Julian of Norwich (1342-1416), was a Christian mystic whose writings, "Revelation of Love" and "A Book of Showings," are the earliest surviving texts in the English language written by a woman. The question that has puzzled scholars for centuries follows: How could a woman of her time express her vision in such innovative and…

Western teachers working in China often experience cultural conflicts arising from, for instance, the ways that Chinese students perceive face and express criticism. To better understand these face-concerned conflicts, this paper explores the role and significance of email for a group of Chinese students to communicate pedagogical criticism with…

For learners of Japanese, a conundrum arises at university level as they are expected to be able to shift between direct and indirect language in various writing tasks. The apparent indirectness in inductive language is required of regular writing tasks such as response essays and e-mails, while the directness of deductive academic writing, a…

The rhetoric of education today tends to divide the world in two: between those who favor "reform" and those who don't. Many who consider themselves reformers say they stand in opposition to the "status quo." Some of them speak of the need to challenge the "education establishment," or the education bureaucracy. Many also describe their policies…

This article presents a detailed case study analysis of oral and written language expressed by Jacqueline Meyer, a teacher of elementary English Language Learners (ELL),as she struggled to navigate the current political terrain with her students. Ms. Meyer's district adopted commercial materials and increased the amount and substance of testing…

Discusses examples in "Moby Dick" of Melvillean words symptomatic of the significance of Ishmael's rhetorical energy, in order to suggest that Ishmael's language reflects Melville's search for lexical and rhetorical forms that express the democratic impulse. (SRT)

Widely misunderstood and often maligned, rhetoric in the simplest sense is the effective use of language in speech or writing. Much as law and medicine have well considered standards of conduct, so too does the field of communication. Experts in this area look at--patterns--of discourse in relation to specific kinds of events--tornadoes,…

The thesis that style through the manner of expression provides the writer or speaker with the matter of his discourse is the subject of these eight essays. Articles are by (1) Louis T. Milic, who explores the implication of stylistic theory for the teaching of composition, (2) Martin Joos, who relates style theories to the national enthusiasm for…

As an initial step toward discovering whether a separate genre of women's rhetoric exists, this paper analyzes rhetorical forms used by Mary Daly in the book "Gyn/Ecology." The paper first outlines criteria for determining whether a form has rhetorical significance and traces the historical background of the contemporary feminist…

An essay exploring the application of moral criticism to rhetorical discourse; based upon two lectures given at the State University of New York at Binghamton, November 1968. (Editor/RD)

A number of arguments appeared in the late-nineteenth-century United States about "correctness" in language, arguments for and against enforcing a standard of correctness and arguments about what should count as correct in language. Insofar as knowledge about and facility with "correct" linguistic usage could affect one's standing in the social…

One of the results of the seventeenth-century revolution in learning was the rejection by scientists of classical rhetorical theories. The scientific societies established in colonial America reflected the European wish to replace the classic emphasis on "artificial" rhetorical style by making language usage more concrete, simple, and clear. In…

Examines Kenneth Burke's uses of the term "substance" as the key to his approach to language as symbolic action. Substance as consciousness achieved through verbalization is manifest in three behaviors: naming, forming, and structuring. (JMF)

Examines Kenneth Burke's use of "sheer" and "sheerly" throughout eight of his major philosophical books. (MH)

Working from both literary and composition theory, this book argues that American composition theory and pedagogy of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is founded on the Platonic view that invention is a solitary act in which the individual, drawing upon innate knowledge and mental structures, searches for the truth, using introspective self…