Showing papers on "Rhetorical question published in 2011"
TL;DR: It is found that exposure to even a single metaphor can induce substantial differences in opinion about how to solve social problems: differences that are larger, for example, than pre-existing Differences in opinion between Democrats and Republicans.
Abstract: The way we talk about complex and abstract ideas is suffused with metaphor. In five experiments, we explore how these metaphors influence the way that we reason about complex issues and forage for further information about them. We find that even the subtlest instantiation of a metaphor (via a single word) can have a powerful influence over how people attempt to solve social problems like crime and how they gather information to make “well-informed” decisions. Interestingly, we find that the influence of the metaphorical framing effect is covert: people do not recognize metaphors as influential in their decisions; instead they point to more “substantive” (often numerical) information as the motivation for their problem-solving decision. Metaphors in language appear to instantiate frame-consistent knowledge structures and invite structurally consistent inferences. Far from being mere rhetorical flourishes, metaphors have profound influences on how we conceptualize and act with respect to important societal issues. We find that exposure to even a single metaphor can induce substantial differences in opinion about how to solve social problems: differences that are larger, for example, than pre-existing differences in opinion between Democrats and Republicans.
688 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the rhetorical performance and reconstruction of places in protest can function in line with the goals of a social movement, and a heuristic framework is proposed for theorizing the rhetorical force of place and its relationship to social movements.
Abstract: Social movements often deploy place rhetorically in their protests. The rhetorical performance and (re)construction of places in protest can function in line with the goals of a social movement. Our essay offers a heuristic framework—place in protest—for theorizing the rhetorical force of place and its relationship to social movements. Through analysis of a variety of protest events, we demonstrate how the (re)construction of place may be considered a rhetorical tactic along with the tactics we traditionally associate with protest, such as speeches, marches, and signs. This essay has implications for the study of social movements, the rhetoricity of place, and how we study places.
171 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on the cross-cultural analysis of interpersonally driven features in research article writing in a single discipline, Business Management, and analyse to what extent the different contexts (i.e., US international and Spanish national) influence the strategic use of metadiscourse features in this discipline.
146 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a rhetorical model of institutionalism is proposed to explain how institutions both constrain and enable agency in an ambiguous and thus rhetorical world, where knowledge operated as an institutionalized myth and rationality surrogate.
Abstract: In 1993, Mats Alvesson published ‘Organizations as Rhetoric’. In his paper, Alvesson proposed that knowledge was ambiguous and that rhetoric was therefore critical to the construction and operation of institutions and organizations. Moreover, he argued that in such an ambiguous and thus rhetorical world, knowledge operated as an institutionalized myth and rationality surrogate. Alvesson's insights helped inspire and initiate one of the most promising and growing areas of institutional research: rhetorical institutionalism. Rhetorical institutionalism is the deployment of linguistic approaches in general and rhetorical insights in particular to explain how institutions both constrain and enable agency. In this paper, we trace these original insights and discuss the benefits of continuing the integration of rhetorical ideas in institutional research. In addition, we propose and develop a rhetorical model of institutionalism that can spearhead research and conclude with some direct suggestions for future research.
137 citations
Book•
12 Oct 2011
TL;DR: This chapter discusses the construction of sentences and the role that language plays in the development of a person’s sense of identity.
Abstract: PART I. WORD CHOICE PART II. SENTENCES PART III. INTERACTIVE DIMENSION PART IV. PASSAGE CONSTRUCTION
131 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined RAs in English and Spanish as well as RAs written in English by Spanish-background speakers in the fields of applied linguistics, using Swales' (2004) schema to focus on the Introduction genre moves and steps.
129 citations
Journal Article•
117 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a pragmatic two-level rhetorical analysis of the constituent moves and steps of research article introductions is presented, focusing on the identification and mapping of the metadiscoursal features most frequently employed to signal such moves.
113 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined families' communication and coping in response to a parent's diagnosis of, and eventual death from, lung cancer through in-depth, semistructured interviews with 35 adult children, identifying two broad areas of communicative avoidance (avoiding information and avoiding emotion) and three general ways of managing avoidance and openness (denial, segmentation, and being open while avoiding).
Abstract: The present study uses a rhetorical/normative perspective to examine families' communication and coping in response to a parent's diagnosis of, and eventual death from, lung cancer. Through in-depth, semistructured interviews with 35 adult children, we identified two broad areas of communicative avoidance (avoiding information and avoiding emotion) and three general ways of managing avoidance and openness (denial, segmentation, and being open while avoiding). The interviews suggested that denial was a particularly dissatisfying means of managing competing goals, whereas being open while avoiding appeared to be functional for family members. The discussion focuses on our understanding of reasons why people avoid in this context, implications for rhetorical/normative approaches and theories of information management, and practical implications of the current findings.
