The Khalsa is a militant sect of the Sikh religion officially created by Guru Gobind on Baisakhi Day in 1699. Sikhism, as a religion and culture, existed within the overarching structure of lndian society during the reign of the Muslim Mughal Empire. Over the course of its history, Sikhism sought to evolve and adapt to internal and external pressures, and the creation of the Khalsa was a momentous and transformational step in that evolutionary process. Using Kenneth Burke's guilt-redemption cycle as a model, this study analyses the events that created the Khalsa. The study found that historical and social pressures provided the rhetorical exigence for the creation of the Khalsa. Guru Gobind isolated and used the guilt of the Sikhs people, the guilt of being passive observers in the face of external pressures, the guilt of living in caste-organized society, the guilt of living in a bureaucratic system wherein the priests had seized power and control, and the guilt of living without external markers of the faith. These sources of guilt were brought to the forefront by Guru Gobind, and resolved through the symbolic sacrifice of five men, after which Guru Gobind created the Khalsa as an answer. Through the Khalsa, its symbols and rituals, the Sikhs were provided with a way to escape the flaws and guilt of the old order. The creation of the Khalsa was an important milestone in the evolution of the Sikh culture and religion. Through this study, the processes and methods of this identity transformation were isolated. Guru Gobind activated social and collective levels of identity through the medium of performance in order to transform his audience of Sikhs into the Khalsa.

In Chicago on July 28th, 1960, Richard M. Nixon, vice-president of the United States was nominated as Republican candidate for president. This took place two weeks after the Democrats in Los Angeles chose John F. Kennedy, United States senator from Massachusetts as their candidate. The nominations of these two men marked the beginning of an historic race for office - the 1960 presidential campaign. Beginning with Mr. Kennedy’s nomination in July and continuing until election day, the campaign lasted for over sixteen weeks. This was a campaign of firsts. It was the first time two men so young had run for president. The election of either would have put America’s youngest elected president into office. It was the first time either candidate had visited fifty states in the union during a campaign. In the field of communication, this campaign marked the beginning of an era. For the first time in history, the two presidential candidates faced each other in nationwide television debate. On November 8th, the voters of America went to the polls and elected John F. Kennedy, the Democratic candidate, president of the United States. The New York Times in an article which showed the popular vote margin to be 112,801 states that “it was the closest Presidential race in 76 years”. The electoral college gave Mr. Kennedy a lead of 81 electoral votes over Mr. Nixon. Speech-making played a vital role in the campaign from the beginning to the end. This study is directed specifically toward the speeches of the Republican candidate, Richard M. Nixon.

Video games and academia have a long history with one another. Academic researchers have continued to debate the extent to which video games can materialize real world effects. In this thesis, I employ procedural rhetoric and feminist scholarship to analyze the rhetorical power of God of War. I focus on the game’s immersive procedures and the performances of masculinity from Kratos, Atreus, and Baldur. These three characters all perform different masculinities, and their interactions with one another inform the game’s portrayal of masculinity and fatherhood. By engaging in violence and depicting nuanced performances of masculinity, God of War positions the player to recognize harmful hegemonic masculine norms and their effects on men and their relationships. This is rhetorically significant, as God of War’s interrogation of hegemonic masculinity encourages players to interrogate hegemonic masculine norms in the material world.

In the third and fourth decades of the twentieth century Hiram W. Johnson was one of themost important men in Ameican public life. He attained his eminence through the power of the spoken wrod; as a master wielder of that power he is deserving subject for a study to which this thesis claim to be only the plodding and inept introduction. This thesis does not pretend to be an exhaustive study of Johnson's methods for three reason: 1. Its analysis of Johnson's speech composition is restricted to the third of the developmental stages listed above; 2. speeches selected for analyisis are restricted to the topic of U. S. foreing policy; 3. All but one of the speeches were made in the Senate, with its unique speech situation. It was felt that with this study thus qualified, it could not be adequately evaluated, nor could its conclusions be justified, without the inclusion of the speeches themselves in the thesis. This reasoning accountf for the fact that seventy-five percent of thtis thesis--the appendix--was written by Johnson. This paper is an attemps to determine the source of Johnson's personal influences on American foreign policy through an analysis of his oratorical methods and effectiveness.

It has been the purpose of this study to make a comparative analysis of the most significant characters in two selections of dramatic literature: Gordon Bottomley’s King Lear’s Wife and William Shakespeare’s King Lear. The significant characters are Goneril and Regan, the “evil influence” in both plays; the two Lears, the “neutral influence” in both plays; and Hygd and Cordelia in King Lear’s Wife and King Lear, respectively. Hygd and Cordelia are the “honorable influence” in the stories. It has been the further purpose of this thesis to delete from both plays all subplots which do not directly pertain to the Lear story and to include both plays in this volume for the use of presentation before an audience. The edited version of both plays uses Bottomley’s King Lear’s Wife as a prologue to Shakespeare’s King Lear. It is hoped that the total effect will give a new significance to the motives of Lear’s daughters and to the character of King Lear Goneril and Regan are given justification, through Bottomley’s play, for their evil actions in Shakespeare’s play.

