Conceptualizing Composition

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Conceptualizing Composition CONCEPTUALIZING COMPOSITION: HOW COLLEGE-WRITERS (AND INSTRUCTORS) USE FIGURATIVE THINKING TO CONCEPTUALIZE, ACQUIRE, AND ENACT LITERACY A dissertation submitted to Kent State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Jason A. Sharier May 2020 © Copyright All rights reserved Dissertation written by Jason A. Sharier B.A., Kent State University Stark, 2011 M.A., Kent State University, 2014 Ph.D., Kent State University, 2020 Approved by ______________________________, Chair, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Dr. Sara Newman ______________________________, Members, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Dr. Derek van Ittersum ______________________________ Dr. Keith Lloyd ______________________________ Dr. Lori Wilfong ______________________________ Dr. Miriam Matteson Accepted by ______________________________, Chair, Department of English Robert W. Trogdon ______________________________, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences James L. Blank TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................ III DEDICATION ........................................................................................................................................... VII LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................................. VIII LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................................... IX ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................................... X CHAPTER 1: A PROPOSAL FOR WHY METAPHOR MATTERS FOR THE COMPOSITION CLASSROOM ............................................................................................................................................... 1 OPENING REMARKS ................................................................................................................................... 1 APPLICATION TO THE FIELD ...................................................................................................................... 4 A METAPHORICAL LITERACY ................................................................................................................... 6 THE NEW RHETORIC OF METAPHOR ......................................................................................................... 8 METAPHORICAL DISCOURSE ................................................................................................................... 16 EARLY RESEARCH ON COMPOSITIONAL METAPHORS ............................................................................ 18 CONTEMPORARY RELEVANCE AND SIGNIFICANCE ................................................................................. 21 RESEARCH QUESTIONS: MOTIVATIONS, DIFFICULTIES, NEW DIRECTIONS, AND RESOLUTIONS ........... 28 STUDY OVERVIEW: CHAPTER SYNOPSES ................................................................................................ 31 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................................................... 33 A BRIEF HISTORY OF METAPHOR THEORY IN THE RHETORICAL TRADITION ........................................ 33 A REVIEW OF METAPHOR ANALYSIS IN COMPOSITION STUDIES ........................................................... 45 CALLS FOR RESEARCH ............................................................................................................................ 50 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY AND METHODS ................................................................................. 56 EPISTEMOLOGY ....................................................................................................................................... 56 iii METHODOLOGIES .................................................................................................................................... 57 METHODS ................................................................................................................................................ 63 DATA-COLLECTION ................................................................................................................................. 66 DATA-REDUCTION AND REPRESENTATION ............................................................................................. 73 DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION ................................................................................................. 75 CHAPTER 4: SARA’S TEXT AND TALK DATA ................................................................................... 84 SARA’S WRITING QUOTE ANALYSIS ....................................................................................................... 86 SARA’S LITERACY NARRATIVE ............................................................................................................... 90 SARA’S PEER-TO-PEER MARGINALIA ..................................................................................................... 95 SARA’S REFLECTION MEMO AND REVISION LETTER .............................................................................. 99 SARA’S OPEN-ENDED SURVEY .............................................................................................................. 103 SARA’S CONFERENCES .......................................................................................................................... 105 INTERPRETATION ................................................................................................................................... 108 CHAPTER 5: DAVID’S TEXT AND TALK DATA ............................................................................... 111 DAVID’S WRITING QUOTE ANALYSIS ................................................................................................... 113 DAVID’S LITERACY NARRATIVE ........................................................................................................... 115 DAVID’S INSTRUCTOR MARGINALIA .................................................................................................... 117 DAVID’S REFLECTION MEMO AND REVISION LETTER .......................................................................... 119 DAVID’S OPEN-ENDED SURVEY ............................................................................................................ 121 DAVID’S CONFERENCES ........................................................................................................................ 123 DAVID’S ARGUMENTATIVE RESEARCH ................................................................................................. 124 INTERPRETATION ................................................................................................................................... 127 CHAPTER 6: METAPHOR INVENTION EXERCISES ......................................................................... 129 AN ANALYSIS OF SARA’S MIES ............................................................................................................ 130 AN ANALYSIS OF DAVID’S MIES .......................................................................................................... 134 iv AN ANALYSIS OF JASON’S MIES ........................................................................................................... 137 COMPREHENSIVE MIE RESULTS ........................................................................................................... 140 CHAPTER 7: METAPHORICAL PROFILES ......................................................................................... 156 ALIGNMENT WITH CURRENT PRACTICES IN THE FIELD ........................................................................ 156 CHAPTER REVIEWS ................................................................................................................................ 158 THE INSTRUCTOR’S IMPLICIT THEORY OF LITERACY ........................................................................... 160 SARA’S IMPLICIT THEORY OF LITERACY .............................................................................................. 164 DAVID’S IMPLICIT THEORY OF LITERACY ............................................................................................ 166 CONTRIBUTIONS: RESEARCH AFFORDANCES ....................................................................................... 168 LIMITATIONS: RESEARCH CONSTRAINTS .............................................................................................. 172 IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH ................................................................................................ 172 REFLECTING ON MY EXPERIENCE ......................................................................................................... 173 APPENDICES ........................................................................................................................................... 176 APPENDIX A – SARA’S WRITING QUOTE ANALYSIS RESULTS .......................................................... 176 APPENDIX B – SARA’S LITERACY NARRATIVE RESULTS .................................................................. 177 APPENDIX C – SARA’S PEER-TO-PEER MARGINALIA RESULTS ......................................................... 180 APPENDIX D – INSTRUCTOR FEEDBACK FOR SARA RESULTS ...........................................................
