This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 12 titles deal with the following topics: (1) John F. Kennedy's rhetoric during the 1960 West Virginia presidential primary; (2) male and female modes of rhetoric; (3) charismatic communication and faith healers; (4) the ideology…

While the chapters of this book present a variety of perspectives, they share the common goal of redirecting and revitalizing research on written composition. The authors review research on written discourse and the composing process and raise questions regarding information and skills that teachers and researchers need to consider. The chapters…

Since teachers have been encouraged to give attention to advertising, product advertising has been the subject of study, but because of the large amount of money spent on them, two other aspects of advertising need special attention: corporate-sponsored image (which deals with characteristics and image of the company rather than with products or…

Alice Childress, Lorraine Hansberry, and Ntozake Shange have in their plays created images of blacks that dispel the myths of "the contented slave,""the exotic primitive," and "the spiritual singing, toe-tapping, faithful servant." (BJV)

Examines speech delivered by President Eisenhower to General Assembly of the United Nations in December 1953. Demonstrates how a complex rhetorical situation resulted in the crafting and exploitation of a public policy address. Speech bolstered international image of the United States as peacemaker, warned the Soviets against a preemptive nuclear…

Raises questions about an aspect of rhetoric called the commonplace. Suggests how commonplaces may be applied to educational topics in innovative ways. Shows historical analysis can highlight assumed concepts and values in discourse, policy, and practices. Argues educators must increase awareness of the interrelated arts of rhetoric in teaching by…

Discusses Kenneth Burke's notion of "symbolic action" as applied to texts and how it mediates perceptions. Discusses some ways to teach students to get outside their own perspectives and notice what they are overlooking (thus teaching Burke's "perspective by incongruity"). (SR)

Describes science educators trying to effect systemic change as actors in a cultural field struggling to change it. Uses a conversational hermeneutic analysis of autobiographical writings to examine some of the salient features of bringing about change in science education. (Contains 35 references.) (Author/WRM)

This article finds Michael's Hand's argument for the abolition of faith schools to be deficient because key premises of his argument seem false. I argue that the concept of knowledge that Hand employs in arguing that no religious proposition is known to be true is overly strict. I reject Siegel's attempt to amend Hand's argument to make it…

This paper examines the problem of delivering a body of knowledge based on biomedical research as a school physical education discourse. The paper attempts to deconstruct the ideology of healthism upon which the discourse is based in order to show how ascetic practices in school physical education are promoted as a way of combating the hedonistic…

Religious education in England and Germany is similar in many respects and different in others. In both countries the subject must embrace religious plurality, and in both there are questions about the role of the religious communities in their relation to religious education. In recent his book, "Religious Education in a Plural, Western…

The United States blood plasma industry uses various rhetorics to access donors and markets its products while managing its stigma and potential legal liability. The industry includes both the public "nonprofit" sector and the private, for-profit blood collection and manufacturing businesses owned by pharmaceutical companies that rely on…

A study analyzed the potential rhetorical impact of AIDS-related television programming directed at preadolescents. The four programs selected for the study were all submitted in the children's television category of the Peabody Awards competition for the 1987-1988 season. They are (1) an episode of the PBS children's documentary series…

This paper describes the sources or speakers of the "new religions" as contemporary rhetorical-communicative movements and discusses their public speaking and communicative behavior. Specifically, the paper focuses on the relationship between spirituality and communication within the teachings of the leaders who nurture these new…

Noting the persistence of presidential "story" despite its critics, this paper maintains that presidential storytelling involves rhetorical skill and yields rhetorical benefits, and thus qualifies as strategic discourse. Initially examining presidential stories disguised as reports, termed "presidential episodes," the paper…