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Our “terministic screens,” learned attitudes and assumptions that screen what we see, render much data invisible and thus hinder the study of South Asian rhetorics. I hypothesized that by using two terms central to the Vedic worldview—Ṛta and levels of speech theory—as a terministic key, a touchstone, I could better identify and study Vedic rhetoric on its own terms and understand its modes and methods. This study finds that together these terms give insight into the Vedic paradigm as a whole. Chapter two explores these terms, noting that beyond audible speech and silent speech-in-thought theorized in Western rhetoric, Vedic empirical study finds two deeper levels: Paṣyantī, sensing an idea as a gestalt, and Parā, the transcendental source of speech, and includes methods for using the full range and power of speech, an embodied literacy. String theory of quantum physics echoes the Vedic cosmology of speech and its power, and illustrates the principle that drives the Vedic rhetorical modes and methods, which the next chapters explore: chapter three, the nondiscursive rhetorics of mantra, chapter four, the didactic rhetorics of dance and of the guru-disciple dynamic, and chapter five, collaborative debate toward truth, and cosmic citizenship in the governing assembly. All are driven not by persuasion but attunement with Ṛta—Truth/all the laws of nature/Brahman—an eloquence that embodies cosmic harmony. Being vs. seeming, truth vs. truthiness: Could an alternate approach to current practice advance our understanding and teaching of rhetoric and raise the level of our civic discourse?

<p> Science fiction, since its earliest inceptions, has been a tool used often by authors to discuss and reveal societal issues. Orson Scott Card, following in the footsteps of the sci-fi giants before him such as Orson Wells, H.G. Wells, and Ray Bradbury, constructed the Ender&rsquo;s Quintet in order to discuss problems of war, religion, and politics that were prevalent at the time of the novels&rsquo; construction. This thesis seeks to determine how Card uses science fiction themes and tropes as rhetorical devices in order to depicts the issues within his society. More specifically I will observe Card&rsquo;s underlying Mormon agenda to determine the effectiveness of his work. The thesis is broken up into three sections: education, politics and religion. I will discuss how each part is dependent on the others and conclude with religion as one of Card&rsquo;s main purposes for writing is based in his Mormon faith. In order to do this, I will analyze the novels using several of Kenneth Burke&rsquo;s ideas including the definition of rhetoric, theory of identification, definition of man, and the pentad. I will apply Burke&rsquo;s theories to Card&rsquo;s work.</p>

Just as themes are important in the analysis of a movement, the means used to promote those themes are just as significant and that is the purpose of this paper. More specifically, the purposes are (1) to describe the sub-groups and report their goals, [2) to describe the numerous rhetorical devices extant in the movement, (3) to classify the subgroups into conservative or liberal categories: conservative, liberal, and those devices used by both conservatives and liberals, and (5) to suggest any trend of device usage which is apparent.

<p> This project seeks to understand the relationship between visual rhetoric and power structure between FEMA&rsquo;s Earthquake publications and their audience. Research shows images leave a longer impression on readers than text, causing more studies to focus on visuals rather than just text in technical communication. Author uses Critical Discourse Analysis to analyze the images in relation to text, design, and intended audience to determine what information is being privileged. It is determined that homeowners are being privileged with information over non-homeowners, established through a collection of images and image types. The lack of information for non-homeowners could result in injury or death of potential disaster victims, making it crucial for technical document revision.</p>

<p> This dissertation draws from research in memory studies, discourse analysis, ethnographic methods, and human rights rhetoric to argue that analysis of on-the-ground discourses in the form of lived narratives advances how we think about human rights. Eleven Bosnian Americans who came to Salt Lake City, Utah as a result of the Bosnian war in the mid-1990s were interviewed. I examine how participants share stories about prewar, wartime, and postwar life, and how trauma emerges from those narratives in the form of &ldquo;traumatic breach&rdquo; and &ldquo;(dis)placement trauma&rdquo;. My findings suggest that a practice of human rights is more effectively understood as <i>lived,</i> accounting for the enduring embodiment of trauma manifest throughout these collected, lived narratives, rather than as physical, static manifestations of violence. As opposed to universalist conceptions of justice put forth by The Hague, this research pays attention to local particularities as significant groundwork for theorizing human rights violations and war trauma.</p>

This dissertation examines the religious rhetoric of Ronald Reagan as part of a strategy to rebuild his political base following a disappointing level of support after his first two years in office. In particular, this examination will focus on a triad of speeches given to Christian Evangelicals within ninety days of a re-election Memorandum issued by Reagan Pollster, Dick Wirthlin. I will closely examine the texts of Reagan's early 1983 speeches to the National Religious Broadcasters, National Prayer Breakfast and the National Association of Evangelicals. In doing so I will show the way that the three speeches worked to convey the President's agenda in language that was commonly shared not only by those three groups but also by President Reagan. I'll argue that by using an intensified language of identifying symbols and linguistic nuances, the President was able to speak with a rhetorical urgency that was rooted in both the history of the Evangelical movement and Ronald Reagan's personal religious experience. Additionally, I'll show how Reagan's ability to linguistically identify with politically conservative Evangelical Christians was how he was able to successfully regain their confidence. The project will include original archival research from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and first person interviews with key Evangelical leaders who will assist in helping to better understand the context in which these speeches were given. The primary question asked and answered will be: "What did President Reagan say to rouse the support and attention of Evangelicals as part of a rebuilt coalition for his 1984 reelection?" / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester 2015. / August 14, 2015. / Communication, Evangelicalism, Reagan, Religion, Rhetoric / Includes bibliographical references. / Davis Houck, Professor Directing Dissertation; Amanda Porterfield, University Representative; Jennifer Proffitt, Committee Member; Stephen McDowell, Committee Member.

