This study was conducted to explore the effects of expressing negative feelings and opinions through aggressive, assertive, empathic assertive, and unassertive content combined with assertive and unassertive styles. Perceptions of relational messages, attraction, and communication satisfaction were assessed. Several hypotheses were advanced. Results indicate that verbal content and communication style affected relational message interpretations. They did not, however, affect perceptions of attraction and communication satisfaction. Several implications were discussed concerning the evaluations of assertive and unassertive content and style.

Burgoon and colleagues have applied Expectancy Theory to the study of language intensity, arguing that a complex pattern of effects can be explained in terms of the expectations people hold for sources of persuasive communication. It is argued in this paper, however, that because expectations have not been directly examined, Expectancy Theory has not provided a fair test of hypotheses. The current investigation aims to alleviate this problem by determining whether expectations people have for male and female sources of persuasive communication do in fact differ. Using a variety of message topics, expectations for male and female sources were investigated by asking respondents to provide the language choices they thought would be most effective for male and female authors of persuasive communication. What the results suggest is that both men and women should utilize moderate to high intense language to be optimally effective in suasory attempts.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 40-09, Section: A, page: 4796. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1979.

This study explores the influence of the rhetoric of George Campbell (1719-1796) of Aberdeen on Alexander Campbell (1788-1866), American religious reformer, in order to clarify the relation of A. Campbell's rhetorical theory to that current in his own day. / G. Campbell was selected for this study because of his prominence in developing modern rhetoric and because of A. Campbell's familiarity with his works. In order to describe rhetoric according to the principles of inductive science, G. Campbell structured a rhetoric of sense, expression, and purpose around the human being as the natural model for discourse theory. Just as a person consists of a mind and body acting purposefully, discourse consists of sense and expression, cooperating toward one of four ends: to enlighten, to delight, to move, or to persuade. Any one of these ends will include as subordinate and necessary all previous ends. / In the category of sense, A. Campbell adopted every major feature of G. Campbell's analysis of natural logic, including an epistemologically oriented theory of words as signs and an emphasis on factual evidence and testimony. He shared G. Campbell's ideas on audience analysis and on the speaker's sympathetic image. / In matters of expression, A. Campbell derived his treatment of style from G. Campbell, including the doctrine of usage, the use of testimony to determine ancient usage, the psychological analysis of tropes, and the importance of perspicuity. Like G. Campbell, he applied these to Biblical translation and interpretation. / A. Campbell shaped G. Campbell's hierarchy of homiletical purposes into a coherent evangelistic strategy which involved stating and adducing the proofs for the Gospel narrative of facts, exhorting the listener to obedience, and teaching him after conversion. / G. Campbell's system of rhetoric unified A. Campbell's intellectual efforts in preaching, apologetics, translation, and education. Such unity demonstrates the profound power of the natural philosophy of rhetoric which G. Campbell pioneered. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-07, Section: A, page: 2153. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

This study surveys the effectiveness of impromptu speaking exercises used in college level speech courses. It also explores the effects of Feedback and Instruction to ascertain if these variables enhance the impromptu experience. Furthermore, this study examines how the overall effectiveness of impromptu speeches is affected by trait and situational communication apprehension. This study also explores the effects of impromptu speeches on trait and situational communication apprehension. / Subjects were 202 students enrolled in a public speaking course at a large southeastern university. Subjects gave an ungraded impromptu speech. Some subjects received special in-depth instruction on how to give an effective impromptu speech while others were given no instruction. In addition, after delivering the impromptu speech, some subjects received written feedback from the instructor while other subjects received no feedback. A survey which measured the effectiveness of the impromptu speech was given to subjects after they completed the impromptu speeches. Subjects also completed questionnaires which measured trait communication apprehension and questionnaires which measured situational communication apprehension. / Results indicated that the majority of subjects reported that the impromptu speech is an effective learning tool. Impromptu speeches were significantly more effective for the subjects who received instruction than for the subjects who did not receive instruction. There was no significant difference in the effectiveness of impromptu speeches for subjects who received written feedback and those who did not. There was no evidence that the impromptu speech lowered trait communication apprehension. There was, however, evidence that the impromptu speech may have helped reduce situational communication apprehension. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-07, Section: A, page: 2387. / Major Professors: Theodore Clevenger; John Payne. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1993.

Both a content analysis using Flesch Reading Ease Formula and other linguistic measures, and a traditional Aristotelian critical examination, were designed to determine why graduate students and faculty members alike find Kenneth Burke's writings difficult to read and to comprehend. This is especially true of the sections dealing with agency and purpose, two of the units of the dramatistic pentad. Critics have labelled the pentad an agency tool, because it is the process taxonomy to activate Burke's theory of identification. / A survey of the philosophic substructures of the pentad (act, scene, agent, agency and purpose), and the areas of agency, especially, revealed a major weakness in the construct: the mystic perspective of purpose does not allow for the non-mystic outlook of either the rhetor or the critic. / Application of the Flesch Reading Ease Formula and the Gunning Fog Index was unsatisfactory, because the sections proved to be readable at the college freshman level. This does not agree with the consensus of rhetorical scholars, students and faculty. / When the study turned to a traditional Aristotelian approach, it was determined that the reading difficulty stems from poor organization, changing definition of terms, and most especially, a dialectic style that goes around a point with many digressions before coming to that point. / This study concludes that beginning readers of Burke begin with "The Rhetoric of Hitler's 'Battle,'" a very readable example of Burkean criticism. Then the reader should move on to the "Introduction" of A Grammar of Motives, which presents the pentad. Finally, the reader could attempt Part I of Permanence and Change, before going on to other Burkean writing. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-08, Section: A, page: 2302. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.

