At our workshop at the inaugural Conference on Community Writing on the rhetoric of the corporate university, participants noted that the values espoused by community literacy "in the community" are being eroded "at the university." Furthermore, they noted the underlying rhetorics of missionary zeal, whiteness, and…

As the scope of rhetorical inquiry broadens to cover intersemiotic and intertextual phenomena, scholars are increasingly in need of new, defensible analytic procedures. Several scholars have suggested that methods of discourse analysis could enhance rhetorical criticism. Here, I introduce a discourse-based method that is empirical, delicate, and…

The surface-level experience of hypertextuality as formless and unbounded, blurring boundaries among texts and between readers and writers, is created by a deep structure which is not normally presented to readers and which, like the ultrastructure of living cells, defines and controls texts' nature and functions. Most readers, restricted to…

Examines the content of Jefferson's Declaration of Independence and William's "The Element of Logick" and points out corresponding similarities of phrasing and doctrine. (MH)

An increasingly popular form of mass media persuasion is the "docudrama," a hybrid of the informative documentary and the dramatic film. The docudrama format presents viewers with a purposive viewpoint or value-laden interpretation of reality and contains some degree of historical accuracy and factual authenticity. The docudrama also…

Compares the four approaches to the study of social movements, as articulated in CS 706 178 to 181. (PD)

Noting that little effort has been devoted to the precise use of the term "theory" in rhetorical theory studies, this paper argues that, for the sake of scholarly precision in research, it is important to establish parameters of the term and to distinguish it from related terms and concepts. The paper reviews the advantages of the use of theory,…

Appraises R. Kaplan's "contrastic rhetoric" in the light of a multilanguage research project on discourse structure. Concludes that Kaplan's specific analyses are in need of substantive revision. (FL)

Suggests that during the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. the encomium was not a rigid rhetorical genre, but a normative type both stable and elastic. Compares Gorgias and Isocrates' encomia of Helen. (MS)

Contrasts two conferences that occurred in the 1960s: one considered significant by historians of composition studies, the other recognized as important in the development of poststructuralism. Argues that theoretical currents associated with the conferences can usefully critique each other. Proposes a variation on the new advocacy of…

Offers a comparative analysis of the historical dispute over protective legislation for women and the current controversy over fetal protection policies. Argues that, despite seeming dissimilarities, current symbols are attitudinally united with historical symbols, reducing the interests of all women to motherhood and thereby limiting women's…

Reports on the findings of a study that examined the persuasive written texts of 60 university first-year composition students, half of whom were native speakers of English and half of whom were nonnative English speakers. Considers 33 variables between the 2 subgroups. Finds clear differences. Discusses results and implications for…

The emergence of a modern or "new" rhetoric has been characterized by its attempt both to recover and reexamine the concepts of classical rhetoric and to define itself against that classical tradition. The distinctions that are persistently drawn between classical and modern rhetoric fall under four related heads: images of man and…

Notes that early studies in the rhetoric of science and technology emphasized how it differs from classical rhetoric, while more recent studies emphasize the similarities and thus the political/ethical and probabilistic character of contemporary science and technology and of the contemporary discipline of technical communication. (SKC)