This dissertation investigates the argument structure of verb phrases by identifying the syntactic roles and locations of the functional heads it consists of. Since the early 1990s, it has been widely accepted that the basic verb phrase consists of two distinct projections of a functional layer v/VoiceP, and a lexical layer √/VP (Chomsky 1995, Hale & Keyser 1993, Harley 1995; 2008a, Kratzer 1996, Marantz 1997). Recent developments in generative grammar, however, suggest that it may comprise of three projections (Pylkkanen 2002; 2008, Cuervo 2003, Collins 2005, Alexiadou et al. 2006, Harley 2013a, Merchant 2013): two functional projections – Voice, which introduces the external argument and licenses accusative Case; verbalizing v, which marks the eventuality type be/do/become/cause – and an acategorial lexical root (Cuervo 2003, Harley 2013a). In this dissertation, I explore the consequences of adopting the tripartite theory of verb phrases with two particular foci: (i) the structure of applicative and causative constructions and the interactions between the two; (ii) languages where the applicative and causative constructions are formed by attaching affixes to the verbal root. The main proposal of this dissertation is that various morpho-syntactic behaviors of applicatives and causatives and their cross-linguistic variation can be captured with two tools: (i) the hypothesis of the tripartite verb structure; and (ii) an understanding of the selectional criteria of the functional heads – Voice, Appl, and v – and their head-specific properties. The tripartite assumption solves for us some empirical puzzles and raises some new questions. I show that the three major achievements of the tripartite hypothesis are that it provides a syntactic account of the constraints on applicative and causative affix ordering, the distinct patterns of functional heads in their ability to introduce arguments, and the disparate morpho-syntactic behaviors of the three causative types due to the size of their complements. I then provide answers to some new questions that follow from the transition to the tripartite hypothesis. I elaborate the selectional mechanisms of the Voice, Appl, and v heads involved in applicatives and causatives. I reinterpret previously established facts about applicatives and causatives within the updated verbal structure.

An analysis and discussion of selected writings of Jim W. Corder, this project traces the development of Corder's theory of rhetoric across four decades, spanning from the late 1950s to the late 1990s. As one of the most prolific scholars in the history of the modern discipline of rhetoric and composition, Corder's body of writings is a continuous work in progress, one that begins with Corder's initial interest in rhetoric study within the context of literary criticism and grows into his in-depth consideration of the history and canons of rhetoric, with specific emphasis on theories of ethos and invention, the teaching of composition, the liberal arts tradition, and his later engagement with postmodern theories authorship, memory, and identity. The dissertation seeks to reclaim and reassert Corder's rhetorical perspective as means to shape future research in rhetorical analysis and composition pedagogy.

This thesis is comprised of thirty-three poems which I have written over the last year. All are lyrical and most are written in free verse, although there are a few traditional forms as well. The poems treat a range of topics and have been arranged accordingly under four broad categories: The Social, The Spiritual, The Natural, and Poetics. These four categories represent the main themes explored in the collection and serve to unify the poems according to topic. However, nearly every poem echoes, either in imagery or in ideas, the dominant themes from one or more of the three categories to which it does not belong, and these linkages are as integral to the overall structure of the work as its divisions. Titled “Everything is an Argument,” this thesis explores the emotional and intellectual stances we take in response to our experiences and surroundings. At the same time, it seeks to reflect that the boundaries between our critical categories are permeable, and that the way we understand the world in one respect is intrinsically linked to the way we encounter it in other areas. Furthermore, what the things are that we encounter are as fluid as our understanding of them, and while our labels are useful, even important in certain ways, they need not be absolutely delimiting.

