Ronald H. Carpenter

Bio: Ronald H. Carpenter is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Economic Justice & Political sociology. The author has an hindex of 2, co-authored 2 publications receiving 6 citations.

On Allan Nevins, Grand Style in Discourse, and John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address: The Trajectory of Stylistic Confluence

Abstract: He wrote well. Among American historians, Allan Nevins was both prolific and eloquent. While working as a journalist from 1913 to 1931 (at the New York Evening Post, New York Sun, and New York World) as well as contributing to Collier's Weekly, Saturday Evening Post, and the New York Times Sunday Magazine, he wrote--in his "spare time"--history worthy enough to become DeWitt Clinton Professor at Columbia University. Upon retiring from Columbia in 1958 (at a then-compulsory age of sixty-eight), Alfred Knopf lauded him as, barring "perhaps two of three of his colleagues, the only scholar of his time who is writing history in the grand manner." After leaving Columbia, Nevins became Senior Research Associate at the Henry E. Huntington Library in San Marino, California, where he completed The Ordeal of the Union. After his death in 1971, the Huntington honored him by displaying a three-shelved library cart holding eighty-three books he wrote or edited. As fellow Research Associate Ray A. Billington noted, Nevins was "certainly the author of more than fifty books, edited at least seventy-five more, and published fully a thousand articles and reviews." (1) Nevins also drafted an important speech in "grand manner" On 23 December 1960, after John F. Kennedy officially was certified winner of the 1960 election, Theodore C. Sorensen as Special Counsel to the President-Elect--and speechwriter--sent this Western Union block wire to ten people: The President-Elect has asked me to collect any suggestions you may have for the Inaugural Address. in view of the short period of time available before Inauguration Day, it would be appreciated if we could have your recommendation by December 31. We are particularly interested in specific themes and in language to articulate these themes whether it takes one page or ten pages. Many many thanks. The ten recipients were Adlai Stevenson, Douglas Dillon, Joseph Kraft, Chester Bowles, Arthur Goldberg, Dean Rusk, Fred Dutton, David Lloyd, John Galbraith, and the person listed first: "Dr. Allan Nevins." On 29 December 1960, Nevins responded on Huntington Library stationary with a letter and enclosure back to Sorensen: Of course Mr. Kennedy can write any one of fifty different addresses, and 1 do not know on what lines his mind has been running. But here is a suggestion of one particular tone and set of ideas that seems to me practicable. I have given it so much work that I hope you will read it carefully. If it does so much as to point in any useful direction I shall feel immensely pleased. You have been bearing a tremendous burden, and in wishing you a Happy New Year I hope that you will also find one day of complete relaxation. Sincerely yours, (2) That "tone and set of ideas" from California "after so much work" is significant. In Ask Not: The Inauguration of John F. Kennedy and the Speech that Changed America, Thurston Clarke deemed it "the greatest oration of any twentieth-century politician." It was also the centerpiece of an inauguration that would turn out to be one of the great political events of that century, a moment when Americans would step through a membrane in time, entering a brief, still seductive, era of national happiness. More than any of the countless books about JFK, it is his inaugural that explains the Kennedy phenomenon to the heart as well as the mind, reaching across the chasm of years to connect the present with the beginning hour of his presidency, and the passion and optimism it excited. (9) After using the Kennedy Presidential Library, however, and mentioning the historian's enclosure, Clarke claimed "none of his sentences made the Sorensen draft or the inaugural" (70). In a subsequent, more authoritative account of the evolution of that speech, Richard Tofel also acknowledged the enclosure of 29 December--with his conclusion: Unfortunately, the enclosure is not in the file nor elsewhere in the Kennedy Library or in Nevins's papers at Columbia University. …

When "Surge" Signifies Rapid Increases of American Combatants Sent to Foreign Warfare: Classical Enargeia for Contemporary Metaphor

