self-consciously aware of itself during early European concert tours. Provides insights into criteria that delineate European and American Fluxus performances. Discusses use of chance procedure by members of the group, their debts to John Cage, and the relationship between the audience and the…

Campus public relations professionals offer advice for improving the effectiveness of public relations efforts by (1) setting behavioral goals; (2) targeting audiences carefully; (3) focusing appeals by making messages explicit; (4) connecting the public relations message with larger societal issues; and (5) reaching internal as well as external…

Presents four short interviews with some of the most respected names in children's literature: Jane Yolen, Kyoko Mori, Rita Williams-Garcia, and Joseph Bruchac. Discusses particular book subjects, how the writers came to be writers for children, new books, and characters described in the stories. (SC)

Suggests that narrative structure should be taught as a reminder that human life is interwoven with stories. Suggests educators teach students the power of narrative and its relationship to its audience and the context in which the story is told. Compares the OJ Simpson story with a famous Norwegian folktale to illustrate the role narrative plays…

Elaborates a model to analyze how contemporary journalism "creates" society--how it "modifies" a person's perspective of the world, enabling individuals to "share" crucial meanings about reality. Bases the model on the analysis of different narrative voices to capture some of the order of the contemporary discourse of…

Understanding communication (of which individual events is a part) requires a triangle among theory-practice-criticism, and any missing component dramatically hinders understanding and ability. Students compete in, and judges judge, forensics to better enhance communication understanding and abilities. The process of oral interpretation requires a…

In March 1997 Marshal Applewhite and his band of 40 "web site building multidimensional New Agers" committed ritual suicide to pass through where physical bodies cannot go. A folklorist who belongs to an Internet current events newsgroup had been reading Applewhite's posted comments since 1995. On his web page, Applewhite noted how…

Aristotle's "Rhetoric" is divided into three books which describe the stages of preparing a public address. Book One establishes the philosophical position of rhetoric to logic. It also establishes four purposes of rhetoric and discusses three types of proof. Aristotle defines rhetoric as a faculty for providing two modes of…