Argues that the function of medicine as an art and as a social institution is impeded when the rhetorical nature of its practice is ignored. Offers a case study of two texts widely cited as landmarks in the physician-assisted suicide debate of the 1990s, examining their rhetorical organization and its impact on their reception. (SR)

Tests Walter R. Fisher's claim that all forms of discourse can be viewed as types of narrative by applying the narrative paradigm to three works that cannot traditionally be considered stories. Finds that the narrative approach is of little use when applied to discourse that does not tell a story. (SR)

This 1996 issue of the "Carolinas Speech Communication Annual" contains the following articles: "Rhetoric in the Second Sophistic, Medieval, and Renaissance Periods: Implications for Pedagogy" (Omar J. Swartz and Chris Bachelder); "Thou Art Damned: Cursing as a Rhetorical Strategy of the Accusers in the Salem Witch…

Presents a case study of autobiographical letters written by a turn-of-the-century prostitute to a Boston matron. Shows how, in creating a narrative of her life, the author of the letters uses several rhetorical strategies to recreate her character to persuade her audience (and herself) that she is worthy of respect. (SR)

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…

Uses "Mother Jones" to explore the link between labor union agitation and use of symbolic motherhood by female labor leaders. Argues that maternal aims such as physical protection helped empower oppressed mining audiences. Suggests that Jones's militant motherhood--realized through nondiscursive maternal practices and a…

Explores the relationship between current theoretical definitions of risk communication, the unique national role that EPA plays in defining health and environmental risks, and possible explanations for EPA's inability to persuade Aspen, Colorado, to accept a cleanup plan. Explores ownership messages conveyed through metacommunication conflict…

Examines the public discourse of McDonald's and the Environmental Defense Fund's alliance. Shows that both partners drew from the emerging discourse of market environmentalism and from the older paradigm of command and control. Argues that this rhetorical ambivalence is emblematic of the contemporaneous sociopolitical conflict over how the…

Explores how influential works of one culture are adapted to the needs, circumstances and thought patterns of another. Analyzes as a case study Yan Fu's "Heavenly Evolution," a rhetorical translation of Thomas Huxley's "Evolution and Ethics," whose publication resulted in a rapid spread of a version of Darwinism in Confucian…

Offers a case study describing how the rhetorical expertise of a young woman (at the lowest professional level in a male-dominated bureaucratic organization) gave her the power to revise the processes by which her organization did its work, to rewrite the job descriptions of the managers within the organization, and to create a unique role for…

Defines a relational approach to moral reasoning. Notes that the Supreme Court, in "Planned Parenthood v. Casey," rejected simplistic approaches to moral reasoning and acknowledged the complex web of relationships involved in abortion decision making. Suggests that rhetoricians "revision" the art of persuasion to place more…

Explores the relationship among forensic, deliberative, and epideictic modes of rhetoric in the cold fusion controversy. Shows the interactions between three modes of rhetoric. Examines the ways in which the modes have shaped the emerging scientific consensus. Supports Robert Sanders' contention that rhetorical practices interact with scientific…

Examines the nature, extent, and rhetorical exploitation of the margins of indeterminacy in aircraft engine development and testing, focusing particularly on the role of technical documents in creating these margins and in the rhetorical transactions that transpired. Suggests the conditions and implications of these rhetorical transactions need to…

Argues that political debates can usefully be viewed as a "televisual" form. Shows how audiences bring conventions to the viewing of debates grounded in forms dominating television narrative. Illustrates this perspective by analyzing debates in the 1984 United States Senatorial race between Jesse Helms and James Hunt. (HB)

Presents a case study of a particular courtroom case dealing with the death penalty. Analyzes the processes and communications of the trial jury. Discusses the interplay of common-sense and expert claims at three crucial stages of the trial. (HB)