107 citations
TL;DR: This paper argued that deliberate metaphors may not be as deliberate in their creation and use as is traditionally believed, and therefore are not essentially different from other forms of metaphoric language, and that engaging in deliberative thought processes is often exactly the wrong way to create novel, apt verbal metaphors.
Abstract: Some metaphor scholars have proposed that certain notable metaphorical expressions in speech and writing may have been deliberately composed, and quite consciously employed for their special rhetorical purposes. Deliberate metaphors are different from conventional ones, which are typically produced automatically and thoughtlessly, something that speakers and listeners, authors and readers, tacitly recognize when they engage in metaphoric discourse. This article explores some of these common assumptions about deliberate metaphor in light of contemporary research in cognitive science on meaning, consciousness and human action. My claim is that deliberate metaphors, contrary to the popular view, may not be as ‘deliberate’ in their creation and use as is traditionally believed, and therefore are not essentially different from other forms of metaphoric language. Moreover, engaging in deliberative thought processes is often exactly the wrong way to create novel, apt verbal metaphors.
TL;DR: This paper investigated the use of interpersonal metadiscourse in applied linguistics articles written in English by Anglo-American and Iranian academic writers and found that there was a remarkable tendency by both writer groups towards hedging their propositions.
TL;DR: Hood et al. as discussed by the authors used functional linguistics analysis to identify and render explicit to second language writers some ways published authors create textures of expanding or contracting options as research is presented, reviewed, and evaluated.
TL;DR: In this article, an international study of the teaching of undergraduate mathematics in seven countries was conducted, which was informed by rhetorical genre theory, activity theory, and the notion of Communities of Interest.
Abstract: This article reports on an international study of the teaching of undergraduate mathematics in seven countries. Informed by rhetorical genre theory, activity theory, and the notion of Communities o...
TL;DR: Carbonell-Olivares, Gil-Salom, & Soler-Monreal as discussed by the authors presented an analysis of the introductory sections of a corpus of 20 doctoral theses on computing written in Spanish and in English.
01 Jun 2011
TL;DR: The authors characterizes the cultural entrepreneur paying homage to the hermeneutic approach of Don Lavoie and others, concluding that a cultural entrepreneur is the character who is entrepreneurial in the realization of cultural values, so is the conclusion.
Abstract: Cultural entrepreneurship is a new character in the cultural sector. This paper characterizes the cultural entrepreneur paying homage to the hermeneutic approach of Don Lavoie and others. The challenge is to render the “cultural” meaningful. An invention is the highlighting of the rhetorical qualities of entrepreneurship. A cultural entrepreneur is the character who is entrepreneurial in the realization of cultural values, so is the conclusion.
TL;DR: This article explored the notion of China's exceptionalism in Africa, a prominent feature in Beijing's current continental and bilateral engagement, and considered the burden that the central Chinese government has assumed through its self-construction and mobilisation of a position of exceptionalism and the imperatives that flow from such rhetorical claims of distinctiveness in terms of demonstrating and delivering difference.
Abstract: This article explores the notion of ‘China's exceptionalism’ in Africa, a prominent feature in Beijing's current continental and bilateral engagement. ‘China's exceptionalism’ is understood as a normative modality of engagement that seeks to structure relations such that, though they may remain asymmetrical in economic content they are nonetheless characterised as equal in terms of recognition of economic gains and political standing (mutual respect and political equality). This article considers the burden that the central Chinese government has assumed through its self-construction and mobilisation of a position of exceptionalism and, concurrently, the imperatives that flow from such rhetorical claims of distinctiveness in terms of demonstrating and delivering difference as a means to sustain the unity and coherence of these rhetorical commitments.
TL;DR: The authors synthesize these efforts to name a methodological approach, rhetorical field methods, for analyzing everyday rhetorical experience and articulate the commitments and concerns that motivate this approach, thus creating a focus for debate about in situ rhetorical study.
Abstract: Critical rhetoricians are increasingly adopting in situ rhetorical methods such as participant observation at protests, consumer sites, and memorials. Despite their value, the ad hoc development of central methodological and analytic commitments of such approaches is cause for concern. In this essay, we synthesize these efforts to name a methodological approach—rhetorical field methods—for analyzing everyday rhetorical experience and articulate the commitments and concerns that motivate this approach, thus creating a focus for debate about in situ rhetorical study. We elaborate on three commitments, articulate some critical problematics, and identify heuristic questions and possibilities of this approach. We conclude by discussing rhetorical field methods' contributions to intradisciplinary communication research.
