To determine the extent to which current theories of persuasion are used or advocated by homileticians (i.e., preachers), this study examines 21 frequently used homiletics textbooks for their treatment of persuasion. After describing the characteristics of classical, premodern, humanistic, and rhetorical models, the study suggests that these…

The essays in this book focus on the role of the reader in textual interpretation. Specifically, they examine "open" and "closed" texts. The three essays in Part I deal with both verbal and nonverbal texts. The first considers musical compositions that leave considerable autonomy to the individual performer and also discusses…

The study described in this paper illustrates how key features of rhetorical analysis can be operationalized to apply to the study of therapeutic transactions. After a discussion of psychotherapy as an influence process, the paper describes the methodology used in an analysis of tape-recorded discourse between three therapist/client dyads in an…

In ethnographic research, silence can be probed as a filter through which to understand metaphors present and absent in conversations. The question posited in this study is how to account for silence as deliberate. From analysis of conversational interactions with classroom teachers, it became apparent that the silences also had meaning, that they…

A study analyzed the verbatim transcription of a videotaped literacy lesson in a heterogeneous middle-school urban classroom. Ways students participated in the literary discourse and teacher practices that supported students' participation are described. Findings indicate students with disabilities could acquire the discourse practices needed for…

Suggests two shifts in perspective that will help turn writing across the curriculum courses toward aim and away from mode as a central organizing principle. Suggests a theoretical shift from "mode" to "topic" and a practical shift from single to plural textuality, combining several textual paradigms as demonstrated in the…

A theory of literary interpretation that treats the reader's interaction with text as a form of conversation is discussed, and related teaching techniques are described. The approach uses four steps: (1) articulating initial responses; (2) pursuing deeper understanding of the text; (3) interaction with the text; and (4) identifying possibilities…

Responds to an article in the same journal on the rhetoric of whole language. Provides alternative readings in the defining and deconstructing of whole language, and argues that its sense will come from the points of difference rather than from the precision of final definitions. (SR)

Discusses Barrett Wendell's theory of discourse, including a critique of his definitions and an assessment of his discourse scheme. Challenges the image of Wendell as a technocrat who never rose above a consideration of style to examine more significant rhetorical issues. (MG)

This 2-year qualitative study explores the ironies of educational reform in the United States as experienced by three second language learners attending a school attempting to transform itself into a high-performance elementary school in California's Silicon Valley. Drawing on the concept of fast capitalism in a globalized economic work order…

A study determined whether using reader response logs in an introductory college literature class would prove to be an effective method of helping students learn to apply the critical methodology important to increasing understanding of literature. Subjects, 33 undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory literature course, wrote response…

An analysis of the content and a critique of the significance of President Jimmy Carter's 1977 commencement speech at the University of Notre Dame, show that technical weaknesses such as poor organization, inconsistent style, and overbreadth limited its intended effect. Carter had hoped that this speech would dispel confusion over some of his…

In a televised performance which far surpassed that of any other witness in the Iran-Contra hearings of 1987, Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North came to the attention of Americans as a "national hero." To illustrate how North was able to portray himself as the hero/victim and to explore the ways in which he was able to transform the context…

As the United States entered the nineteenth century, it did so under the influence of the Second Great Awakening. This was the second wave of revivalism to sweep the nation, and it originated in the frontier as the Great Western Revival. One pertinent characteristic of the revival was its rhetoric, a rhetoric that was a prime expression of a…

Part of a larger investigation of the rhetorical character of the presidencies of Harry Truman through Jimmy Carter, this report concentrates on the presidents' linguistic styles and their semantic choices. The first half of the report discusses the background of the study and the development of a computerized language analysis…