Literary scholars use specific critical lenses called "topoi" (Fahnestock & Secor, 1991) to read literature and write their interpretations of these texts. Literary topoi are used in the discourse of modern college literature classrooms (Wilder, 2002) and are associated with higher grades in students' literature classes (Wilder, 2002, 2005).…

As an initial step toward discovering whether a separate genre of women's rhetoric exists, this paper analyzes rhetorical forms used by Mary Daly in the book "Gyn/Ecology." The paper first outlines criteria for determining whether a form has rhetorical significance and traces the historical background of the contemporary feminist…

The introductory essay of this book states that the value of formal and generic analysis must be tested heuristically, in application. With that value as the keynote to the essay collection, the theoretical perspectives of form and genre in rhetorical criticism are discussed, and five critical essays give evidence of the constraints and creative…

In this article, the author discusses the writing style of conservative writers. Here, the author describes conservatism and conservative writers as excellent and facile thinkers. He added that conservatives are best at puncturing liberal, especially academic, balderdash. Apart from that, they uphold a minimal government but maximum government…

An analysis of the signification of rhetoric" in De Quincey's 1828 essay, Rhetoric" or Elements of Rhetoric"; a revision of a paper presented at the Rhetoric and Public Address debut program of the Speech Association of America (New York, December 1969). (Editor/RD)

Submits that Martin Luther King's persuasiveness in his writings may be attributed not only to his structure, logic, and ethos, but even more to his creative, eloquent, and commanding use of the English language. Supports this argument with examples from King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail." (RL)

Discusses the effective rhetoric of Dr. King's "Letter" in terms of his use of refutative logic to address two audiences simultaneously, using one to provide a focus through which the other could be addressed. The "Letter" is adapted to both audiences on structural, logical, and stylistic levels. (JMF)

Discusses ways to define, describe and evaluate plain style. Provides results of T-unit and stylistic analysis of several authors, including Orwell and Swift. Distinguishes between scientific ideals of plain style as depersonalized clarity and plain style essayists' cultivation of personal voice. Applies theories of F. Christensen and J. Williams…

Evaluation studies are discussed in terms of aesthetic and literary qualities. Concepts such as imagery, coherence, credibility, dramatic structure, mode of presentation, and story line, are analyzed in relation to evaluative documents. (MH)

College faculty who teach writing courses might find an examination of early religious literature helpful when trying to explain "writing for an audience" or "audience awareness" to their students. The Jesuit priest who preached to and wrote for the Indians in Brazil during the early colonial period, Jose de Anchieta, is a…

Intended for teachers of composition courses, this book provides twelve bibliographic essays covering various aspects of composition studies. The list of essays are as follows: (1) "Recent Developments in Rhetorical Invention" (Richard Young); (2) "Structure and Form in Non-Narrative Prose" (Richard L. Larson); (3)…