Explores how Burke's texts engage readers. Discusses his determinate meaning, propositional content, stylistic content, interest in his audience, attitudes of assent and dissent toward reading, and the idea of reading as rebirth. (EL)

Three critics comment on weaknesses in Louis G. Ceci's September 1983 "College English" article, "The Case for Syntactic Imagery," and Ceci responds. (CRH)

Suggests that research on the structure of narrative promises to yield practical benefits for the literature curriculum. (JL)

Contends that the events at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant mark the failure of technical reasoning and communication practices to master the problems of our age. (PD)

Examines structuralist, phenomenological, and constructivist views of discourse and applies them to rhetorical criticism. Structuralist criticism analyzes elements of the text and their interrelationships; phenomenological criticism stresses the influence of the situation on discourse; and constructivist criticism incorporates both methods,…

Presents a survey of opinions on the nature and usefulness of discourse analysis. The following topics are addressed: (1) discourse analysis and ideologies of power, (2) epistemological considerations, and (3) discourse analysis and interdisciplinary endeavors. (AMH)

Explores, from a feminist perspective, the discourses of choice regarding how women make their choices as consumers in the education marketplace. It argues that mothers as parents are not free to choose but act within a range of constraints, i.e., their choices are limited by structural and moral possibilities in a patriarchal and racist society.…

Discusses the mutually opposed stances towards learning represented by early formulations of deconstruction and of hermeneutics. Identifies shifts in later formulations of both which provides a more inclusive context for understanding learning as a human undertaking, including the identification of tensions that are more promising than the…

Argues that presidential leaks constitute rhetorical acts, enabling administrations to exercise a variety of rhetorically potent options not afforded by the public forum. Proposes a typology of presidential leaks and analyzes their rhetorical functions, benefits, and liabilities. (MM)

Analyzes six years (from 1986 to 1991) of political debate and social action in the United States' war on drugs. Explores the characteristics of guilt-based, scapegoating drug rhetoric and how scapegoating in the drug war has been problematic. Discusses the desirability and limits of guilt as a rhetorical strategy. (HB)

Reports on two lab experiments which explored how undergraduate students process arguments and cues under ambiguous and uncertain conditions. Asks whether students use simultaneous processing or prefer exclusive processing. Indicates that students prefer exclusive processing, with no support for simultaneous. (HB)

Argues that political debates can usefully be viewed as a "televisual" form. Shows how audiences bring conventions to the viewing of debates grounded in forms dominating television narrative. Illustrates this perspective by analyzing debates in the 1984 United States Senatorial race between Jesse Helms and James Hunt. (HB)

Analyzes the public impact of the third 1992 presidential campaign debate by measuring voters' perceptions before, during, and after the debate. Examines five hypotheses concerning the effects of debates on voters. Finds that mediated debates are affected by channel and commentary. (HB)

Offers a comparative analysis of the historical dispute over protective legislation for women and the current controversy over fetal protection policies. Argues that, despite seeming dissimilarities, current symbols are attitudinally united with historical symbols, reducing the interests of all women to motherhood and thereby limiting women's…

Analyzes Mark Twain's novel, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," to determine the ways in which the masculine is constructed by a series of forces or discourses. Argues that this novel articulates the social construction of gender in a manner similar to Michel Foucault's theory of disciplinary discourses. (HB)