Suggests how rhetorical criticism might be most productively focused by concentrating on the message, value premises, and strategies. (PD)

This paper proposes the examination of the "rhetorical compact" as a new genre of rhetorical criticism. The paper contends that the study of rhetorical compacts and the resulting influence on rhetorical patterns can serve as a tool to the scholar seeking to identify the implicit strategies in textual analysis. It suggests a linear…

Seeking the answers as to what makes one speaker more charismatic than another and why some speeches are merely effective while others move audiences to a transcendent state is a difficult task. This paper follows up on this challenge and seeks to provide some answers as to how the prophetic works of Richard Brothers moved his followers to a…

Considers the rhetorical dimensions of apocalypticism and typology. Treats the following: brief history of both prophetic concepts, stylistic features of apocalyptic writings, persuasive appeal of apocalypticism, rhetorical dimensions of typology, and relevance to the rhetoric of our times. (PD)

Focuses on the different ways political oratory, scholarly argument, and scientific reports use analogy. Specifically, analyzes intersubjective agreement in Franklin D. Roosevelt's First Inaugural address, the scholarly argument between Sir Karl Popper and Thomas S. Kuhn, and the scientific reports of various mathematicians and scientists. (PD)

This practical criticism is written for communication scholars who seek further understanding of significant communication events. Believing that a romantic strain exists in American history/politics, this essay suggests characteristics of presidential heroes, relates Ronald Reagan's rhetoric to the romantic tradition, and compares his rhetoric…

Analyzes the forensic and deliberative strategies employed by attorneys in the 1972 trial of Angela Davis. Integrates the findings with studies of legal rhetoric. (PD)

Explores the assumptions underlying the role of values in rhetorical interactions, the meaning of "logic" in relation to "good reasons," a reconceptualization of "good reasons," implementation of a "logic of 'good reasons'," and the uses of hierarchies of values in assessing rhetorical reasoning. (JMF)

Traces the use of the "continuity" motif in the Right to Life movement's rhetoric and its influence on the depiction of the abortion controversy. Analyzes how the motif functions rhetorically to aid the movement in defining its activities and involvement. (PD)

Argues that the development of a rhetorical theory for social movements is a lost cause. Examines two questions: (1) how movements differ from other forms of collective behavior, and (2) whether these differences create rhetorical differences. (PD)

Responds to a paper by Brant Burleson and continues the dispute regarding whether argument-as-product or argument-as-interaction should be regarded as the paradigm case or exemplar of argument. Defends the primacy of the interactional view by reference to the shortcomings of the serial predicative view. (JMF)

Explores the process by which contenders for the presidential nominations of the major parties in 1976 emerged, with particular reference to the impact of changes in campaign financing law and of the rules for convention delegate selection on that process. (JMF)

Explores the theory of rhetoric-as-epistemic, or truth-creator, and sets forth criteria for determining conditions conducive to such a rhetorical function. (MH)