TL;DR: The authors propose a critical-rhetorical ethnography as a method for exploring such discourses in the field of argumentation, using the concepts of invention, kairos, and phronesis.
Abstract: Rhetorical scholarship has relied upon textual criticism as a method of examining discourse. However, in the critical turn, rhetorical theory and praxis have been reconsidered, especially in regard to the types and locations worthy of rhetorical examination. Looking toward vernacular rhetorical discourses, rhetorical scholars examine locally situated discourses as they articulate against oppressive macrocontexts. In this essay, I offer critical-rhetorical ethnography as a method for exploring such discourses in the field of argumentation, using the concepts of invention, kairos, and phronesis. The method offers rhetorical scholars a set of theoretical and methodological guidelines for observing and participating within vernacular advocacy. Finally, I use my time with the health advocacy group, DanceSafe, as an exemplar of the method, illustrating its ability to gauge rhetorical effects, advocacy, and learned wisdom.
TL;DR: In this paper, the consequences of L2 use in university lectures were investigated and the study stem from parallel lectures held by the same experienced lecturer in Danish (L1) and English (L2).
TL;DR: In this article, the racist rhetoric employed in anti-black jokes on five internet websites is discussed, and it is argued that racist jokes can act as important rhetorical devices for serious racism, and thus work in ways that can support racism in particular readings.
Abstract: This article outlines the racist rhetoric employed in anti-black jokes on five internet websites. It is argued that racist jokes can act as important rhetorical devices for serious racisms, and thus work in ways that can support racism in particular readings. By offering a rhetorical discourse analysis of jokes containing embodied racism – or the discursive remains of biological racism – it is shown that internet jokes express two key logics of racism. These logics are inclusion and exclusion. It is argued that inclusion usually inferiorizes and employs race stereotypes whereas exclusion often does not. The article expands this second category by highlighting exclusionary ‘black’ and ‘nigger’ jokes. These categories of non-stereotyped race or ethnic joking have been largely ignored in humour studies because of a reliance on a problematic and celebratory definition of the ethnic joke. Thus a wider definition of racist humour is offered.
TL;DR: In this paper, a discourse exemplar for understanding the broad range of sexuality education discourses currently at work in education policies and policy movements internationally is provided, including different constructions of "the child" at the core of various discourses, including the ways in which different discourses attempt to save these children from perceived sexuality problems through education.
Abstract: Sexuality policy is currently changing at global, national and local levels. This move is affecting the sexuality education discourses in education policies around the world. However, the changes are not always translating into a direct re-thinking of approaches, and in some cases result in a push for more conservative policy. This paper provides a discourse exemplar for understanding the broad range of sexuality education discourses currently at work in education policies and policy movements internationally. It is intended for use in sexuality education policy research, conception and practice. The different constructions of ‘the child’ at the core of the various discourses are examined, including the ways in which the different discourses attempt to ‘save’ these children from perceived sexuality problems through education. The article posits that such rhetorical children should not ‘stand in’ for the needs of actual children in sexuality policy, without being explicitly acknowledged as constructs.
TL;DR: In this article, a rhetorical analysis of newspaper reports and interview accounts about the development of a contested public space in Barcelona, known locally both as Figuera's Well and the Hole of Shame, is presented, whose implications are discussed both within the context of local power struggles and within the wider ideological struggles over the nature of public spaces in Barcelona.
TL;DR: This paper examined the rhetorical moves in the abstracts of Chinese Master's English theses and published research articles in applied linguistics and compared the practices of student writers and expert writers in fulfilling the rhetorical goal of abstracts to shed light on the degree to which students appropriate to the practice of their own discipline and to provide relevant ESP materials for both teachers and student writers of applied linguistic, especially those who write in English as a foreign language.
Abstract: The abstract of research papers is one of the first things that a reader will read to determine the value of the research. A well-written abstract will surely promote the text attached to it more effectively. By examining the rhetorical moves in the abstracts of Chinese Master’s English theses and published research articles in applied linguistics, this study compares the practices of student writers and expert writers in fulfilling the rhetorical goal of abstracts to shed light on the degree to which students appropriate to the practices of their own discipline and to provide relevant ESP materials for both teachers and student writers of applied linguistics, especially those who write in English as a foreign language.
