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…

Concentrating on the efforts of such nineteenth century women's rights advocates as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, communication researchers have largely overlooked the contributions made to the cause by Ann Eliza Young. The nineteenth wife of Mormon leader Brigham Young, Ann Eliza Young left her husband and took to the speaker's…

Ways that colleges and universities provide opportunities for students to improve their writing are discussed in two essays and program descriptions. In "Reinventing the Rhetorical Tradition: Finding Ways to Revalue Writing," Patrick Hartwell and Greg Waters briefly describe activities at colleges that center around the rhetorical…

This monograph posits a rhetorical theory of video-art and presents perspectives on the status of video-art in Latin America. Video-art, which utilizes technology in the field of aesthetics, is perceived as fundamentally rhetorical and stylistic. Conclusions about the form include the comments that the analysis of visual messages is possible…

The jeremiad, a sermonic rhetorical form, played a significant role in the American Revolution. As a successful social movement, the Revolution generated a language that portrayed its interpretation of reality. This was achieved in part through the use of significant forms that served to provide a link between the past and future and to foster a…

Based on the premise that the examination of primordial and universal genres of utterance illuminates universal principles of speaking and meaning, this paper examines the Anglo-Saxon boast, a common form of speaking among Germanic warrior societies during the early middle ages. It tells how Old English literature provides evidence from which the…

The focus of the contributions to this journal issue is communication theory and research. Following an introductory article that deals with the need for quality control in the criticism of communication research, eight articles offer discussions of the following topics: the nature of criticism in rhetorical and communicative studies, some issues…

Senator Robert LaFollette's speech to the United States Senate on "Free Speech and the Right of Congress to Declare the Objects of War," given October 6, 1917, epitomized his opposition to the war and the Wilson administration's largely successful moves to suppress public criticism of the war. In the speech he asserted his position on…

At the fourth annual Cal-State Hayward Conference in Rhetorical Criticism, 25 upper division and graduate students from 17 western colleges and universities presented papers on rhetorical theory, history, and criticism. Panels of faculty members from the same colleges and universities, acting as editor-critics, rated five of these papers as…

This study attempted to determine whether it is more effective for a speaker to cite sources of authority for any assertions he makes within a speech or whether he should simply assimilate the assertions into the text without citation. The subjects for the experiment (145 students in a basic college speech communications course) listened to two…

Any discussion of the dimensions of contemporary political campaigning would not be complete without some consideration of heckling; for heckling, or the questioning of a speaker while he is in the act of speaking, has become a salient element on the political scene. In attempting to diminish the heckler's impact, the speaker usually appeals to…

The increasing occupation of journals with the subject of political persuasion is briefly surveyed. A set of principles which might be utilized to reconceive an inventional theory are proposed, and means through which these principles may be applied in studies of political persuasion are suggested. The decision to shift from a speaker/message…

Ten contributors provide extensive bibliographic essays on topics of importance in the teaching of college composition. Works cited and commented upon range from those of Aristotle to the contributions of contemporary scholars. Separate essays deal with invention, structure and form in nonfiction prose, approaches to the study of style, modes of…

Shows that teachers can use scientific findings to form and prescribe norms of behavior and to implement such prescriptions; discusses the use of criticism as a teaching device; and delineates five assumptions--related to speech, rhetorical behavior, cultural norms, and response to speech acts--that underly theories of pedagogical criticsm. (JMF)

Discusses how, for several decades, historians and rhetorical scholars have been criticized for their preoccupation with facts, lack of method, theory, analytical rigor, and objectivity; failure to exploit statistical procedures; and wretched writing. A list of remedial works is included. (JD)