An essay exploring the application of moral criticism to rhetorical discourse; based upon two lectures given at the State University of New York at Binghamton, November 1968. (Editor/RD)

Discusses how John C. Calhoun's speech "On Reception of the Abolition Petitions," illuminates his logical defense of slavery, while revealing that the logic was inextricably bound up in a powerful psycho-logic. Focuses on the role metaphor plays, particularly the functions of place, space, and related symbolic indices of orientation. (JD)

Proposes an approach to rhetorical criticism that features the relationship between a message and a culturally distanced interpreter or critic. Applies Paul Ricoeur's critical approach to an interpretation of the Gettysburg Address to illustrate how hermeneutics reveals the underlying meaning and cultural significance of enduring texts. (NKA)

Examines the ways in which tropes can argue and arguments can become tropes. Applies these concepts to the rhetoric of Carrie Chapman Catt and her identification of antisuffrage rhetoric. (NH)

Examines Mario Cuomo's keynote address at the 1984 Democratic National Convention as a case study in rhetorical interaction. Argues that the keynote setting presented both generic and immediate constraints, which Cuomo resolved through a rhetorical strategy rooted in metaphor as an argumentative technique. (MM)

Examines two lines of feminist criticism argumentation (the "equity" critique and the "cognitive/epistemic" critique) as they apply to composition studies and speech communication. Argues that, although the two critiques apply to argumentation conceived as "war," they do not apply to argument conceived as…

Examines and describes the pragmatic uses of the "nuclear winter" metaphor in the original "Science" article and its subsequent use in "Foreign Affairs." Analyzes conditions of the metaphor's birth in the former and its development and use as a conventional metaphor in the latter. Shows that the metaphor became a…

Shows how newspaper columnist Goodman's sermonic rhetoric is rooted in comparison. Examines examples of her editorials to explore their epistemic function and their force as argument and as symbolic action. (PD)

Examines the metaphoric networks created by a presidential hopeful and a pope. Argues that what is significant about the rhetoric of each is not the recurrence of a single metaphor but rather the appearance of clusters of related metaphors which reveal the rhetor's projected relationship with his audience. (JMF)

Suggests that Franklin Delano Roosevelt's First Inaugural Address is an example of a speech using metaphor to transcend a recurring rhetorical problem. Shows how Roosevelt merged two metaphoric clusters, religious and military, into the image of "Holy War," first to calm, then activate the American people. (SR)

Rhetorical norms of early McCarthyist discourse reveal a reliance upon images of chaos and the body. Through such metaphors, rhetors crafted a model of discussion that feminized "democracy" and "tolerance" to support anti-Communist measures and de-legitimize their opponents. Political variety was coded as deviant to national…

Since ancient times, the use of metaphor in rhetorical speeches has been a powerful tool for persuasive impact on audiences. Study of 84 important persuasive speeches, from classic to modern, reveals 52 metaphor types. Among these, 11 types account for 60% of all of the examples. These "archetypal" metaphors are used in speeches, not because of…

Explores reasons why there are few rhetorical criticisms of political television commercials. Suggests two critical methods which can be applied to commercial messages. (PD)

Analyzes Alexander Richardson's clothing metaphors which connected Ramist precepts to social values and philosophic assumptions drawn from the fields of fashion, psychology, and Puritan theology. Describes how these metaphors presented the Puritan community with an orientation toward listening and inculcated the Puritan speech community with…

This paper first discusses the ways in which Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech demonstrates some of the fundamental principles that should be used to teach rhetorical criticism, and then offers a microscopic, intrinsic criticism of the speech. The paper's four sections (1) review the nature of written speech texts; (2) discuss…