This project is situated within the interpretive tradition in organizational communication research, focusing on organizational discourse. It goes further by bringing the discussion into the 21st century through examining how communication technology--specifically e-mail--plays a role in the linguistic practices that help create, maintain and…

Notes that the rhetoric of Frances E. Willard relied primarily on "womanhood" arguments, making her uniquely successful at promoting woman suffrage with conservative audiences. Concludes that the popularization of Willard's strategies represented a transformation of the symbolic context of the suffrage movement. Examines the implications…

Traces the rhetorical relationship between the ritual path taken by each rhetor and the types of messages they leave behind at the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial in Washington D.C., especially in the rhetoric "as addressed" to an audience. Reveals the interplay of ritual choice and message. (MS)

Explains sharp inconsistencies in Edmund Burke's rhetorical abilities by exploring two distinct conceptions of rhetoric: rhetoric as an instrument of prudential reason and as an existential means of constituting oneself. Examines Burke's private correspondence to show how this struggle between rhetorical prudence and rhetorical heroism generated…

Explains that when organizations face crises, their rhetorical response often follows two steps: assessment of causes leading to the crisis, and a search for potential solutions and preventive measures for the future. States that epideictic rhetoric designed to sustain or regain the organization's reputation is effective in both steps. Examines…

Explores the rhetorical use of time in Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail." Offers an explanation of the ideological heritage that temporarily unifies the discourse. Describes the letter's recent, historical, and spiritual time frames, accounts for the ideological purpose each serves, and explains on what ground they…

Describes the author's ongoing research which surveys World Wide Web authors and analyzes their Web productions to explore the strategies and the rhetoric for a personal presence (that of ordinary citizens) on the Web. Finds that individuals on the Web often put on the appearances of organizational status. Calls this use of institutional…

Discusses Goedel's Theorem (said to mark the loss of certainty in formal logic and the beginning of the postmodern reformulation of the nature of knowledge). Shows Goedel's proof as an eloquent model-changing text that (1) demonstrates the inability of language to represent reality in a way that guarantees unambiguous communication; and (2) uses…

Based on an investigation of 207 of United States Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas's opinions concerning the First Amendment, this paper argues for the existence of a rhetorical genre grounded in the jurisprudence known as "legal realism." The paper begins with an overview of the philosophy of legal realism that leads to a…

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)

Examines the claim that "scaffold speeches" (speeches by individuals awaiting execution) form a discrete genre. Argues that they constitute a subgenre within the larger genre of apologia. Illustrates the subgenre through analysis of John Brown's final speech at his trial following the Harper's Ferry raid. (SR)

Contributes to scholarship advancing the understanding of human communication by analyzing Susan Dorothea White's painting, "The First Supper," as a subversive postmodern ironic reading of Leonardo Da Vinci's "The Last Supper." Suggests that subversive irony assumes distinctive and complex technical and theoretical…

Contributes to scholarship advancing the understanding of human communication by exploring the concept of controversy within a theoretical framework which does not presume the existence of a public sphere. Suggests an alternative perspective based on the intersection of moments of opportunity and specific sites of discourse. Applies this…

Expands the symbolic resources of the African Burial Ground through a dialogical reading of an essay in the same issue of this journal which offers a rhetorical examination of the controversy surrounding the African Burial Ground. Argues that, post-critique, controversies may be recuperated to recover an expanded sense of coalitional engagement,…

Responds to two articles in the same issue of this journal regarding a controversy over the African Burial Ground in New York City. Raises a third set of questions, arguing that investigations of rhetorics of controversy can also include investigations of the rhetorics of incommensurability, investigating the development of logics and…