Recommended publications
  • Literature and the Cognitive Revolution: an Introduction
    Literature and the Cognitive Revolution: An Introduction Alan Richardson English, Boston College Francis F. Steen Communication Studies, UCLA Literary studies and the cognitive sciences, pursuing common interests in language, mental acts, and linguistic artifacts, have developed markedly different approaches to similar phenomena of reading, imaginative involve- ment, and textual patterning. Until quite recently, the distance between them has drawn more attention than their possible convergence (Franchi and Güzeldere ). A number of literary theorists and critics, however, have steadily been producing work that finds its inspiration, its method- ology, and its guiding paradigms through a dialogue with one or more fields within cognitive science: artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology, post- Chomskian linguistics, philosophy of mind, neuroscience, and evolution- ary biology. Reuven Tsur () has been developing his ‘‘cognitive poet- ics’’ since the s; the prominent psychoanalytic critic Norman Holland (: ) demonstrated the advantages of attending to the ‘‘more powerful psychology’’ emerging from cognitive neuroscience in ; Mark Turner (: viii) advanced his far-reaching project of a ‘‘cognitive rhetoric’’ in ; and Ellen Spolsky (: ) trenchantly brought a theory of ‘‘cogni- tive instability’’ to bear on literary interpretation in . These and like- minded critics respond to the limitations (or, in Spolsky’s case, missed op- portunities) of poststructuralist conceptions of meaning and interpretation by questioning the reigning models in the field, whether in the interest of Poetics Today : (Spring ). Copyright © by the Porter Institute for Poetics and Semiotics. Downloaded from http://read.dukeupress.edu/poetics-today/article-pdf/23/1/1/458295/01.pdf by guest on 25 September 2021 2 Poetics Today 23:1 displacing, reworking, supplementing, or fundamentally regrounding them (Hart ).
    [Show full text]
  • Peter Churchill, 2003
    Peter Churchill, 2003 Local boy Peter Churchill grew up near Turnpike and Old San Marcos Roads. He attended Goleta Union School, followed by Santa Barbara Junior High and High Schools. The Santa Barbara Peter and his two older sisters grew up in was a little different than the one we know today. Homes were not built as closely together. One could not quickly walk into town or to the house of a friend. “Living out in the country, your friends were far away, but there was always something to do; you had to entertain yourself.” One of the ways in which Peter would pass the long, lazy days of summer was to go fishing with his dad—one of the elder Churchill’s favorite pastimes. But it wasn’t until Peter was grown that he became really involved in boating. His brother-in-law, John Yabsley, started sailing a 15-foot Snipe that the two would tool around in. At the time, there was much small boat activity in the Santa Barbara harbor—Flatties (Geary 18s), Snipes, Mercurys, and some Stars. John and Peter joined the Flattie fleet sometime around 1964. “It was a well-organized group. We had a summer schedule that started in May. We sailed on the ocean and on lakes, and there was a big Memorial Day Regatta.” Peter clearly prefers sailboating to powerboating. He owned several Flatties through the years; in one of these, Citation, he placed second in a Geary 18 international regatta held in Oregon. He continued racing Citation in many regattas until 1977, when he sold the boat.
