Masters Theses

Date of Award

8-1990

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Major

Theatre

Major Professor

Marcus L. Ambrester

Committee Members

Lorayne W. Lester, G. Allan Yeomans

Abstract

Gloria Steinem is a rhetorician in the Burkeian tradition. The components essential to the development and analysis of rhetorical motives are identification, context, and the precise ordering of terms. The process of reclaiming terms from the opposition or from one order to another is essential to Burke's rhetoric and Steinem's as well. The point of rhetoric is advantage by persuasion through the use of identifications built with terms of positive, dialectic, or ultimate orders. Many fields are not seen as rhetorical in nature, such as economic or property concerns, science, psychology, or the social roles of society's members. Burke and Steinem examine these areas as areas concerned with and influenced by the art of the rhetorician and the need to persuade. No field or observer is without bias and both authors find that there is no subject which their specialty does not transform. For Burke, rhetorical considerations transform every aspect of life and for Steinem the transformative element is feminism, rooted in the belief in a fundamental right to reproductive freedom. If rhetoric is the struggle for advantage, there must be opposing sides. By examining the opposition to feminism through Steinem's eyes we may more clearly see the inclusive, universal nature of her advocacy and her feminism. How one perceives one's enemies reveals much about one's own values and demystifies the outsiders vantage point.

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