UNT Libraries - 14 Matching Results

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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and the Priesthood: An Analysis of Official Church Statements Concerning Black Priesthood Denial

Description: This study sought to determine whether the change in the LDS Church practice of black Priesthood denial on June 8, 1978, was voluntary or was a result of external and internal pressures against the Church. Four official statements given by the First Presidency of the Church were examined using Karlyn Kohrs Campbell's seven elements of rhetorical action. It was determined that external and internal pressures from the NAACP, civil rights activists, and dissonant LDS believers, against the Church'… more
Date: December 1991
Creator: Bolen, Ingrid B. (Ingrid Britt)
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Diplomacy Rhetoric and the Human Rights Appeals of Jeane J. Kirkpatrick and Vernon A. Walters

Description: This thesis investigates the extent to which Ambassador Kirkpatrick's and Ambassador Walters' United Nations discourses on human rights reflects the rhetorical themes of "prophetic dualism" and "technocratic realism." A metaphoric analysis of six speeches reveals that both Kirkpatrick's and Walters' arguments were framed through an ideological division between Democracy and Communism. The presence of "prophetic dualism" in Kirkpatrick's and Walters' discourses is explained as an extension of Pr… more
Date: May 1991
Creator: Rogina, Sergio A. (Sergio Armando)
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Enhancing the Effectiveness of the Lecture Method Through Narrative: the Development of a Model and Manual for Creating and Using Didactic Narratives

Description: Studies show that the use of narratives enhances the lecture method of teaching. The model and manual developed in this study focus on the needs of lecturers who require creative guidance in all aspects of creating and using didactic narratives. This study suggests that the subject content of a lecture has a deep structure that can be used to generate the surface structure of a didactic narrative. The model and manual are informed by theories and models from a variety of disciplines that have b… more
Date: August 1990
Creator: Kirkland, Debra K. (Debra Kay)
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

From Isolation to Action: A Metaphoric Analysis of Franklin Roosevelt's Pro-Preparation Rhetoric

Description: Virtually all studies on the presidential use of metaphor focus on one particular event and speech. These studies look only at speeches that justify military actions after they have already occurred, and these researchers seek to discover a relationship between the use of the metaphor and the public's support of a military action. In order to analyze the persuasive elements of President Franklin Roosevelt's rhetoric in developing popular and Congressional support for war preparation, this study… more
Date: May 1993
Creator: Garrett, Terry (Terry Joe)
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Heresy vs. Orthodoxy: The Preus/Tietjen Controversy

Description: Using the framework set up by rhetorical critic Thomas M. Lessl in his article "Heresy, Orthodoxy, And The Politics Of Science", this study examines the ways in which heretical discourse defines community boundaries and shapes perceptions of right belief. Specifically, this study analyzes the historic conflict in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod which produced the doctrinal statement "A Statement of Scriptural and Confessional Principles". Comparison is made between this event and other "here… more
Date: August 1991
Creator: Barnhart, Melody R. (Melody Ruth)
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

The Impact of Corporate Interlocks on Power and Constraint in the Telecommunications Industry

Description: Using the tools of structural and network analysis developed by Ronald R. Burt and others, this study investigated the communication patterns among corporate officers of American Telephone and Telegraph Corporation (A.T. & T.) and United Telecommunications Corporation (Sprint). Data on contacts, efficiency, network density, and constraint indicate that opportunities for power and constraint have remained relatively stable at United Telecommunications between 1980 and 1990. A. A.T. & T., on the … more
Date: December 1992
Creator: Hickerson, Jon D. (Jon David)
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Network Analysis of the Symmetric and Asymmetric Patterns of Conflict in an Organization

Description: Missing from extant conflict literature is an examination of both symmetric and asymmetric conflict ties. To address this void, network analysis was utilized to examine the responses (both symmetric and asymmetric conflict ties) of 140 employees and managers in four divisions of a large agency of the Federal Government. The study was limited to conflict over scarce resources. Conflict management methods were examined as well as the perceptions of how respondents both cope with and feel about co… more
Date: May 1993
Creator: Helt, Kimberly M. (Kimberly Mae)
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Rhetoric as Praxis: A Model for Deconstructing Hermeneutic Discourse