    [Show full text]
  • A Diagrammatic Approach to Peirce's Classifications of Signs
    A diagrammatic approach to Peirce’s classifications of signs1 Priscila Farias Graduate Program in Design (SENAC-SP & UFPE) [email protected] João Queiroz Graduate Studies Program on History, Philosophy, and Science Teaching (UFBA/UEFS) Dept. of Computer Engineering and Industrial Automation (DCA/FEEC/UNICAMP) [email protected] © This paper is not for reproduction without permission of the author(s). ABSTRACT Starting from an analysis of two diagrams for 10 classes of signs designed by Peirce in 1903 and 1908 (CP 2.264 and 8.376), this paper sets forth the basis for a diagrammatic understanding of all kinds of classifications based on his triadic model of a sign. Our main argument is that it is possible to observe a common pattern in the arrangement of Peirce’s diagrams of 3-trichotomic classes, and that this pattern should be extended for the design of diagrams for any n-trichotomic classification of signs. Once this is done, it is possible to diagrammatically compare the conflicting claims done by Peircean scholars re- garding the divisions of signs into 28, and specially into 66 classes. We believe that the most important aspect of this research is the proposal of a consolidated tool for the analysis of any kind of sign structure within the context of Peirce’s classifications of signs. Keywords: Peircean semiotics, classifications of signs, diagrammatic reasoning. 1. PEIRCE’S DIAGRAMS FOR 10 CLASSES OF SIGNS In a draft of a letter to Lady Welby composed by the end of December 1908 (dated 24-28 December, L463:132-146, CP 8.342-76, EP2:483-491; we will be referring to this diagram 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Postmodernism: Theorising Fragmentation and Uncertainty
    Chapter contents Friedrich Nietzsche 213 Bauman as postmodernist 234 `Gloss' and `disclaimers' in the What is a modern person? 237 writings of Jean-FrancËois The modern identity 238 Lyotard 217 Bauman: the critique of life Lyotard, The DiffeÂrend: in the postmodern condition 243 Phrases in Dispute (1988) 219 Deleuze and Guattari 244 Critique of Lyotard 221 Jean Baudrillard (1929± Richard Rorty 223 present) 259 Zygmunt Bauman 226 Gianni Vattimo (1936±present) 262 The creation of a Critiques of postmodernism 265 postmodernist 229 In conclusion: living in the Bauman as modernist 230 postmodern condition 270 Postmodernism: Theorising Fragmentation 6 and Uncertainty By the end of this chapter you should: · have a critical understanding of · be familiar with the key the notions of postmodernism and postmodern writers: Lyotard, postmodernity; Bauman, Baudrillard, Vattimo, · appreciate the signi®cance of Deleuze and Guattari, Rorty, and Nietzsche to postmodern Fish; theorising; · be aware of some of the central critiques of postmodernism: Sokal, Habermas, Giddens, Philo, Kellner. Friedrich Nietzsche riedrich Nietzsche (1844±1900) invented many of the central ideas and concepts which postmodern- F ism raises about the foundations of society. In particular, Nietzsche's anti-foundationalist ideas, built upon the assumption that `God is dead', together with his refusal to privilege his own position, have in¯uenced most of the postmodern writers that we shall review in this chapter. According to Anthony Giddens: `Nietzsche offers a refuge for those who have lost their modernist illusions without relapsing into complete cynicism or apathy' (Giddens, 1995: 261). Nietzsche attempted to undermine the foundations of truth, morality, science, identity and religion.
