Explores the argumentation of critical rhetoric as a millennial appeal, a rhetorical device aimed at establishing a new world with subsequent need for a new critical orientation. Argues that the advocates of critical rhetoric characteristically use dissociation as their primary rhetorical strategy. Concludes that M. Bakhtin's concept of…

Explores the ways in which rhetorical scholars have embraced Mikhail Bakhtin as a rhetorical theorist in spite of the fact that he disdained rhetoric. Argues that the reception of Bakhtin suggests a pattern in rhetorical studies. Notes that it is dangerous to disregard the danger of rhetoric in pursuit of a higher status for rhetoric. (SG)

Uses vice president Albert Gore Jr.'s book "Earth in the Balance" as a case study to examine the relationship between analogy and "presence." Argues that presence is a flexible critical construct allowing for examination of the relationship between the style, substance, and structure of arguments. Explores relationships between…

Claims that Adlai Stevenson adapted the tenets of contemporary civic republicanism as a pragmatic to the response to the obstacles that confronted him in his 1952 presidential campaign. Analyzes his campaign rhetoric to reveal the strengths and limitations of republicanism as a political argument. Explores the complex relationship between…

Examines the rhetorical function of the modern American jeremiad as a means to restore social harmony in a time of crisis. Analyzes Robert F. Kennedy's response to the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Reveals the strengths and limitations of the jeremiad as a response to social crisis. (SR)