For my dissertation, I analyze the impact of English philosopher Stephen Toulmin's 1958 The Uses of Argument on philosophy and rhetoric. Because Toulmin holds that arguments must be assessed in relation to their original contexts, I begin by examining the intellectual context surrounding The Uses of Argument. I trace the development of formal, symbolic logic from the latter part of the nineteenth century and into the middle of the twentieth century. I argue that Toulmin was inspired by the work of ordinary language philosophers such as Ludwig Wittgenstein; with The Uses of Argument, Toulmin challenges the mathematical, deductive, and positivistic logics of philosophers such as Rene Descartes and Bertrand Russell. Next, I consider features of The Uses of Argument that are overlooked or misunderstood by critics and reviewers, including Toulmin's discussion of probability, field-dependent and independent aspects of arguments, and epistemological theory.After finding that many of the reviews of Toulmin's work were not as critical as recent scholars of rhetoric have portrayed, I evaluate the various ways philosophers and speech communication scholars have responded to Toulmin's arguments. Before examining composition scholars' uses of Toulmin, I briefly trace the development of argumentation in composition instruction. Then, I evaluate the wide range of reactions to and uses of Toulmin's work by composition scholars.Finally, having examined the intellectual history, the critical reception, and the variety of scholarly applications of The Uses of Argument, I offer my own application of Toulmin's work. I explain that good, "Toulmin-inspired" arguments are (1) contextual, (2) supported, and (3) multi-sided. Using student examples from my freshman composition courses, I demonstrate how students and I have used Toulmin's schema in several stages of the writing process, including invention and revision. I conclude that while Toulmin's work has had a significant impact on argumentation theory and pedagogy, rhetoricians-particularly composition scholars-have not yet fully realized the rhetorical and epistemological implications of The Uses of Argument. / Department of English

Zugl.: Braunscchweig, Univ., Diss., 2005

Univ., Diss--Tübingen, 2007.

<p>My dissertation is about good arguments and why they fail to persuade. Besides being a common experience of everyday life, this is an old worry of Plato's that continues to motivate two contemporary lines of research. The first concerns what makes something a good argument, and the second concerns what a mind must be like to be moved by one. Together, these lines guide my project and divide it into two parts. Part I is about good reasons, specifically epistemic reasons. In my first chapter, I defend epistemic instrumentalism, the position that epistemic reasons are good reasons only relative to one's epistemic preferences. I acknowledge that epistemic instrumentalism opens the door to a terrible proliferation of incompatible preferences, but claim that this is merely a potential problem, and not an actual problem to be solved. In my second chapter, I discuss the nature of reasonhood, and argue, contrary to orthodoxy, that there is no compelling reason to accept the skeptic's claim that, because of the inconsistency of three very basic epistemic preferences, it is impossible for any position to be conclusively safe to hold. Part II is about immovable minds. Immovable minds are minds that are unpersuaded by good reasons. In my third chapter, I argue that for good reasons to be persuasive, the properties that make them good reasons must be identified, through habituation, with other desirable qualities like pleasure or success. Identifying the merits of good reasons with other rewards cultivates intellectual character, and intellectual character, as I argue in my final chapter, remains worth cultivating, notwithstanding situationist doubts about the existence of character and intuitionist concerns about human rationality.</p> / Dissertation

Tout comme en français, il existe en comorien un nombre important de séquences adjectivales qui s’utilisent uniquement à l’oral. Ces adjectifs à forme complexe n’ont jamais fait l’objet d’études dans le milieu linguistique comorien. Ils sont remarquables du sous-type Prép N : harimwa ra narenga et A hama N : mudu hama izinga. Ils expriment un état et sont pronominalisables. Ils sont susceptibles d’être analysés comme des adjectifs prédicatifs par le fait qu’ils ont la même propriété syntaxique que les adjectifs simples : ils sont compatibles avec la position épithète aussi bien que la position attribut.L’analyse morphosyntaxique et l’analyse syntactico-sémantique de ces adjectifs complexes en emploi prédicatif permettent de comprendre que leur caractère figé répond aux deux conditions du figement : ils sont polylexicaux et sont dotés d’un certain degré de figement, la deuxième condition peut être mise en évidence du fait que, dans ra narenga, on ne peut pas substituer narenga par un autre élément. Ali nge harimwa ra narenga, *Ali nge harimwa ra nauvura.Dans cette étude contrastive franco-comorienne, nous avons procédé à un recensement exhaustif des locutions adjectivales du comorien et établi une typologie de ces prédicats adjectivaux en utilisant les mêmes principes que pour le français. / As in French, there are a significant number Comorian of fixed adjectival sequences that the use only oral. Adjectival these sequences have never been studied. They are remarkable subtype Prep N, Adj as Det N (the angels, thick as a brick…). These predicative adjectives to express a complex shape condition and the pronominalisables. They may be analyzed as predicative adjectives in that they have the same syntax as simple adjectives property they are compatible as well as the epithet that the attribute position. The morpho-syntactic analysis and semantic analysis of the adjectival sequences allow us to understand their fixed character meets two conditions congealing: polylexicaux and they have a certain degree of fossilization, the second condition can be demonstrated the fact that you can not replace a word with another word. In our study contrastive Franco-Comorian, we conducted an exhaustive survey of adjectival phrases from Comoros and established a typology of adjectival predicates using the same principles as for the French.