    [Show full text]
  • The Semiosphere, Between Informational Modernity and Ecological Postmodernity Pierre-Louis Patoine Et Jonathan Hope
    Document généré le 28 sept. 2021 03:48 Recherches sémiotiques Semiotic Inquiry The Semiosphere, Between Informational Modernity and Ecological Postmodernity Pierre-Louis Patoine et Jonathan Hope J. M. Lotman Résumé de l'article Volume 35, numéro 1, 2015 Parmi les notions développées par Lotman, celle de sémiopshère est certainement celle qui a été la plus commentée. Dans cet article, nous URI : https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1050984ar explorons ses dimensions écologiques et biologiques, en remontant au concept DOI : https://doi.org/10.7202/1050984ar de biosphère proposé par Vernadsky et à la vision environnementale de l’art qui apparaît chez Lotman dès La Structure du texte artistique. Notre enquête Aller au sommaire du numéro expose les aspects biosémiotiques de la pensée lotmanienne, aspects qui permettent l’émergence, en son sein, d’un modèle cyclique, homéostatique de la culture, contrebalançant ainsi une vision moderniste où l’art participe à un progrès naïvement linéaire. Éditeur(s) Association canadienne de sémiotique / Canadian Semiotic Association ISSN 0229-8651 (imprimé) 1923-9920 (numérique) Découvrir la revue Citer cet article Patoine, P.-L. & Hope, J. (2015). The Semiosphere, Between Informational Modernity and Ecological Postmodernity. Recherches sémiotiques / Semiotic Inquiry, 35(1), 11–26. https://doi.org/10.7202/1050984ar Tous droits réservés © Association canadienne de sémiotique / Canadian Ce document est protégé par la loi sur le droit d’auteur. L’utilisation des Semiotic Association, 2018 services d’Érudit (y compris la reproduction) est assujettie à sa politique d’utilisation que vous pouvez consulter en ligne. https://apropos.erudit.org/fr/usagers/politique-dutilisation/ Cet article est diffusé et préservé par Érudit.
    [Show full text]
  • Power Structures, Change, and the Illusion of Democracy: a Semiotic Study of Leadership and Policy-Making
    DOCUMENT RESUME ED 413 647 EA 028 734 AUTHOR Spielmann, Guy; Radnofsky, Mary L. TITLE Power Structures, Change, and the Illusion of Democracy: A Semiotic Study of Leadership and Policy-Making. PUB DATE 1997-03-00 NOTE 19p.; Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (Chicago, IL, March 24-28, 1997). PUB TYPE Reports Research (143) Speeches/Meeting Papers (150) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Elementary Secondary Education; *Leadership; *Policy Formation; Power Structure; Professional Autonomy; Professional Development; School Restructuring; *Semiotics; *Teacher Empowerment; Teacher Influence; *Teaching (Occupation) ABSTRACT There is ample evidence that the success or failure of school reform lies not only in the soundness and appropriateness of the reform model chosen, but primarily in its perception, acceptance, and endorsement by teachers. This essay expresses the concept of power as it applies to school reform that focuses on teacher empowerment and professionalization. The paper is based on a grounded theory developed from a qualitative case study that assessed the impact of a newly implemented, districtwide staff-development program. The data are analyzed using an ethnosemiotic approach to explain how a fundamental ambivalence in the concepts of "power" and "professionalism" may prevent the reform from succeeding, even in the absence of overt crisis or resistance. Data were gathered through interviews with and observations of 80 teachers and administrators over 7 months. The paper defines power qualitatively in four different modalities--power ("being-able-to-do"), independence ("being-able-not-to-do"), powerlessness ("not-being-able-to-do"), and submission ("not-being-able-not-to-do").
    [Show full text]
  • John Benjamins Publishing Company
    John Benjamins Publishing Company This is a contribution from Emotion in Language. Theory – research – application. Edited by Ulrike M. Lüdtke. © 2015. John Benjamins Publishing Company This electronic file may not be altered in any way. The author(s) of this article is/are permitted to use this PDF file to generate printed copies to be used by way of offprints, for their personal use only. Permission is granted by the publishers to post this file on a closed server which is accessible to members (students and staff) only of the author’s/s’ institute, it is not permitted to post this PDF on the open internet. For any other use of this material prior written permission should be obtained from the publishers or through the Copyright Clearance Center (for USA: www.copyright.com). Please contact [email protected] or consult our website: www.benjamins.com Tables of Contents, abstracts and guidelines are available at www.benjamins.com Introduction From logos to dialogue Ulrike M. Lüdtke Leibniz University Hannover This book is inspired by many years of pedagogic and therapeutic work with children and adults in preschool, school and clinical settings. The miracle of language devel- opment and the joy of expressive language on the one hand and the vulnerability of language and the sorrow and grief caused by its distortion or even loss on the other opened my eyes to the inseparability of emotion and language. Even though I had just been part of the editing team for Moving Ourselves, Moving Others: Motion and Emotion in Intersubjectivity, Consciousness and Language (2012), I felt there was a strong need for an interdisciplinary volume focusing exclusively on the enormous importance of emotion in language.