Abstract: The welcoming banner proclaimed "Mission Accomplished." On I May 2003, wearing sage green flight gear, President George W. Bush landed by U.S. Navy jet on an aircraft carrier off San Diego and announced victory by American armed forces in Iraq. With swift military might, Americans overcame Saddam Hussein's forces, ended the Iraqi dictator's regime, and brought him to trial for hangman's justice. Nevertheless, increasing deaths ensued for Americans--from rocket-propelled grenades, ubiquitous Kalashnikov assault weapons, and increasingly improved, lethal varieties of IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices)--in streets and alleys of Fallujah, Karbala, and Baghdad itself. By 1 May 2004, of 532 American service personnel killed in Iraq, 421 died after "Mission Accomplished" and 807 more deaths occurred from Memorial Day 2006 through Memorial Day 2007 (Carpenter 8-9). Americans' martial "mission" in Iraq could be "accomplished" only by more troops with "boots on the ground," and in his State of the Union Address on 10 January 2007, President Bush announced his deploying more combatants there. With growing public disfavor of continuing warfare, however, doing so could elicit comparisons to Vietnam in the 1960s and President Lyndon Johnson's crumbling credibility. Although "surge" is not in President Bush's 2007 State of the Union Address, a more rhetorically advantageous wording became necessary; and his decision morphed into metaphor, whereby in a radio address of 12 April 2008, President Bush could say, "fifteen months ago this week, I announced the surge." By January 2009, more than 4,000 American troops had died in Iraq. By October 2009, commentary about that continued warring compared American martial endeavor to colonial warfare in 1913. Against Somalia's legendary "Mad Mullah," who "prefigured the rise of Osama bin Ladin--and the 'forever war' between Islam and the West," British politicians argued for "a more aggressive stance--a 'surge,' in today's parlance" (Bartholet 42-47). When "surge" is everyday "parlance" and a literal word for a mode of warfare, its destructiveness, and continuing casualties, the metaphor merits inquiry. In a widely used dictionary, primary definitions of "surge" are "1. a) a large mass of moving water; wave; swell; billow, b) such waves or billows collectively. 2. a movement of or like that of a mass of water; violent, rolling, sweeping, or swelling motions: as the surge of the sea." Now, with ubiquitous computers and sophisticated home entertainment systems, Americans also know "surge" as "3. a short, sudden rush or excess of electric current in a circuit" (for which our surge protectors prevent damage). Quoted in 2007 newspaper commentary entitled "Words of War: Terms Carefully Chosen," George Lakoff noted how language "frames" political discourse: "It's no coincidence supporters of sending additional troops to Iraq advocate a 'surge' rather than an 'increase' ... [because] surge says it goes up and goes down--and not only that, it goes up and goes down quickly" (Stripling). From a larger linguistics perspective, "political and economic ideologies are framed in metaphorical terms. Like all other metaphors, political and economic metaphors can hide aspects of reality. But in the area of politics and economics, metaphors matter more because they constrain our lives" (Lakoff and Johnson 236). When "surge" constrains Americans' lives its analysis is predicated upon a directive drawn from studying organizational communication: identify and explain what is "exceptional--whether qualitatively or quantitatively--in producing or failing to produce, the desired effects" (Tompkins 432). A 2004 National Communication Association Golden Anniversary Monograph Prize went to an "exemplar of engaged, contemporaneous rhetorical criticism" in Rhetoric & Public Affairs (Spectra 17). Therein, John Murphy found President Bush's discourse after 11 September 2001 to be epideictic; for unlike "deliberative discourse" justifying "expediency or practicality" of future action (such as warfare), "epideictic rhetoric" uses "appeals that unify the community and amplify its virtues" in the present because audiences are "observers" of how communicators echo "the voice of the people" (609). …

John F. Kennedy at American University: The Rhetoric of the Possible, Epideictic Progression, and the Commencement of Peace

Abstract: In his American University address, Kennedy employed epideictic progression, a pedagogical process drawing upon dissociation and epideictic norms to convince listeners, gradually, to embrace a new vision—in this case, a world in which a test-ban treaty with the U.S.S.R. was possible. To do so, Kennedy's words: (1) united the audience behind the value of “genuine peace”; (2) humanized the Soviets as worthy partners in genuine peace; (3) established the reality of the Cold War and the credibility of U.S. leadership; and (4) connected lessons on genuine peace to domestic civil rights.

