In his Treatise On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons, the Southern Baptist preacher and educator of the latter nineteenth century, John A. Broadus, acknowledged the influence of classical and contemporary theorists upon his work. Among those named, particularly with regard to notions of argument, was Richard Whately, the Anglican Archbishop and rhetorical theorist of the early nineteenth century. The research task involved in this thesis was to determine whether and to what extent Whately's theory of argument was employed in Broadus's homiletic theory and practice. The writer gathered his data using methods of documentary research. Most of the sources were available at local libraries. Others, however, were obtained from the Universities of Kansas, Iowa, and Michigan. Materials by and concerning Broadus were obtained from various Baptist historical agencies.

This thesis examines the rhetoric of Theodore Dwight Weld's American Slavery As It Is: Testimony of a Thousand Witnesses. Published anonymously in 1839, Weld's publication became the longest antislavery tract in American history. It left its mark on the abolitionist movement itself and future antislavery literary works most notably Uncle Tom's Cabin. Despite its historical and rhetorical importance, Weld's text has been subjected to little critical exploration. This being the case, it is the goal of this study to find the dominant means of persuasion that Weld used to argue to antebellum northern audiences that slavery is evil and should be abolished. Weld accomplishes this goal by using a judicial motif throughout his tract. In his text, Weld acts as prosecutor and asks his readers to act as jurors in judging the legitimacy of slavery in the United States. In doing so, Weld relies on evidence in the form of testimony and newspaper advertisements to prove his arguments. I utilize the Hermagorian system of stasis to shed light on Weld's use of the judicial motif. This system points to four main questions, which represent the main stands of argument between a prosecutor and defense. The four main questions are the stases of conjecture, definition, quality, and objection. Under the stasis of conjecture I show that Weld demonstrates that slavery results when individuals are motivated by absolute arbitrary power. Under the stasis of definition I argue that the South offered the justifications of "necessary evil" and "positive good" in linking their way of life to the institution of slavery. Weld rejects these justifications and establishes his own account of slavery to be a thirst for absolute power over others. In the third stasis of quality I show that Weld argues that human nature is against slavery and therefore, should be abolished. In the last stasis of objection I show that Weld answers the question of whether abolitionists are justified in condemning slavery. Using The Hermagorian system of stasis shows that although each one is applicable to an analysis of Weld's tract, the stases of quality and objection are the most fruitful in establishing the effectiveness of Weld's rhetoric. By combining both emotion and logic for his jurors, Weld accomplishes his role as prosecutor in the case. Once his jurors act in accordance to the judicial motif as members of humanity and see the slaves in the same light, they are forced to bring back a just verdict of guilty because slavery is against the very essence of humanity itself. / Graduation date: 1999

L'histoire de la presse humoristique est un champ de la discipline qui a été redécouvert récemment. C'est pourquoi, jusqu'ici, l'oeuvre d'Hector Berthelot, rédacteur et éditeur de journaux satiriques à Montréal entre 1877 et 1895, a principalement été analysée sous l'angle de l'histoire de l'art. Mais cet intérêt pour l'aspect graphique des caricatures éclipse leur contenu, en plus de ne pas tenir compte du texte, qui constitue pourtant l'essentiel du travail de l'humoriste. Le présent mémoire se penche donc spécifiquement sur le propos des journaux de Berthelot. Plus précisément, il s'agit de déterminer les fonctions occupées par l'humour dans son travail journalistique. Pour ce faire, nous avons analysé les six titres dont il a été le rédacteur et l'éditeur, procédant par un examen général des journaux ainsi que par l'étude approfondie d'un échantillon représentatif. Dans un premier temps, nous brossons un portrait de l'homme et de son époque à l'aide d'extraits des différents journaux de Berthelot. Nous abordons son parcours, ses différentes feuilles, les conditions de production générales des journaux canadiens-français au XIXe siècle ainsi que la place spécifique de la presse satirique. Par la suite, nous identifions deux fonctions de l'humour dans l'oeuvre de Berthelot. La première est sa volonté d'indépendance, lui qui a évolué à l'époque de la presse d'opinion, dans un milieu très polarisé. Ne gagnant pas la faveur de son lectorat par une allégeance politique, il a eu recours à la blague pour le séduire. Ce procédé lui a donc servi à se faire pardonner de ne pas suivre l'une des principales normes régissant la presse de son temps. En s'exprimant par l'humour, notamment en employant des personnages dans des mises en scène satiriques, il a pu tenir ce discours inhabituel tout en conservant la sympathie du public. Le second objectif du ton ludique utilisé par Berthelot est de nature pédagogique. À une époque où l'analphabétisme connaissait une régression significative, il a voulu rendre ses journaux accessibles aux classes moins instruites. Il a donc employé des personnages et des images humoristiques accessibles, notamment en ayant recours aux références traditionnelles canadiennes-françaises, son public étant en grande partie issu de l'exode rural. Il a placé les décideurs de son époque dans des situations familières pour les mettre à la portée de tous, et ainsi favoriser l'intérêt populaire pour les questions politiques. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Hector Berthelot, Histoire, Journalisme, Humour, Québec 1877-1895.

Not available / text

Not available / text

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Even if they rely on apparently quite different investigation domains and ideologies, both Freud and Bakhtin participate to that current which in the XXth century would upset the foundation of the positivist thought and would modify profoundly the traditional conception of science, language and the cartesian vision of the conscience and of the human subject. The thought of one as of the other, therefore, surpasses largely the principal reason of their research: If Freud applies the principles of the interpretation of dreams to the study of literary works, Bakhtin expands on the novel theory and questions polyphony and dialogism of all language. In conception of the literary speech of Bakhtin and of the dreams of Freud, the signs, the speeches and the multiple intentions or affects that animate them are constantly in dynamic interaction and obey it seems, to mechanism of similar transformation. The problem of interpretation is at the center of their works. The two authors are at the same time theoreticians and analysts of whom the theory of literature, of speeches, of work and dreams, pass necessarily by an act of interpretation. We are aware of the role played by the novels of Dostoievski on the theoretical work of Bakhtin. For Freud also, the principles of the work on dreams, according to his own affirmation develop with the interpretation process. We have to think that for him as for the Russian researcher, the theory is always in a link of active complicity with the interpretation; that one and the other are constantly mutually reflected and determined. A compared analysis of their texts can put in evidence the proximity of the thought processes of the thinkers, but can reveal also the differences, with their consequences from the point of view of ideology, ontology, even ethics.

If one painstakingly analyzes and compares the novel, the theatrical and the libretto versions of Marguerite-Violetta, a several-time reborn character from the novel and drama Camille, one notices striking differences and gleans useful insights as to the peculiarity of the three genres involved (novel, theatre and opera) and as to the reductive work of the libretto writer who, by modifying the roles of the characters and the values they channel, achieves a synthesis that has no match in the works he draws from. / This thesis aimed precisely at highlighting the intervening differences among the three genres, while pointing out the changes which were introduced and the peculiar nature of the final product, the libretto of La Traviata .