Discusses inference and allusion in the dialogue in Plato's Sophist. Examines the sense in which a locution is used, distinguishing among senses of the verb to be, and sets the ball rolling for the development of logic and the whole metaphysics of categories of being. (RAE)

Argues that I. A. Richards established the basic argument for developing a truly new rhetoric and identified major critical components needed to formulate a rhetoric for the twenty-first century. Discusses multiplicity in meaning, speculative instruments, and metaphor. (PRA)

Discusses whether Burke is the implacable American or the embodiment of the major "isms" in European literary, rhetorical, and social thought. (FL)

Argues that the future tense underlies both literary criticism and the discipline of rhetoric as conceived by Aristotle and that Aristotle gives the argumentative arts a middle ground which makes them distinct and yet weds them inextricably with those claiming greater or lesser degrees of generality. (RAE)

Discusses post-modern literary criticism in terms of a sophistic non-Aristotelian, non-disciplinary rhetorical tradition which may be styled "antibody rhetoric," a complementary remedy to the orthodox philosophical, metadisciplinary rhetoric. Envisions this dialectic as a longstanding comic/tragic polarity, with the "antibody…

Presents a rhetorical criticism of Watson and Crick's "The Double Helix." (FL)

Discusses feminist composition theories' tenets concerning process and product. Suggests that much feminist theory assumes a stable, homogenized "woman" and that such "identity politics" present costs that feminist compositionists may not be ready to pay. Reviews the essentialist dilemma and suggests ways of reconfiguring it.…

Discusses Mikhail Bakhtin's vision of the continuous affluence of language and claims it celebrates the polymeric nature of discourse as opposed to the traditional triangular paradigm which proves hopelessly inadequate.

Claims that rhetoricians should pursue more actively opportunities to collaborate with history and other disciplines. Argues that such collaboration will more effectively generate new knowledge and will rebuild a public role for esoteric disciplines. Outlines connections between history and rhetoric. (HB)

Argues that certain "ancient" writing practices can help attain the objective of making writing instruction truly democratic. Outlines key features in the discredited "old history" of composition to adduce ways of helping students think, feel, and write in heterogeneous ways. (HB)

Discusses ethos on a broader level than Aristotelian rhetoric generally does. Presents data from a case study of the outrageous ethos of a group of generative linguists on the cusp of the sixties and seventies. Considers the issues relevant to communal ethos as debated by this group of researchers. (HB)

Draws an extended analogy between what composition instructors do in the classroom and the process of religious witnessing and conversion. Describes a process of conversion in the context of an antifoundationalist writing class pedagogy. (HB)

Notes with contemporary literary theorists that language is figurative rather than referential. Advocates using the four "master tropes"--metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, and irony--as a conceptual framework for the composing process. Suggests that these tropes each represent different strategies for presenting experience, categories for…

Argues that English departments should be concerned with critical reading and writing of all kinds of texts. Suggests that the same kind of careful criticism used in the study of advertising should be used to evaluate literature, music, movies, and the other arts, with the immediate goal being a more self-conscious awareness of verbal and…

Claims that the field of rhetoric and composition is in need of a feminist "remapping" by which new scholarly projects might be plotted. Gives an overview of Patricia Bizzell's methodological suggestions for doing this remapping. Applies this methodology to a study of the ancient rhetorician Aspasia. (HB)