In the 1968 political campaign, George Wallace consistently attracted auditors of diverse and highly polarized views, people who were negatively closed-minded and people who were positively closed-minded. He exploited this polarization to heighten the impact of his speaking and to rally and solidify the closed-positive auditors. For example, when…

Discusses the strengths and weaknesses in the rhetoric of Eugene V. Debs" in speeches delivered between 1874 and 1926. (Author/SW)

Comparison of Asian and American rhetoric with a view toward understanding the Asian culture as well as Asian public address. (CH)

The counterplan is a recent strategy used in debate whereby the negative team can urge adoption of a new policy rather than defend the status quo. This paper isolates some of the requirements for a debate counterplan, discusses its strategic implications, and describes three conditions which debate theorists define as necessary for a valid…

Examines Cicero's "Defense of Caelius" public address emphasizing his mastery of the art of persuasive speaking through the use of humor and his ability to adapt to the rhetorical situation and the psychological needs of the audience. (MH)

Comparative rhetoric studies the mode of public address among a specified group of people and the theories and values governing their public address in specific cultural contexts. Two ways to consider the subject of values in comparative rhetoric involve values as norms and values as appeals. Values assumed to be held by the audience are the bases…

One of the most memorable eulogies delivered in the United States Senate is the one by Senator Michael Mansfield for President John F. Kennedy. An analysis of his word choice reveals that he (1) forced the audience to participate in the creation of the message; (2) employed active, forceful descriptions; (3) focused on praiseworthy qualities of…

THE IMPORTANCE OF EFFECTIVE SPEECH IN A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY AND THE INCREASED STRESS UPON ORAL COMMUNICATION VIA MACHINES CURRENTLY BEING DEVELOPED DEMAND THAT INCREASED EMPHASIS BE GIVEN SPEECH AT ALL EDUCATIONAL LEVELS, ESPECIALLY THE SECONDARY LEVEL. ADEQUATE EQUIPMENT AND TRAINED PERSONNEL ARE ESSENTIAL FOR A MAXIMALLY EFFECTIVE PROGRAM. THE…

Poor delivery, artificial analysis, and unrealistic organization are all pointed to by critics of competitive tournament debate. The purpose of this study was to determine the relative ability of students with debate and nondebate training with regard to analysis, organization, and speaking skills. Ninety-four participants in the Bicentennial…

Memoria, one of the original five canons of rhetoric, has been described as a lost art. While "word-for-word" memorization and presentation of classic speeches was an important component of rhetorical training that "persisted through the middle ages," it receives no more than a brief mention (usually in the sections outlining different types of…

Personal satisfaction or enjoyment can be obtained from participation in the persuasive or informative processes of public discourse, partially because both are serious methods of attaining socially useful goals. The public speaker is challenged by the opportunity to raise his audience's level of information about a subject and to influence their…

SPEECH PROFESSIONALS, SPECIALIZING IN THE ART AND SCIENCE OF SPEECH BEHAVIOR AND COMMUNICATION, SHARE THE COMMON ASSUMPTIONS THAT (1) SPEECH IS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT AND UNAVOIDABLE OF MAN'S LEARNED BEHAVIOR, (2) SPEECH IS THE HUMANISTIC CENTER FROM WHICH THE SEARCH FOR AND TRANSMISSION OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT MAN PROPERLY PROCEED, AND (3) EVERY…

The basic requirements of all good prose are clarity, accuracy, brevity, and simplicity. Especially in public prose--in which the meaning is the crux of the article or speech--concise, vigorous English demands a minimum of adjectives, a maximum use of the active voice, nouns carefully chosen, a logical argument with no labored or obscure points,…

This analysis of argumentation considers three separate, yet interrelated, aspects of the persuasive argument: evidence, warrant, and claim. A study of each of these components is presented in separate chapters with an examination of the role and standards each must carry out in formulating sound, logical proof. A classification of types of…

In this study of the organizational patterns of 46 United States presidential inaugural addresses there were four research questions, relating to the overall pattern of the speeches and the internal structure of ideas and topics. Key findings indicate that: (1) 25 of the 46 speeches have three easily discernible parts--introduction, body,…