Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Jimmy Swaggart's ordeal in 1983 provides the focus for this research. WBRZ's documentary and Swaggart's interview, hour-long video, and full-page newspaper replies are examined from the perspective of Lloyd Bitzer's "Rhetorical Situation." The degree to which Swaggart's responses were "fitting" is determined and insights regarding Bitzer's theory are provided. Reporter John Camp's program, "Give Me That Big Time Religion," was aired in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Thursday, May 19, 1983. Analysis of this documentary reveals that Swaggart stood charged with "Being in Business for the Money;" "Being Corrupt;" "Being a Manipulator;" "Being Too Political;" and "Being Big-Time Rather Than Old-Time Religion." Examination of Swaggart's replies corroborates that he perceived these charges to be exigencies he must address. Swaggart's discourses demonstrate that the perception of his "Being Anti-Catholic" also needed resolution. Bitzer's criteria for assessment of the appropriateness of Swaggart's replies include: the existence of genuine exigencies; the presence of a capable audience; reliance upon embedded constraints and interests; and the function of the discourse as a means or motivation for actual or probable alteration. This study concludes that Swaggart provided his audience with generalized explanations which would make sense. However, when specific replies to particular charges are assessed, Swaggart did not fare so well. In particular, Swaggart inadequately addressed the issues of his family getting rich, his accountability regarding the Children's Fund, that he often is corrupt, and that he manipulates others for money. Furthermore, this paper argues that Bitzer's "Rhetorical Situation" does not reveal more about the critic than the rhetoric; that meaning can be discovered as well as created; that rhetoric can be an effect not just a cause; and, that ethical responsibility of a rhetor is not removed due to the compulsion of "situation." Suggestions for future research include: examination of the discussion and debate concerning televangelism using Bitzer's approach; Swaggart's situation in 1983 as an ideal test case for the genre of apologia; and, a comparison of Swaggart's 1983 ordeal with that in 1988.

Thesis/Project (M.A.)--Humboldt State University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-103). Also available via the Internet from the Humboldt eScholar web site.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Mississippi, 1982. / Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (p. [233]-250).

Thesis (Ph. D. in Leadership and Policy Studies)--Vanderbilt University, Dec. 2006. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

The argument illustrated in the thesis outlines Zbigniew Brzezinski’s ability to manipulate himself and his agenda to top priority as the national security advisor to President Carter. It further argues that Brzezinski deserves more blame for the failure of American foreign policy towards Iran; not President Carter. The sources include primary sources such as Zbigniew Brzezinski and President Jimmy Carter’s memoirs as well as information from President Carter’s library in Atlanta, Georgia. Secondary sources include historians who focus on both presidential policy and President Carter and his staff. The thesis is organized as follows: the introduction of Brzezinski, then the focus turns to his time in the White House, Iran, then what he is doing today.

No description available.

The aim of this study is to analyse and contextualize in aesthetic theory medial phenomena such as intra-, inter- and transmediality, in Jimmy Liao’s picturebook Starry Starry Night. In order to analyse intra-, inter- and transmediality, I use Jørgen Bruhn’s mediality model based on the term heteromediality. In contrast to the term intermediality, heteromediality highlights that blending is a priority condition in all media, and that the blending aspects matter. Therefore, the mediality model focuses both on relations between several media and on relations within a single medium or a single artefact. The theoretical framework in the study is mainly based on intermedial theories and picturebook theories. However, in the analysis and in the aesthetic-theoretical contextualization I also use perspectives and concepts from aesthetic theories such as the term aesthetic and the term radical aesthetic. According to my findings, the medial phenomena in Starry Starry Night can have several functions and effects. Firstly, the medial elements can clarify, contradict, complement and expand the narrative. Secondly, the medial relations can contribute to an intramedial thematization and to a direct and indirect characterization. Thirdly, the medial dialogue can influence the interpretation, produce different interpretations and lead the readers’ reception. Finally, the medial phenomena can explicitly and implicitly challenge, revolt against and deconstruct certain values, power relations and beliefs about the world.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

This project explores how cosmopolitan personas rhetorically negotiate the space between local and global, discursively tying people to the national as well as to the global or transnational. It examines the possible co-existence of cosmopolitanism and nationalism while identifying how each is articulated in response to the other. As global networks become increasingly complex, rethinking borders and how they are articulated is essential. Can a quintessential cosmopolitan also be a public nationalist? Are cosmopolitan discourses compromised by their presumed lack of attachment to the local? To what extent and with what success are cosmopolitanism and nationalism siultaneously articulated? In order to study these and other questions, I analyze the public personas crafted by cosmopolitan figures Vaclav Havel, Jimmy Carter, and Edward Said. By illuminating how they negotiate that ambiguous space between locale and its absence, a project attentive to the rhetorical possibilities of discursive connection in a world increasingly devoid of shared loyalties and histories enables a fuller understanding of the possibilites of intercultural contact in a globalizing world.