Media Rhetoric

Speech, script, and performance: Towards a public poetics of the political speechwriter’s role

by Tom Clark

Published in PRism 8 (1), 19/12/2011

This article brings together and contextualises some ostensibly disparate ‘readings’ of political speeches from... more This article brings together and contextualises some ostensibly disparate ‘readings’ of political speeches from Australia and the United States, both good examples and not-so-good examples, to examine a characteristic that prevails in all public communication, and which is especially noticeable in politics.  That characteristic is the nexus between the poetic and the political in all public language.  In this case, it is grounded in a distinction between political speakers-as-performers and the advisors who script many of their performances for them.  The dynamics of this relationship are critical influences on the more publicly explicit relationship between speakers and their audiences.  Consequently, these dynamics are critical to our understanding of political discourse, and of public communication more broadly.

Report of the Committee on the Scope of Rhetoric and the Place of Rhetorical Studies In Higher Education

by Thomas Benson

On the Rhetoric of Second Amendment Remedies

by Brett Lunceford

Lunceford, Brett. “On the Rhetoric of Second Amendment Remedies.” Journal of Contemporary Rhetoric, 1, no. 1 (2011): 31-39.

The current political landscape seems rife with partisanship and toxic rhetoric. Although this is certainly nothing... more The current political landscape seems rife with partisanship and toxic rhetoric. Although this is certainly nothing new, there has been an increase in rhetoric that suggests that citizens take up arms against the government. In the wake of the shooting at a political rally held by Representative Gabrielle Giffords, the media began asking whether violent rhetoric could lead to violent acts and politicians began to call for greater civility in political discourse. This essay examines the rhetoric of Sarah Palin and Sharron Angle to explore the rhetorical implications of a worldview that deeply distrusts the government and considers armed insurrection as an appropriate corrective to a government run amok

Taking Public Address Seriously: A Graduate Students Response

by Jon Torn

Forum: The Seventh Annual Public Address Conference. Rhetoric & Public Affairs; Fall2001, Vol. 4 Issue 3, p515-524, 10p

methodologies, while obviously epistemologically and politically loaded, evolve. If objects are not static, neither... more methodologies, while obviously epistemologically and politically loaded, evolve. If objects are not static, neither are methodologies. Often methodological debates are ratcheted up a notch through totalizing claims that purport to fix those methodologies in ideological space. Such a heavily charged aura of debate can have a chilling effect on the development of graduate students who may reject a methodology out of hand because of its "conservative" or "radical" connotations. While deep investment with a particular set of objects creates the sort of detailed, thickly evocative work that gets read and advances our understanding, methodological fundamentalisms can only lead to critical stasis.