    [Show full text]
  • Sociosemiotics and Metalanguage: the Case of Translanguaging Linguistic Frontiers
    Linguistic Frontiers • 3(2) • 57—65 • 2020 DOI: 10.2478/lf-2020-0015 Linguistic Frontiers Sociosemiotics and Metalanguage: The Case of Translanguaging Original Study Anti Randviir Department of Semiotics, University of Tartu, Estonia. Received: July 2020 ; Accepted: September 2020 Abstract: The age of transdiscipinarity has brought along the fading of boundaries between disciplines. This has engaged both the fusion of metalanguages that are used for the description of cultures and sign-proce- sses, and the launch of novel proposals for metalinguistic vocabularies. In the case of the study of culture, communication and sign-processes, it is natural that all such developments are connected with the paradigm of semiotics. At times the relevant metalinguistic and methodological proposals challenge traditional semiotic vocabulary, methods and methodological truths. This has brought along the need to recall the semiotic roots of the study of semiosis and communication, and to review transdisciplinary metalanguage in order to avoid possible misinterpretations or unnecessary repetitions of the established agreements in the paradigm of se- miotics as a possible ground for transdisciplinary study of human interaction and cultural processes. Howe- ver, besides occasional theoretical confusion, the spread of the semiotic methodology and vocabulary across applied scholarship has enriched semiotics in its faculties of field studies. Keywords : sociosemiotics, metalanguage, transdisciplinarity, modality, multimodality, mediality, coding, semiosis, modelling, translanguaging. Contemporary scholarship has, both in the domain of studies were founded. Secondly, it is useful to recall the humanities and social sciences, as also in the so-called proximity of interdisciplinary studies and interdisciplinary hard sciences, passed a fairly clear transition from mono- education as proposed by American pragmatism.
    [Show full text]
  • Midwinter Regatta Notice of Race February 18 & 19, 2012*
    “YOUR BODY IS AN EXTENSION OF YOUR BOAT, SO MAINTAIN IT JUST AS YOU WOULD YOUR HARDWARE & SAILS” March 2011 Sailing World Neurosurgeon, Dr. Robert Bray, Jr. and colleague Peter Drasnin racing their Open 5.70 in Marina del Rey, CA. Check out the full article in the March 2011 edition of Sailing SENSIBLE SOLUTIONS FOR THE ACTIVE SAILOR SERVICES DISC Sports & Spine Center is one of America’s foremost providers • Spine Care of minimally invasive spine procedures and advanced arthroscopic • Orthopedics techniques. Dr. Robert S. Bray, Jr. founded DISC with the vision of • Sports Medicine delivering an unparalleled patient experience for those suffering from sports injuries, orthopedic issues and spine disorders in a one-stop, multi- • Pain Management disciplinary setting. With a wide range of specialists under one roof, the • Soft Tissue result is an unmatched continuity of care with more efficiency, less stress • Chiropractic Care for the patient and a zero MRSA infection rate. • Rehabilitation DISC SPORTS & SPINE CENTER Marina del Rey / Beverly Hills / Newport Beach 310.574.0400 / 866.481.DISC (3472) www.discmdgroup.com An Official Medical Services Provider of the U.S. Olympic Team The 83rd Annual SCYA Midwinter Regatta Notice of Race February 18 & 19, 2012* 1.0 RULES The regatta will be governed by the rules as defined in The Racing Rules of Sailing, 2009-2012 (“RRS”). 2.0 ELIGIBILITY AND ENTRY 2.1 Each entrant must be a member of a yacht club or sailing association belonging to the Southern California Yachting Association (SCYA), US SAILING, the Southern California Cruiser Association (SCCA), or the American Model Yacht Association (ACMYA).
