Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
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Item Locating the other in an online world: trolling Islam in 'American sniper'(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2017) Ready, Tyler James; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Susan KollinAs the online realm continues to become more important in the United States, questions of identity become increasingly difficult to parse, while still remaining at the forefront of US political discussions. In seeking to understand how identity construction is intertwined with a text's online circulation, I've focused on Clint Eastwood's American Sniper as an act of online trolling. In looking at articles written about the film, along with comments accompanying both the film and articles, I've found a pattern which centers on deeply-held orientalist beliefs about the Middle East. Additionally, the online circulation of these texts reveals a strawman-styled othering process in which rhetors, ranging from Eastwood himself to anonymous online contributors, define themselves not by what they believe, but by what they are not. Ultimately, this analysis exposes the paradoxical element of rhizomatic communities: in an online world, where there is often no discernable connection to a static, geographic place, users create their identities by denigrating perceived 'other' ideologies. Instead of focusing on what makes them (in this case) American, users condemn the opposing political side, and then attribute all the remaining positive qualities to themselves.Item Defining fishermen with undersea rhetoric(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2016) Glasmann, Hans Peter; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Theo LipfertDepictions of fishermen in marine filmmaking have varied widely depending on the rhetoric of the filmmaker. As filmmakers apply terrestrial logic to aquatic environments fishermen are subject to the film's cultural and personal perspectives. Because of this fishermen are portrayed as scientists, necessary to understanding aquatic sea life; stewards, necessary for protecting and maintaining the ocean; and predators, preying on the ocean's resources. Although films define and redefine anglers into different political spheres, fishermen are important to understanding the ocean. They are an invaluable resource for first-hand contact with aquatic environments. Utilizing anglers to construct the filmmaker's argument will only benefit films trying to describe the ocean as a space connected to and defined apart from terrestrial beings. I use my film, 43 and 80, as an example of a film that allows its fishermen to be the primary source of information about one species of marine life, namely pacific halibut. Because of their proximity and reliance on the fishing industry, I portray the fishermen of 43 and 80 as instrumental to understanding the need for halibut conservation and the regulations surrounding the pacific halibut industry.Item Correction of errors in oral expression(Montana State University - Bozeman, 1956) Fostvedt, Donald RaymondItem The effect of grammar-diagraming on student writing skills(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 1965) Whitehead, Charles E.Item On the English classroom as discourse community : an inclusive pedagogy(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2004) Sherrill, Perri Wilson; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Kimberly MyersOur use of language provides us with a means to negotiate our interactions with the world. For many new college students, learning the language necessary to participate in academic discourse is a barrier to success. The idea presented in this thesis of an inclusive pedagogy primarily bridges the gap between the discourse used in academic situations and the various discourses students bring with them to academy. Since identity cannot and should not be erased from students’ studies and work, we must conceive of ways to break down the binary opposition between students’ academic and nonacademic identities. Simply stated, teachers can include all students by inviting them to examine the experiences upon which their prior knowledge is built, thus helping them see their experience as a path to transformation and new learning. A struggle for a diverse group of learners, brought together in an English course not by common interest but by the need to fill a university requirement, is to find a common language in which each individual member of the group can thrive. So, an initial lack of shared knowledge is an obstacle to the kind of inclusive pedagogy I advocate. Classroom communities of introductory courses have the potential to engage students in the shared purposes, understandings, interests, and language of particular disciplines. Therefore, I propose introducing students to the characteristics of different discourse communities and sharing the expectations of the particular discourse inherent in a given discipline—English in this case. Demystifying the concepts of discourse and discourse communities, by reading, writing, and speaking about them, will help students understand more about the knowledge we all already have as language users and thus begin to bring together the different ways of knowing they practice.Item Criteria for the evaluation of high school English compostion(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 1963) Fostvedt, Donald RaymondItem Composition and rhetoric, universities, and the real world : implications and connections(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2003) Adams, Linda DeanItem Indicators of quality in natural language composition(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 1982) Donahue, Barry JohnItem Learning to care : encouraging public intellectualism with research narratives(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2012) Nolte, Miles David; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Doug DownsPublic engagement in matters of academic discourse is essential for both the validity of academic work and the agency and influence of general citizenry. The function of academia is the pursuit of inquiry for the general betterment of society. Facilitating meaningful communication between scholars and the public is a problem for a number of reasons, and it is not an exchange that we are currently stimulating with any degree of success. In fact, the perceived divide between academics and lay-people is expanding. Writers who utilize research narratives to frame topics of scholarly research offer a possible tool for encouraging effective public intellectualism. The work of Sarah Vowell and David Quammen represent successful examples of how research narratives can engage a broader audience in academic work.Item Burdens and Blessings : heuristic pedagogy for the rhetorical endeavor in composition(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2005) Lenart, Joshua Bela; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Kirk BranchRhetoric has been a cornerstone of Western thought for at least the last 2500 years, whether disdained as manipulative techniques exercised by immoral lawyers and corrupt politicians or prized as an elegant mastery of language displayed by leaders and dignitaries. This essay posits that rhetoric is always a fundamental part not only of Western but of all societies. Maintaining such a constitution necessarily raises the questions how and why should educators acknowledge rhetoric's role in their instruction. Of the innumerable sites for introducing an increased focus on rhetorical instruction in universities, the most obvious should be first year composition classrooms since these sites are oftentimes 1) mandatory and 2) already situated, loosely or extensively, around rhetorical understandings of the classroom and the world in which the classroom exists. The methods of this heuristic essay are designed to draw attention to the need for composition instructors to increase instruction on and around rhetoric, both classical and modern, in order to gain a fuller understanding of how our culture exists within itself and in relation to other cultures. In order to illustrate this need, I offer an historical overview of the discipline, as first designed by classical rhetors beginning with the early sophists and Aristotle, which continued largely unchanged until the middle part of the nineteenth century and the inception of the Morrill Land-Grant College Act after which time emerged what is popularly termed modern rhetoric. By examining these two discrete eras in rhetoric's history, I hope to highlight not only the need for, but in fact the demand for revisiting both eras in contemporary composition classrooms. This essay also posits that rhetoric, historically and contemporarily, can have the most dramatic effect on changing the social conditions in which students and educators exist. This argument could not operate without the understanding that increased focus on compositional rhetoric is necessary today insofar as it strives to continually realize social and political change, which focuses primarily on achieving a greater sense of democracy in our educational systems and thereby our culture. Consequentially, the conclusions reached here are at best suggestive and, as the title suggests, heuristic.