This study investigates ethical argumentation in Perelman and Gadamer to claim that the central theoretical framework in each philosophy simultaneously inflects and deflects available avenues of persuasion. I argue in each system there is a “confused notion” whose ambiguity underpins the available methods of rhetorical argument. For Perelman, the confused notion of the universal audience and its relationship to epideictic rhetoric determines the form of ethical persuasion that requires consensus in order to incite action for justice. For Gadamer, the confused notion of Vorurteil (prejudice, or fore- judgment) is used to critique tradition, Enlightenment reason, and historical hermeneutics. This mode of ethical argument suggests that open dialogue with an other is the best means for addressing prejudice in order to reach mutual understanding. I argue that by placing these two approaches to ethical argument into critical dialogue, their respective capacities, limitations, and distinctive rhetorical outcomes can be more clearly apprehended. / 10000-01-01

Essay writing is one of the major academic practices that students are expected to master and display. As there is a paucity of information on the nature of sociocultural influence on second language education in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, this study attempts to contribute to knowledge on writing, in general, and on argument writing, in particular in the sociocultural context of the Vhembe District. The central premise for this study is that the way an environment constrains second language learners or frees them to explore and to learn is constituted by sociocultural factors and this includes pedagogical processes. In sociocultural theory, the argument is that to truly understand the human condition, there is a need to analyse and interpret it within the relevant social, cultural and historical context. This is because a learner’s cognitive, language and academic development are strongly influenced by the sociocultural context in which they live and learn and the effect could be either negative or positive. This is because the identity of a learner is constructed in subtle ways that align an individual’s aspirations with societal goals. In this alignment, learning is performance based, and it also functions as a self-check mechanism in which written discourse illuminates relations, such as the ones between discourse and value systems, which are transmitted through the education system. This study attempts to understand and explain second language writing within the Vhembe sociocultural context. Such understanding has emanated from abstractions from experience, the exploration of the literature reviewed for the purpose, and from the evaluation and interpretation of the students’ engagement in the samples, which have been included in the appendices. The students’ performance in writing was taken as an illustration of sociocultural influences. Using document analysis, observations and abstractions, the study found that students are not proficient in writing in general, because of sociocultural parameters, such as collectivism, weak uncertainty avoidance, a restricted code background, a culture of conserving knowledge, lack of discursive interaction, content orientation and first language literacy. Pedagogy also has an influence on competence, because of the way writing is approached in the learning/teaching situations. Learners seem to have a limited capacity in constructing sentences in the correct tense, use of both metadiscourse and cohesive devices. The study indicates the need to consider learners’ social identity as well as their environment as a way of illustrating the complexity and pertinence of socioculture. This recognition has been given assent through the intervention strategies that are explored and built into the recommendation. The recommendation is that the natural context in which the learners are immersed should be given clarity and should be explored in the English lesson. In this regard, intervention approaches and strategies for learner activities are based on this schema and on collaboration between facilitators of English language learning and content and Mother Tongue facilitators. / Thesis (DLitt (English))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / English / unrestricted