For the collegiate and professional rhetor, Aristotle’s properties are forefront in the address.In order, the speaker must have knowledge of the following if the address is to demonstrate practical and intellectual completeness.

It is my contention that these segments will make instruction and delivery (whether manuscript, memorization, or impromptu) of the speech a more cogent and appreciative experience.

Jeff Mendenhall, Chattanooga State Technical Community College

Mike Gotcher, Austin Peay State University

Stacey Mumpower, Austin Peay State University

Caroline Sawyer-Downes, Austin Peay State University

The Use of Facebook for Class Involvement

This study explores the use of Facebook to improve class involvement in a senior level presentations course. A Facebook group was created and videos concerning speech communication from YouTube were linked. Students were given extra credit to participate and at the end of the semester a brief survey was administered.

Social Identity Theory suggests that group associations affect individual behavioral patterns. Advertisers have found it to be a useful theory in structuring media messages. This literature review shows that identity saliencies do influence behavior toward advertisements and the cues featured in them.

The purpose of this paper is to explore what types of information are communicated through the status update feature on Facebook. It consists of a textual analysis performed on the updates of 99 participants collected over a two-week period. Results indicate that a variety of information is communicated.

Computer games are a prevalent part of German youth culture. This paper focuses on some of the elements that make games attractive to teenagers. Specifically, the importance of media integration and the media’s role in mastering developmental tasks, such as identity construction, build the core of this analysis.

Technological progress with no clear telos obscures what T. S. Eliot called "the permanent things." What the modern world needs today is a reverential ecology of media that understands the importance of non-mediated orality. Only then can those traditional identity-forming social institutions of family, church, and community truly be preserved.

According to recent statistics, more college students communicate through "facebook" more than email or text messages. Facebook is the fastest growing social network site with almost 200 million active users worldwide. This case study examines the Facebook use of 20 students over a two-week period. Attention is given to what activities are performed while on the site, the number of people contacted, messaged, or tagged, as well as the motivations for being on the site. Relevant literature will also be highlighted relating to social networking, face-to-face communication, and interpersonal relationships.

Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are now firmly established phenomena in the global vernacular and organizations are increasingly interested in harnessing the power they hold over key demographics. But is social media the holy grail of stakeholder relations? This presentation explores how social media is already changing the practice of public relations and whether these outlets can truly produce the kind of results organizations desire.

The nature of digital communication brings an unprecedented opportunity for news organizations to connect with the public sphere in this era of instantaneous mass communication. Audience engagement in responding to content may build credibility/legitimacy for online and traditional media in a competitive, changing media landscape and improve participatory democracy.

For several decades the Diffusion Communications Model has found use in defining communication processes in the media and the relationship of gatekeepers to those processes. However, most uses have been descriptive rather than prescriptive. The author demonstrates how a modification of this model in the public relations setting cannot only explain relationships between gatekeepers and communicators, but how the model can be used to enrich the understanding of the communicator and result in significant increases in the targeting and use of public relations press releases by the media whether or not the messages are designed for traditional media outlets or whether they are targeted for newer internet based platforms.

Critics have noticed how comfortable Barack Obama is in speaking the language of faith. Through an analysis of his campaign speeches, I examine how Obama used faith language not only to "give testimony" of his faith to the American people, but also to (re)frame and (re)claim the debate on what faith is and how faithful people should act.

Chelsea Clinton became a campaign surrogate for her mother, Hillary Rodham Clinton, in December 2008. This paper explores the rhetorical function of "vote for my mom," by turning to Doris Graber’s "condensation symbol" and the extensions of this concept by other scholars before moving to my own analysis of "vote for my mom" as a localized appeal.

This paper examines the unique role the "antimajoritarian premise" of Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Law establishes for ad hominem argument.It then discusses how, in the NAACP's 1930's Graduate School Desegregation Cases, Houston attempted to avoid charges of "subjectivism" when making his all-important "equalization strategy" by relying upon sources originating in the states themselves.

The changing social and economic culture within the Greek and Roman world required the creators of progymnasmata handbooks to impose a standard of rhetorical education that would withstand opposition and extol the value of discourse. Through a survey of the cultural and progymnasmatic practices of Aelius Theon, Quintilian, Hermogenes, Aphthonius, and Nicolas the Sophist, I hope to encourage scholars to devote more attention to the study of progymnasmata as a way to revitalize rhetorical education.

These six student papers are the result of a class project in Rhetorical Theory and Criticism that investigated the rhetoric of the current "Wingnut" movement in.S. Politics, most commonly represented by the extreme right wing discourse of "conservative" Republican talk radio personalities.The primary goal was to use methods of rhetorical criticism to understand how their rhetoric "works," and how (or if) it might represent the characteristics of "mass movements" and "true believers" outlined by Eric Hoffer in his classic study of how people become fanatical followers of political and religious movements.

This roundtable discussion will explore how departments and institutions are coping with budget and institutional changes related to the current economic downturn. Representatives from a variety of institutions in Tennessee will lead a discussion focusing on curricular & programmatic changes, changes in advising strategies due to changing industry dynamics, effect of budget cuts on departments, changes in institutional priorities, stimulus package benefits, long range planning, and how our state association can assist member departments.

Brian Carter is a 2002 graduate of UT Martin where he received a Bachelor of Arts Communications. Since departing UTM, Brian has worked in corporate and non-profit communications for companies including Monster.com, FedEx and ad agency Chandler Ehrlich. For the last six years, Brian Carter has been responsible for publicizing the Memphis Zoo. He began working at the Zoo as a Communications Specialist just one month before the giant pandas arrived, which thrust the Zoo into the international media scene was named the Director of Marketing and Communications in 2004, and since has also assumed responsibly for technology at the Zoo. He serves on the PR Task Force for Memphis Tourism and is a member of' PRSA chapter.