Authority is a much contested concept often connected to notions of violence and control, and it emanates variably from class, institution, and now—as I argue—from digital convergence, which is the availability and shareability of information across multiple digital platforms at all times. This dissertation considers how digital convergence is responsible for taking what would otherwise be a difference of degree (simply more people sharing more information) and turning it into a difference of kind (people turning information sharing into knowledge making, previously the domain of institutions). Through the tools made available both online and on multiple technological platforms, individual users of the digitally converged network (though primarily users of the Internet) are building their own auctoritas. In the particular case of journalism, this threat primarily stems from individuals and groups of individuals sharing information online that both acts as news and critiques the mainstream media (MSM). Institutions are currently facing such a foundational threat through the platform-wide information availability and shareability of digital convergence and specifically through the topology and design of the network created by it (and which it simultaneously creates). This threat of digital convergence leads to a situation in which individuals and groups of individuals are empowered to create and maintain auctoritas outside the institutional structures that Western culture traditionally leans on for authority and knowledge creation. The individual auctoritas uniquely enabled through digital convergence acts as a valid challenge to the institution's structure, causing it to respond with proto-authorization and other tactics designed to limit individual auctoritas and maintain institution per se. The Fifth Estate, considered and defined in this dissertation, is a porous border across which the needs of American journalism consumers are met both by journalists and by consumer subjects moving into the journalism role just-in-time. Porousness of the border between production and consumption of cultural knowledge is a threat to an institution whose job traditionally has been considered to be cultural knowledge creation. In many ways, this movement across the porous border between news consumer and producer is neither a new concept nor a new practice. The difference is one of technology and performances. It is through the affordances of a globalized social structure and a global technological connection, as well as ubiquitous access to multiple platforms, that a Fifth Estate can become influential enough to need defining—that is, influential enough to bring American journalism back to its roots in citizen auctoritas. I use three sub-case studies to look at ways the Fifth Estate makes use of tools of digital convergence to cross this porous border and challenge the institutional authority of the Fourth Estate. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester 2015. / October 26, 2015. / Authority, Digital, Internet, Journalism, Media, Rhetoric / Includes bibliographical references. / Kristie S. Fleckenstein, Professor Directing Dissertation; Davis W. Houck, University Representative; Ned Stuckey-French, Committee Member; Kathleen Blake Yancey, Committee Member; Michael Neal, Committee Member.

Several waves of calls for writing centers to address digital and multimodal texts exist, dating back to the 1980s. While these conversations gained momentum at the turn of the century with the popularization of multiliteracy centers and scholarship supporting them, most of the scholarship in this area focuses exclusively on individualized, practitioner inquiry. This dissertation embraces a descriptive methodology by mixing qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection to gain a more complete view of the practices currently in place to educate tutors in a wide variety of academic support structures so they can assist with digital multimodal compositions. Chapter 1 provides both the context for this study and a literature review. In this chapter three key terms— multimodal writing center, digital multimodal composition, and tutor education— are all given context and working definitions. After introducing these key terms and their associated definitions, this study poses the three main research questions that drive the descriptive inquiry into tutor education methods detailed throughout the remainder of this study. After introducing and defining the key concepts and questions informing this study in the first chapter, Chapter 2 provides an explanation and rationale for the methods employed in this study. This study utilizes a nationwide survey and a series of semi-structured interviews conducted with the director, a more experienced tutor, and a less experienced tutor at three different targeted locations— Northern University, Southern University, Western University. This chapter also details the development of and final contents for the coding scheme employed throughout this study. Chapter 3 presents the results from the survey and interview responses. This chapter begins by discussing the survey responses. Next, the results are presented and sample responses are provided for each interview participant at the targeted locations, for all of the codes identified in the interviews, in the order of most-frequently used codes to least-frequently. Chapter 4 looks more closely at the responses across the interviews and case studies. This chapter is structured around the 3 main questions informing this study, broken into 6 overall answers. The answers to these questions lead to the development of an initial framework for describing the landscape of tutor education for assisting with digital multimodal compositions that I call the “AAA Framework.” The final chapter of this dissertation— Chapter 5— outlines the implications and limitations of this study, and the need to continue exploring the ways tutor education for digital multimodal compositions is being conducted, so as to continue (re)shaping the framework developed in response to the data collected in this study. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2018. / April 6, 2018. / Composition, Digital, Education, Multimodal, Tutor, Writing Center / Includes bibliographical references. / Michael Neal, Professor Directing Dissertation; Gordon Erlebacher, University Representative; Kathleen Yancey, Committee Member; Kristie Fleckenstein, Committee Member.