    [Show full text]
  • The DIVIDED SELF Metaphor: a Cognitive-Linguistic Study of Two Poems by Nabokov1
    International Journal of IJES English Studies UNIVERSITY OF MURCIA http://revistas.um.es/ijes The DIVIDED SELF metaphor: A cognitive-linguistic study of two poems by Nabokov1 Mª ASUNCIÓN BARRERAS GÓMEZ * Universidad de La Rioja Received: 30/10/2014. Accepted: 17/02/2015. ABSTRACT This paper will approach two of Nabokov’s poems from the perspective of embodied realism in Cognitive Linguistics. We will shed light on the reasons why we believe that Nabokov makes use of the DIVIDED SELF metaphor in his poetry. In the analysis of the poems we will explain how the Subject is understood in the author’s life in exile whereas the Self is understood in the author’s feelings of anguish and longing for his Russian past. Finally, we will also explain how Nabokov’s use of the DIVIDED SELF metaphor thematically structures both poems. KEYWORDS: Cognitive Linguistics, DIVIDED SELF metaphor, Subject, Self. RESUMEN Este artículo explicará dos poemas de Nabokov desde la perspectiva de la lingüística cognitiva. Se razonará porqué consideramos que Nabokov utiliza la metáfora del YO DIVIDIDO en su poesía. En el análisis se explicará cómo el sujeto se entiende en la vida del exilio del autor mientras que el ego se aprecia en los sentimientos de angustia y nostalgia por su pasado ruso. Finalmente, también explicaremos cómo el uso de la metáfora del YO DIVIDIDO estructura temáticamente ambos poemas. PALABRAS CLAVE: Lingüística cognitiva, metáfora del YO DIVIDIDO, sujeto, ego. _____________________ *Address for correspondence: María Asunción Barreras Gómez. Departamento de Filologías Modernas, Universidad de la Rioja, C/ San José de Calasanz s/n, 26004 Logroño (La Rioja), Spain; e-mail: [email protected] © Servicio de Publicaciones.
    [Show full text]
  • Writing Instruction in American Colleges, 1900-1985. Studies in Writing & Rhetoric
    DOCUMENT RESUME ED 284 257 CS 210 701 AUTHOR Berlin, James A. TITLE Rhetoric and Reality: Writing Instruction in American Colleges, 1900-1985. Studies in Writing & Rhetoric. INSTITUTION Conference on Coll. Composition and Communication, Urbana, Ill. REPORT NO ISBN-0-8093-1360-X PUB DATE 87 NOTE 237p.; Foreword by Donald C. Stewart. AVAILABLE FROMSouthern Illinois University Press, P.0 Box 3697, Carbondale, IL 62901 ($8.50). PUB TYPE Books (010) -- Information Analyses (070) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC10 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Classroom Techniques; *College English; *Educational History; Educational Philosophy; *Epistemology; *Expository Writing; Higher Education; *Rhetoric; Theory Practice Relationship; Writing (Composition); Writing Instruction IDENTIFIERS *Rhetorical Theory ABSTRACT Intended for teachers of college composition, this history of major and minor developments in the teaching of writing in twentieth-century American colleges employs a taxonomy of theories based on the three epistemological categories (objective, subjective, and transactional) dominating rhetorical theory and practice. The first section of the book provides an overview of the three theories, specifically their assumptions and rhetorics. The main chapterscover the following topics: (1) the nineteenth-century background, on the formation of the English department and the subsequent relationship of rhetoric and poetic; (2) the growth of the discipline (1900-1920), including the formation of the National Council of Teachers of English, the appearance of the major schools
    [Show full text]
  • Cognitive Rhetoric of Effect: Energy Flow As a Means of Persuasion in Inaugurals
    Topics in Linguistics (2016), 17(2), pp. 12-25 10.1515/topling-2016-0010 Cognitive rhetoric of effect: energy flow as a means of persuasion in inaugurals Serhiy Potapenko Nikolai Gogol State University of Nizhyn, Ukraine . Abstract Cognitive rhetoric of effect deals with creating a referent’s favourable image throughout four text-forming stages: invention (looking for arguments); disposition (argument arrangement); elocution (verbal ornamentation); and performance, combining the ancient canons of memory and delivery. The cognitive procedures of rhetoric of effect rest on conceptual structures of sensory-motor origin: image schemas, i.e. recurring dynamic patterns of our perceptual interactions and motor programmes (Johnson, 1987, p.xiv), and force dynamics, i.e. a semantic category in the realm of physical force generalized into domains of internal psychological relationships and social interactions (Talmy, 2000, p.409). The embedding of sensory-motor structures into the text-forming stages reveals that cognitive rhetorical effects are created by managing the energy flow, which consists of force and motion transformations denoted by particular linguistic units. The phenomenon is exemplified by the analysis of the way impressions of freedom celebration and freedom defence are formed in the inaugurals of J.F. Kennedy (1961) and G.W. Bush (2005) respectively. Key words cognitive rhetoric of effect, ethos, image schema, force dynamics, inaugural address Introduction understanding derives from seeing Classical rhetoric is generally treated as a rhetoric as a science, a virtue, an art, a systematic and comprehensive body of faculty, or a knack (Kennedy, 2007, knowledge primarily intended to teach p.119). On the one hand, comprehending public speaking (Kennedy, 2007, p.104).
    [Show full text]