Debate is compared to modern poetry in its tension between content and form. From the perspective of this comparison, debate is defended against charges that it is unnecessarily structured, a distortion of normative language use, uncommunicative, and pertinent only to an esoteric group of listeners. (JF)

Contends that investigation of the past may contribute to a generic understanding of labor rhetoric and examines the rhetorical dimensions of the 1972 election contest for the leadership of the United Mine Workers. (MH)

Author focused on the current and recurrent debate regarding the relationship of cinema to literature with the intent of clearing the air of useless distinctions. He suggested that film people make peace with literature people for both theoretical and practical reasons. (Author/RK)

Discusses the ethical and rational qualities of speech acts. (JMF)

Presents and defends the thesis that it is analogy which provides justification for any logic, and for any argument to the extent that it depends on logic for justification. Analogy acquires inept support from logic, but logic acquires adroit support from analogy. (JMF)

This paper demonstrates the compatability of Aristotle's Four Causes (material, formal, efficient, and final) and George Campbell's Four Forms of Discourse (description, narration, exposition, and argumentation) and synthesizes them to form an ordered yet flexible writing model that can be used in composition instruction. Within the context of…

As a rhetorical figure, the example is constitutively split between the structural vocations of the Greek "paradeigma" (emphasizing illumination and belonging) and the Latin "exemplum" (emphasizing detachment and exclusion). This bifurcation enables the example to function as a strategic resource of ambiguity. Christine de…

In spite of the material seeking to define rhetoric and approaches to its study, few attempts have been made to stipulate qualities of "rhetorical acts meriting critical attention" or critical outcomes that serve social or professional functions. Rhetorical criticism, to be useful, must perform a unique function for society as well as for the…

Draws a connection between Gallie's essentially contested concepts and Aristotle's account of rhetorical argument by presenting a definition of Essentially Contested Argument which is used as the connecting term between rhetoric and essentially contested concepts and by demonstrating the value of making this connection. (JF)

Legal realism is used to illuminate the motivational character of the rhetorical actions comprising the law. Re-examines traditional sources of rhetoric in this light and finds them to be inadequate to provide a full view of legal actions. Outlines what such a full view of legal motives would involve. (JMF)

Examines three rhetorical techniques that Franklin D. Roosevelt used in his "First Inaugural Address" to announce and implement his New Deal. The various speech drafts examined reveal that he purposefully used military metaphor, the scapegoat, and the carrot-and-stick approach to accomplish certain persuasive goals. (JMF)

Analyzes the rhetorical practices and the theoretical writings of Dionysius of Halicarnassus. Concludes that he regarded orations as practical instruments and that the judgment that he was disinterested in persuasion is untenable. (JMF)

There are good reasons to be very careful about generalizations about Catholic higher education in the United States. Recall that the 220 or so Catholic colleges and universities are of very different kinds, very different sizes, with different student bodies, and are located in different parts of a country that sometimes have quite different…