This purpose of this study is to investigate the apologetic rhetoric of professional
athletes’ off-field scandals. The three case studies used were Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant,
and Michael Phelps. A genre analysis was conducted to determine the success or failure
of the speech by examining the image repair strategies used during the rhetoric.
Further research revealed that the audiences’ perception plays a large role in
determining if the rhetoric was successful or not. Two factors that aid the audience are
the medium in which the public address was given, and the time it took to deliver the
speech once the off-field scandal took place.
The findings determined that Tiger Woods apologia was not successful, while
Kobe Bryant’s was successful. The rhetoric of Michael Phelps’ speech lacked in delivery
and strategies chosen. To have a successful apologia, one should have a clear use of
strategies as well as a timely public address. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fau.edu/oai:fau.digital.flvc.org:fau_34543 |
| Contributors | Epstein, Adam (author), Mulvaney, Becky (Thesis advisor), Florida Atlantic University (Degree grantor), Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies |
| Publisher | Florida Atlantic University |
| Source Sets | Florida Atlantic University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, Text |
| Format | 93 p., application/pdf |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder., http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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