Presents a case study of autobiographical letters written by a turn-of-the-century prostitute to a Boston matron. Shows how, in creating a narrative of her life, the author of the letters uses several rhetorical strategies to recreate her character to persuade her audience (and herself) that she is worthy of respect. (SR)

Analyzes the rhetoric of the 1850s' Know-Nothing party, the first national political party to use nativism successfully in its platform. Concludes that nativist rhetoric's success and failure lies in the traditional values party members used to overcome the constraints traditionally imposed upon the nativist response to the rhetorical situation.…

Investigates the use of "bridging devices" in Lucretia Coffin Mott's "Discourse on Woman" (1849). Shows how Mott uses the Quaker concept of the "inner light" to balance the tension between her conservative cultural milieu and her radical goals. Argues that Mott's rhetoric is instructive for modern feminists who try to…

Traces the rhetorical relationship between the ritual path taken by each rhetor and the types of messages they leave behind at the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial in Washington D.C., especially in the rhetoric "as addressed" to an audience. Reveals the interplay of ritual choice and message. (MS)