The dramaturgical dimensions of the "theater of fact" as found in two anti-war plays, "Discourse on Viet Nam" by Peter Weiss and "Xa: A Vietnam Primer" by the ProVisional Theatre are examined. In these plays the author finds that Vietnamese history becomes rhetorical testament in arguments against United States…

Contends that the historical dramas produced in the 1960'> used historical materials in original ways and for unique reasons and consequently American audiences viewed their heritage in a new light. (MH)

Recognizing the need for a multifarious approach to television, this paper provides the reader with the following multidimensional approaches to television criticism: rhetorical, dramatic, literary, cinematic, content analysis, myth, linguistics, semiotics, phenomenalism, phenomenology, interpersonal communication, public relations, image,…

Kenneth Burke's Dramatistic Pentad is an analytical device intended to be used by critics to discover the roots of motivation for particular acts. The five elements of the pentad are the scene, act, agent, agency, and purpose. Using the Burkean Pentad, this symposium presents the following five analyses of Watergate: "Scenic Responsibility:…

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…

Applies Mikhail Bakhtin's theory of the novel to Bertolt Brecht's "Drums in the Night" to illuminate the play's dialogic structure and alienation value, and reappropriate its prerevolutionary dimensions for contemporary use. (MM)

Employs a critical application of Kenneth Burke's notions of form and perspectivism. Argues for the potential of a complementary relationship between form and perspectivism in the appeal of rhetorical artifacts. Claims that form is perspectival, limiting possibilities for appropriate interpretations within a text. Applies this theoretical…

This quarterly publication is a forum for graduate and undergraduate student thinking on contemporary issues. This issue opens with "Hell is Other People," a critical analysis of Sartre's play "No Exit." The first section contains an article on nonviolence and militancy as contrasting strategies of the black struggle; a satiric playscript based on…

Intended as a guide for students of literature, this book introduces literary analysis through discussion of forms, elements, and genres. The first half of the book focuses on theory, with each section preceded by literary passages and interpretative questions. The second half is devoted to practice, and contains three contrasting literary genre…

Presents a rhetorical perspective for examining Shakespearean dramatic texts and an instructional framework for translating that perspective into the teaching of solo performance of Shakespearean dramatic literature. Describes techniques for implementing classroom performance that will develop and demonstrate student understanding of the text.…

Describes the various versions of White character portrayal emerging in Black drama between 1950 and 1970 and delineates their potential rhetorical functions. (MH)

Presents and analyzes the formation, characteristics, and growth of feminist theatre groups as tactical responses to certain rhetorical problems faced by women liberationists. (JMF)

At the third annual Cal-State Hayward Conference in Rhetorical Criticism, 22 upper division and graduate students from 16 colleges and universities of the western states presented papers on rhetorical theory, history, and criticism. Panels of faculty members from the same colleges and universities, acting as editor-critics, rated four of these…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 23 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: the rhetoric of various reformers and reform groups; speech disorganization and information retention, credibility, and attitude; the concurring and dissenting…

Describes the nature and impact of the Communist movement's revolutionary language which emphasized the particular pro-American Communist discourse which dramatized issues, events, and people. (MH)