01 Jan 2011
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors draw on writing theory and research to consider the challenging task of supervising doctoral student writing and identify the patterns of concern in supervisors' comments, chief among those concerns are organization and audience.
Abstract: This chapter draws on writing theory and research to consider the challenging task of supervising doctoral student writing. First, the dissertation is presented as a complex rhetorical act that makes great demands on students and their tutors. Next, data from supervisory sessions are analyzed to identify the patterns of concern in supervisors’ comments. Chief among those concerns are organization and audience: supervisors strive to offer students advice on textual structure and tips about their disciplinary community. Finally, the chapter concludes with a description of practices that supervisors and institutions might adopt to create an environment for writing.
Book•
31 Jul 2011
TL;DR: This chapter discusses the role of rhetoric in the construction of argumentation and the role that language plays in the development of a theory of argument.
Abstract: Preface.- I Argumentation and Its Study.- II Why Do We Need a New Theory of Argumentation?.- III Acts of Arguing.- IV The Logical Dimension of Argumentation.- V The Dialectical Dimension of Argumentation.- VI The Rhetorical Dimension of Argumentation.- VII Argumentation Appraisal.- References.
TL;DR: A synthesis is concluded that brings transfer theory to bear on writing studies, suggesting directions for developing research and pedagogical practices related to business and technical communication.
Abstract: This article traces the uncomfortable relationship between writing studies and the concept of learning transfer. First it reviews three stages in the changing attitudes toward learning transfer in writing theory that is influenced by rhetorical genre studies, activity theory, and situated learning. Then it reviews learning transfer theory itself, an area that is seldom explicitly referred to in writing studies. The article concludes with a synthesis that brings transfer theory to bear on writing studies, suggesting directions for developing research and pedagogical practices related to business and technical communication.
24 Jul 2011
TL;DR: The role of rhetoric in the formation of policy and its role in economic security and its consequences is discussed in this article, where the authors discuss the broad reach and future prospect of economic Rhetoric.
Abstract: Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Chapter 2: The Role of Rhetoric in the Formation of Policy 21 Chapter 3: Economic Insecurity and Its Rhetorical Consequences 47 Chapter 4: The Building of Conservatives' Intellectual Capacity 73 Chapter 5: The Move to Economic Arguments by Conservative Intellectuals 95 Chapter 6: The Rhetorical Adaptations of the Republican Party 123 Chapter 7: Democrats and the Long Shadow of Deficit Politics 151 Chapter 8: The Republicans' Electoral Edge on the Economy 178 Chapter 9: The Broad Reach and Future Prospects of Economic Rhetoric 203 Notes 219 Acknowledgments 253 Index 255
TL;DR: This article explored the discursive legitimation struggles of a leading Finnish forest industry company StoraEnso and Greenpeace during 1985-2001 and examined how these struggles participated in the re-definition and institutionalization of corporate social responsibility.
Abstract: This article extends our understanding of the firm–nongovernmental organization (NGO) relationship by emphasizing the role of language in shaping organizational behavior. It focuses on discursive and rhetorical activity through which firms and NGOs jointly – and not always consciously – define boundaries for socially acceptable corporate behavior. It explores the discursive legitimation struggles of a leading Finnish forest industry company StoraEnso and Greenpeace during 1985–2001 and examines how these struggles participated in the (re)definition and institutionalization of corporate social responsibility. I find a mixture of rational and moral struggles as a key feature of this legitimation work and show how different manifestations of these struggles act as a central mechanism that redefines what the boundaries of corporate responsibility are in a specific setting at a given point of time. The study illustrates how the actors’ ability to sense the public’s views contribute to rhetorical difficulties of the industry and unintended societal consequences for the activists, and how the rational and moral struggles build up in time to trigger changes in the actors’ sensemaking and actions.
TL;DR: The recent wave of interest in the rhetorical tradition among political theorists can be attributed partly to the rise of theories of deliberative democracy, which focused attention on communication and discourse as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The recent wave of interest in the rhetorical tradition among political theorists can be attributed partly to the rise of theories of deliberative democracy, which focused attention on communication and discourse. Some scholars see in rhetoric a way to challenge the assumptions of Habermasian deliberative theory, while others aim to integrate rhetoric into a broader theory of deliberation. Insights taken from studies of Aristotle have been especially influential in producing a new set of questions for scholars interested in deliberation and in democratic communications more generally, in spite of the vast differences between ancient city-states and modern liberal democracies.