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.

This study focuses on the identification and analysis of the three Aristotelian modes of proof (logos, ethos, pathos) incorporated into editorials written by two United States Virgin Islanders, David Hamilton Jackson and Rothschild Francis during the period 1917-1926. / After the United States purchased the Virgin Islands (St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John), formerly the Danish West Indies, from Denmark in 1917, times continued to be turbulent and unsettled for the Islanders. Jackson and Francis, both labeled "agitators," advocated reform. Jackson in his St. Croix-based newspaper The Herald and Francis in his paper The Emancipator, published in St. Thomas, advanced arguments in favor of United States citizenship, a shift from a U.S. Navy-controlled government to a civilian one, and suffrage for the Virgin Islander. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-03, Section: A, page: 0609. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

This study was designed to test the reliability and validity of Cushman's conceptualization of communication rules. Reliability and validity were tested by operationalizing communication rules and having subjects rate the rule for appropriateness. / Communication rules were operationalized by utilizing behaviors from Shimanoff's Communication Rules and situations constructed by the researcher. Behaviors were classified using Bale's Interaction Process Analysis. Situations were classified using Cushman's definition of interpersonal, group, organizational and mass communication. The combination of behaviors and situations produced 192 rule statements. One-hundred two subjects rated each of the rules on a seven-point semantic differential scale anchored by the adjective pair appropriate-inappropriate. / Primary data analysis for reliability were measures of internal consistency. Crombach alpha was used for combinations of items. Standard deviations were used to compare individual items. The apparent reliability of some items could be explained by the cellar and ceiling effect of the scale, therefore no conclusive reliability was established. Since no reliability was established the validity analysis was purely investigatory. / Future research should strive to reduce the ambiguity of rules and to develop a more precise scale for determining orientation toward a rule. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-10, Section: A, page: 2925. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

This historical-critical investigation traces John F. Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign from behind-the-scenes strategy sessions to formal speech making. The making and projecting of images are examined with focus on the methods by which an image was purposely created and conveyed to the public. Primary source material, largely from the John F. Kennedy Library, included unpublished, unedited letters, memoranda, briefing and position papers, recorded interviews, minutes of meetings, policy studies, and other types of personal and interoffice communication. / The investigation analyzes Kennedy's potential image liabilities: his age, his health, his wealth, his religion, and his lack of executive experience. How these problems were managed is explored with emphasis on Kennedy's most critical liability--his religion. The religious charges leveled against Kennedy found in periodical articles and anti-Catholic hate literature are examined. The various methods that local, state, and national organizations used to handle the "religious issue" are described. / The Community Relations Committee, an ad hoc group formed to combat the religious issue, is investigated and an assessment is made of the committee's effectiveness. Also included is an examination of the declarations and resolutions drafted by various Protestant denominations in response to the inflamed religious issue. / Kennedy's major address on religion was given to the September 12, 1960, Greater Houston Ministerial Association. The September 7 statement issued by the National Conference of Citizens for Religious Freedom acted as a chief motivating influence for Kennedy's accepting the Houston invitation. The statement, released by a group of prominent Protestant ministers, is analyzed using Kenneth Burke's dramatistic theories. Conclusions are reached regarding the impact that the declaration had nationally. / Kennedy's Houston speech and the interrogation period that followed are analyzed using Kenneth Burke's pentad as a rhetorical tool. The analysis identifies rhetorical strategies and evaluates their effectiveness. Conclusions are reached on how Kennedy and his advisers diffused and neutralized the religious factor as an acceptable campaign issue. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-10, Section: A, page: 2924. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

Recently neurophysiologists have made significant advances toward understanding human behavior. This dissertation integrates these advances within the rubric of communication, by presenting and testing a neurophysiologically based communication model. / Three relatively autonomous processing loci, each manifesting a unique logical program, are defined; (a) the limbic system--a preconscious, nonverbal, emotional program, (b) the right hemisphere--a nonverbal, visuo-spatial, synthesizing program, and (c) the left hemisphere--a verbal, analytic, sequential program. / The method by which these loci interract is then used to explicate human behavior; i.e., the right hemisphere and limbic system are said to control behavior more as physiological arousal increases. / This model is then used to generate theories of emotion, culture, and persuasion. Emotion is currently explicated from four theoretical perspectives. By identifying the neurophysiological substrates of each theory an holistic theory of emotion is generated; eg., body feedback theory-neural tracts connecting the body with the limbic system; central neural theory-limbic system; cognition arousal theory-left hemisphere; hemispheric theory-right hemisphere. / Cultural scripts are said to exist within each locus. Thus to alter cultural norms both verbal and nonverbal persuasion must transpire (probably in that order). / Finally persuasion theories are defined as situationally guided attribution theories in which a state of physiological arousal creates belief plasticity while the experimental method dictates to type and direction of belief change. / The model is experimentally tested within a persuasion scenario. The relationship between the channel (verbal, visual) used to form, attack, and measure (verbal, behavioral) a belief is tested. Results indicate that given a visually formed belief, a visual attack is most effective when measured behaviorally while a verbal or visual attack generate equal effects when measured verbally. / Lastly, a paradigmatic shift in research focus is advocated; i.e., because the scientific method reflects only one of three logical modes it cannot hope to generate an understanding of human behavior, an holistic approach is thus advocated. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-05, Section: A, page: 1531. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1986.

The purpose of this study was to determine the nature of three leading American newsmagazines' image of, and related attitude toward, both the Arabs and the Israelis during the period of two years before and one year after Israel's invasion of Lebanon. / Newsweek, Time, and U.S. News and World Report were selected. News and editorials for the period June 1, 1980 through May 31, 1983 were examined and content analyzed. The period of the study was divided into twelve quarter blocks. Editorials were analyzed separately. A systematic sample was drawn from news topics and items. Every third column-inch from a random start was analyzed. The unit of analysis was the term (adjectives, nouns, verbs, adverbs). A category system was developed. Each nation constituted a major category. Nation in general, people, leaders, institution, policies/actions, economy, religion, location, and other were subcategories. Evaluative terms were used to measure the magazines' attitude; whereas evaluative and descriptive terms were used to detect the image. The author and two American graduate students coded the data. / Major findings were: (1) There was a shift, mostly negative, toward the Israelis, and a quite similar shift, somewhat positive, toward the Arabs. (2) Economy, policies/actions, and leaders were the major sub-elements hurting Israel's image. (3) Institutions, people, and extremist leaders along with their policies and actions were the principal sub-elements affecting Arab nations' image. (4) "Oil-rich" Arab countries and those involved in direct conflict with Israel received much more attention than other Arab nations. (5) Arab nations received slightly higher favorable and neutral percent evaluations than Israel in the news articles and items. The Editorials were slightly more favorable toward Israel than the Arab nations. (6) All three newsmagazines assigned both the Arabs and the Israelis more negative terms than positive or neutral ones. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-11, Section: A, page: 3238. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.