Specialised languages such as the language of economics and politics are continuously undergoing dynamic development particularly in the area of lexis which is constantly evolving to reflect a rapidly changing society. A large part of specialised language is made up of rhetorical figures. Each specialised language has its own means of persuasion, its own rhetorical devices. This study examines ...

A comparison of the landmark papers by Watson and Crick (1953) and Avery et al. (1944) shows how different rhetorical choices can influence the impact of a scientific paper. The paper by Watson and Crick revolutionized biology and remains a model of scientific rhetoric. In contrast, the paper by Avery et al. reports equally important findings, but its impact was greatly diminished because of rh...

Fear appeals, which are used widely in information security campaigns, have become common tools in motivating individual compliance with information security policies and procedures. However, empirical assessments of the effectiveness of fear appeals have yielded mixed results, leading IS security scholars and practitioners to question the validity of the conventional fear appeal framework and ...

In theory, the vagueness of the World Trade Organization-administered TRIPS Agreement should provide developing countries with ample opportunities for creative interpretations of its provisions. Despite this, developing country freedom to exploit these opportunities is diminishing rapidly. Dispute settlement jurisprudence is one cause, but this is far less significant than that the United State...

Th e author claims that analyses of “political discourse” or “political rhetoric” should be grounded in what it is that participants try to do politically with language. Words, actions, and events work together; words interpret events or actions, as well as constitute political facts, while actions in various ways help words gain their political effi cacy. Analyses of political rhetoric (or dis...

Given the increasing influence of religious fundamentalism on politics (e.g. the Christian right in the United States or the Muslim fundamentalism associated with Al Qaeda), the question of how we can conceive of law and order, or society itself, without employing repressive ideals becomes more urgent. We need a way of conceptualizing the origin and process of idealization (which is necessary f...

This paper is concerned with rhetorical argumentation that aims to alter the beliefs of the listener, and so to influence his future actions, as opposed to classical argumentation that is concerned with the generation of arguments, usually as logical proofs, for and against a given course of action. Rhetorical argumentation includes rhetoric moves such as Threat, Reward and Appeal. Rhetorical a...

An atmosphere of crisis enhances the power, especially of the Executive Branch, to frame and shape the characterization, understanding, and reality of conflict. This Article addresses the language, rhetoric, status, and legality of “war” by examining the complexity of decision-making for policy-makers in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. It does so by looking both in...

Writing Skills Development (MERLOT, Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching). Provides links to sites that offer guidelines and tutorials on a variety of writing topics, including rubrics for assessing writing. See also the MERLOT English Portal (Language) for access to a broad range of materials for teaching and assessing writing. http://pedagogy.merlot.org/WritingSkil...

Barbara Ehrenreich and Deidre English were the first to expose medicine's complicity in patriachy. In Complaints and disorders and The sexual politics of sickness (Old Westbury, NY, The Feminist Press), they argued that, in defining women as sick, gynaecology had justified their exclusion from public life; in medicalizing the natural processes of pregnancy and childbirth, obstetrics had margina...