The Role of Metaphors in U.S. Foreign Policy: Global Leadership and the Carter Administration

Abstract: Attention to metaphor usage by political leaders can lead to a fuller understanding of the political process in U.S. foreign policy. However, metaphorical analyses of foreign policy have focused more on metaphors as rhetorical or legitimating devices rather than as cognitive “guides” for officials. In this light, the article assesses the usefulness of the metaphorical approach for understanding foreign policy by examining U.S. global leadership during the Carter Administration. The study begins by describing the evolution in metaphorical thinking by President Carter, his National Security Adviser, and his Secretary of State. Then the study explains the policymakers’ stability and change in metaphorical thinking over time. The findings indicate change in metaphorical thinking from optimistic to more pessimistic imagery during the administration. In addition, this change coincided with a shift in global leadership during the Carter years, reflecting a role for metaphors as cognitive guides through the foreign policy terrain.

The Persuasion in Joko Widodo’s Speech: A Comparison between the Indonesian Source Text and Its Annotated Translation in Mandarin

Abstract: This study aims to describe persuasion strategies used by President Joko Widodo in his political speech that is delivered at the 2018 IMF-World Bank forum. The study is conducted by comparing the speech in bahasa Indonesia as the Source Text (ST) and its annotated Mandarin translations as the Target Text (TT). In order to describe Widodo’s persuasion strategies, micro and macro level analysis is applied in this study. The former refers to the speaker’s language skills and the translations; whilst the latter refers to the speaker-oriented context and situations-oriented contexts. The result of the study shows that: (i) The translation of Widodo’s speech text has persuasive features of metaphors and catchwords; (ii) The translation technique applied to these features is “equivalent”; (iii) These features were used to encourage the audience to pay attention to the contexts-oriented persuasive messages and to take actions accordingly. Abstrak Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan strategi persuasi Presiden Joko Widodo dalam pidato politis yang disampaikan pada pertemuan IMF-Bank Dunia tahun 2018. Kajian tersebut dilakukan dengan membandingkan Teks Sumber (TSu) bahasa Indonesia dan terjemahan beranotasi Teks Sasaran (TSa) bahasa Mandarin. Guna mendeskripsikan strategi persuasi tersebut, studi ini menggunakan analisis mikro dan makro. Analisis mikro merujuk pada analisis keterampilan bahasa dan terjemahannya. Analisis makro merujuk pada konteks pembicara dan konteks situasi. Hasil kajian ini menunjukkan bahwa: (i) Terjemahan teks pidato Widodo menggunakan fitur persuasi metafora dan catchwords ; (ii) Teknik terjemahan yang diaplikasikan pada kedua fitur tersebut adalah “kesepadanan”; (iii) Fitur tersebut digunakan agar pembaca atau pendengar memfokuskan pada pesan persuasi yang berorientasi konteks, dan bertindak sesuai pesan persuasi tersebut.

Into the White House

Abstract: Ulyatt provides a useful overview of Kennedy’s transition to power in 1960 and examines how Theodore Sorensen carved out a unique role as Special Counsel to the President. The chapter explores how Sorensen set the agenda for the Kennedy administration through his leadership of a series of task forces that developed legislative proposals for the new government to pursue. It also identifies Sorensen’s central role in crafting the famous rhetoric of John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address, which focused on the themes of public service and national renewal. Further to this, the chapter examines the decision-making structures that Kennedy established in the White House and determines the part Sorensen played in supporting President Kennedy’s ambition to exert greater executive power over the other branches of government.

The year’s work in stylistics 2013:

Abstract: In the UK, 2013 saw the end of the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF) consultation. It is interesting to note how this exercise appears to have affected publication strategies, with 2013 being a comparatively light year for British academics in terms of volume of published work. Fortunately, while quantity may be down, quality is most certainly not. It is also gratifying to note that those colleagues outside the UK and unaffected by REF-related matters have continued to publish the excellent work that is a hallmark of our discipline. This is where we begin this year’s review.