This study examined the rhetoric of Larry Flynt and the content of his publication, Hustler magazine. / Flynt's rhetoric, analyzed from the dramatistic perspective suggested by Kenneth Burke, was found to feature two terms--purpose and agency. Flynt radicalized purpose and agency--an act which illustrates Burke's dramatistic approach to rhetoric. Flynt's rhetoric is divided into two stages, and certain rhetorical goals and strategies are suggested. / The content of Hustler magazine was analyzed. Seven content categories were analyzed from a sample drawn from each year--1974 to 1982. Results are reported for each category, and profiles of Hustler for each year are constructed. Three stages are discerned in the evolution of Hustler. / The present study concluded that the content of Hustler, particularly the infrequent use of black nude models and the frequent use of black stereotypes in cartoons produced unintended messages which contradicted Hustler's intended messages. Finally, the study suggested that Larry Flynt, through Hustler, has made an important contribution to the cause of free expression in America. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-09, Section: A, page: 2829. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

This study examined synchronous nonverbal behaviors between interactants in a dyadic conversational exchange as a plausible explanation for differences in ratings of interpersonal attraction and communication satisfaction by outside observers. Sex of interactant and sex of observer were also considered as additional explanatory variables for rating differences on the aforementioned scales. / Two video tapes were produced utilizing a male and a female confederate engaging in a short conversation. Synchrony was manipulated by altering the turn-taking cues employed during the conversation. High synchrony was depicted as appropriate turn-taking cues in 25 of 30 speaker-listener exchanges while low synchrony was operationalized through appropriate cues in only 6 of 30 exchanges. / Subjects were led to believe that the video taped conversation was part of an interviewer rating procedure for a university survey center and the two confederate actors were but two of a large number of newly hired interviewers. Subjects were also led to believe they would personally meet and talk with the members of the video taped interaction immediately following the rating session. / Eighty-nine undergraduate males and 213 undergraduate females were randomly assigned to rate one of the two participants (male/female) in either the high or low synchrony condition. Two dependent measures were used to test the hypotheses that persons observing a high synchrony conversation would perceive interactants as more interpersonally attractive and the communication event as more satisfying than those who observed a low synchrony interaction. / Results indicated that subjects who viewed the high synchrony conversation perceived the interactants as more interpersonally attractive than persons who viewed the low synchrony tape. Subjects also gave higher ratings of communication satisfaction when exposed to the high synchrony exchange. / The two main effect hypotheses regarding level of synchrony were statistically supported. However, attempts to uncover associations between sex of interactant and sex of observer in explanatory terms of interpersonal attraction and communication satisfaction differences were nonsignificant. No consistent trends for main effect sex variables or interaction effects were demonstrated. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-07, Section: A, page: 1972. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

This experiment was conducted to determine the effects of interpersonal attraction, professional status and disclosure level on inclination to disclose within a dyad. Two levels of each variable were tested, yielding eight hypotheses developed from the central proposition of exchange theory. Eighty undergraduate students participated in the study which required them to interview a female confederate, posing as a candidate for a faculty position at the university they were attending. During this interview, participants were encouraged to talk spontaneously with the confederate though her own responses were scripted. Each interview was audiotaped and later content-analyzed for breadth and depth of disclosure. It was predicted that the confederate high in interpersonal attraction and high in professional status who disclosed intimate information would promote the greatest number and the most intimate disclosures from the participants. Results indicated that of the three variables tested, only disclosure level significantly influenced disclosure on the part of the participants and, in fact, only depth of disclosure was affected. Implications for exchange theory as an explanation for disclosure reciprocity are discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-07, Section: A, page: 1971. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

This study sought to determine the nature of feminist theatre as a persuasive process and to determine the correspondence between the rhetoric of feminist theatre and the ideology of the women's movement. Feminist theatre is a small, but strong, form of in-group communication that primarily serves the left wing of the women's movement. / Evidence was gathered from feminist theatre groups located primarily in the eastern and central United States. The analysis of twenty feminist dramas, dating from 1967 to 1982, served as a focus for the study. The plays were categorized under three general headings: "sexual politics," "the woman-identified woman," and "family roles and relationship." Within the categories, each play was subjected to rhetorical analysis based on an Aristotelian method. The analysis was primarily designed to discover modes of proof and types of discourse as indicators of the rhetorical structure of feminist drama. The examination of the drama showed that feminist plays contain rhetorical features similar to other radical women's liberation rhetoric, and the major issues discussed in the drama do have a direct link to the radical ideology of the women's movement. / In addition to the analysis of the plays, a model was developed which showed how feminist theatre functions as a multi-locational rhetorical process. The model was a basis for the discussion of the communication interchanges that take place in the feminist theatre phenomenon. The locations in the process where persuasion occurs include the research and discussion period when a group works on a new play, the actual performance of the drama, and the discussion between audience and actors that often follows a performance. The thesis was advanced that the type of persuasion occurring is primarily belief-bolstering. Both actors and audience members are feminists who, as a result of emotional involvement with the drama, strengthen their commitment to feminist convictions. The logical arguments in the drama offer a rational justification for commitment and provide the women with arguments which can be used against the opposition. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-07, Section: A, page: 1971. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.