Description: This study proposes a model for the deconstruction of nationalism. Nationalism is a discursive construct. This construct manifests in ideologies and formalizes order. Individuals should question these institutions in order to achieve legitimate societal participation. This criticism can be accomplished through self-reflection. The model demonstrates that sanctioned individual(s) provide interpretations of events. These interpretations recycle authority. The hermeneutic obscures an individual's … more
Date: August 1993
Creator: James, Edwin M. (Edwin Martin)
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

The Rhetoric of Spiro T. Agnew: a Neo-Aristotelian Analysis of Agnew's Views Concerning the Media

Description: In November 1969, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew delivered two speeches attacking two mediums. In the first speech, Agnew initiated charges of erroneous reporting and irresponsible actions on the part of the television networks. In the second speech, Agnew assailed the concentration of power in the hands of a few newspaper companies. In both cases, complaints and support were immediate and substantial. This study employs the Neo-Aristotelian method of criticism to discover: 1) the extent to whic… more
Date: August 1990
Creator: Voorhees, Blain E. (Blain Eldon)
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

A Rhetorical Analysis of Jimmy Swaggart's 1988-89 Program for Defense

Description: This study seeks to determine the extent to which Jimmy Swaggart's program for defense in 1988 complies with the expectations of the apologia genre. Three discourse media are examined for evidence of denial, bolstering, differentiation, and transcendence. Swaggart's defense is classified as "justificative" in that it seeks approval of actions. Swaggart's motivating drive force is defined as the need to assure the financial success of his ministry. Swaggart's defense is then compared with the pa… more
Date: May 1990
Creator: Simonds, Cheri J. (Cheri Jo)
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Someone to Talk to: Conversations Between Friends in a Junior High Lunch Room

Description: Quantitative studies dominate early adolescence research, a field which also lacks an understanding of communication behaviors between early adolescents. This study uses the qualitative methods of participant observation and informal interviews to observe conversations between girls in a junior high lunch room. Friendship characteristics and group socialization are discussed as they emerged from the field data. First, friendship hierarchies (best friend, close friend, and friend) may be adult-i… more
Date: December 1990
Creator: Adams, Brenda Inglis
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Student Perception of Nonverbal Behaviors of International TAs

Description: Six hundred sixty-six students were queried at the University of North Texas. The appropriate use of nonverbal behaviors of international and U.S. American TAs was surveyed. An eleven item questionnaire (Teacher Nonverbal Measure) was utilized. These questions were tested by an ANOVA. Data indicated that international TAs are less likely to use appropriate nonverbal behaviors than U.S. American TAs. Thus, it is possible to assume that international TAs are more likely to be perceived as using i… more
Date: August 1990
Creator: Nilobol Chantaraks
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Suicide: a Solo Interpretation Performance

Description: The purpose of this project was to determine if oral interpretation in a social context setting can be used as a persuasive means of suicide prevention. A script on suicide was compiled, directed and performed as a solo performance by the writer. The thesis includes the script, a history of suicide prevention, the process of compiling a script for solo interpretation performance, and an overall evaluation of the production. This Author's evaluation was influenced by audience and critic response… more
Date: May 1990
Creator: Duncan, Bobby Charles
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Toward a Critique of the Message Construct in Communication

Description: The idea of an inherent structure of meaning in human communication is identified as the message construct. Traces of the construct in textbook models of the basic communication process and in popular magazine images of communication are examined. The argument is raised that objectifying the message has resulted in a paradigm which focuses disproportionately on explicit, representational, and instrumental aspects of communication. An alternative conception is proposed which would take into acco… more
Date: August 1991
Creator: Wilson, John K. (John Kenneth)
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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