This historical/descriptive study analyzes the speaking career of Belle S. Spafford and attempts to document the relationship between her speaking and her influence with her peers. For over fifty years, the dedicated woman served as a spokesman for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the National Council of Women, briding the gap between the secular and religious world of women. A rhetorical analysis of four speeches indicates the following findings: Mrs. Spafford appealed to her audiences through a focus on shared values; she had credibility because of her positions of authority and used it wisely; she effectively analyzed her audiences and their collective bond of interest; and she sought to convince and produce an effect without apparent force or authority. Her well-organized speeches are examples of the historical method of presentation with her style being clear and appropriate, but not particularly vivid. Mrs. Spafford is a product of her environment and her religon. She rose to positions of power where she achieved a significant level of influence through her skillful use of communication.

It is the purpose of this thesis to present the research, planning, and actual production procedures of the play entitled Harriet, as written by Florence Ryerson and Colin Clements. This is the production which was originally done by Gilbert Miller at Henry Miller's Theatre in 1943 with Miss Helen Hayes in the title role.

In this thesis I examine various theories of humor to establish an account of the functional roles of humor in social interaction and agentive development. These roles are integrated into a view of agency developed by G.H. Mead, and further refined by the recognition theory of Axel Honneth. The core thesis is: Humor is under-examined as an aspect of human interaction, because it plays such an integral role in individual agency and social development. Understanding how humor works helps to explain how agents are formed through the internalization of the expectations of others via processes of recognition, either positively or negatively. Through the explication of the core humor theories—superiority, relief, incongruity, and play—insight is offered into the various processes of basic human interaction, understanding, and identity. The work has theoretical application by proving Mead's and Honneth's emphasis on recognition for development is justified, while also correcting an overly positive view of recognition by outlining the social policing function of humor. But the thesis has also obvious practical value in day to day human interaction, as it shows that humor is able to address issues that are very difficult through other modes of communication and understanding. Humor’s role in agentive interaction and formation cannot be overstated, both as a mode of expression and coping, but also since the threat of embarrassment through ridicule underpins and motivates a great deal of human interaction. The negative ethical implications of the role of humor, which are often overlooked, are extensively outlined and developed through the conceptual frameworks of social power (punching-up and punching down) as well as act-centered vs. agent-centered views of discriminatory humor. The thesis offers and analyzes ready examples from the work of Chris Rock and Bill Cosby, and looks at the implications of each through the theoretical lenses fleshed out in previous chapters. Through this it is clearly demonstrated, not only how these theories interconnect, but as well how such knowledge is of obvious, and practical value in day-to-day human interaction.

This thesis explores the content of presidential communication to children, specifically the only three presidential speeches that have been designed for children. These three speeches are President Barack Obama's speech to children in 2009, George H.W. Bush's speech to children in 1991, and Ronald Reagan's speech to children in 1988. Through content analysis this thesis was designed to determine whether persuasive strategies were used in these messages to children, and if persuasive strategies were present, which ones were used. Through qualitative analysis conducting a focus group discussion with children exposed to one of the presidential speeches, this thesis also explored the speeches from children's perspectives. Political socialization theory is used as framework for developing the study, and three persuasive theories are used for analysis of the speeches. The findings provide insight into presidential communication to children and implications of future research in this area. Findings suggest that persuasive strategies are present and a variety of techniques are utilized in the speeches. The purpose and common topics of these speeches are also explored. Focus group findings support that children can identify persuasive strategies present in the speeches and provide insight into the knowledge children retain from exposure to the communication.

The Internet is a ubiquitous feature in everyday life, but its application to social movements has yet to be completely understood. This phenomenological study examines the lived experiences of bloggers who focused on the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) movement in the United States to understand the impact bloggers and their work as online activists have on existing LGBT social movement organization and operation. Data collection is gathered from semi-structured and open-ended interviews with four social movement bloggers using web-conference software over the course of three months. The results of this study indicated that internet has empowered individual activists, allowing them to gather a following and share their views to a large audience over the web, independent from existing social movement organizations. Consequently, bloggers and online activists maintain a relationship with existing social movement structure that is both collaborative and antagonistic. The results of this study contribute to the current understanding of social movement organizations as well as the impact of technological innovations on social movement advocacy.