Investigates the uses of the rhetorical strategy of identification by John McPhee in his novel, "Coming into the Country." Describes the technique articulated by Kenneth Burke as identification. Identifies three of Burke's techniques in McPhee's prose. (HB)

Considers Nathaniel Hawthorne's literary technique of providing various, often conflicting, accounts of a narrative scene or event. Analyzes Hawthorne's rhetoric of rumor as featured in "The Scarlet Letter." Shows how Hawthorne tried to translate the dynamics of interpersonal communication into print in this novel. (HB)

Examines Syron's novel as a strategic rhetorical response to the problems of racism in America with far-ranging implications in American social and institutional history. Argues that the novel's shaping vision illuminates the ethical dilemma of the liberal humanist and explores the ramifications of violence for self-definition and social reform.…

Noting that romances are the first reading choice of noncollege educated women and the second choice among college-educated women, this study examined the rhetorical visions of male/female relationships on romances and found they have reflected social changes and the movement from patriarchy to equality of the sexes. (PD)

Examines the interpersonal communication of main characters in three novels. Concludes that the heuristic propositions that emerge from this study might be useful in the study and understanding of real life interpersonal experiences. (PD)

Argues that the clarity of Ishmael Reed's later novels is part of a complex and innovative style that is "rhetorical" in the broadest sense. Notes that his narrative strategies are constructed primarily on the way the audience will read and even misread the novel. Explores the rhetorical workings in Reed's novel "Reckless…

Examines within Laurence Sterne's "Tristram Shandy" two representative orientations (reasons and experience) as indices of popular attitudes about the rhetorical arts during the eighteenth century. Argues that, as a satire on rhetorical pretensions and excess, this novel is an important document in the venerable battle between the…