The Role of Theory in Public Address

• In Event: Stability and Change in Public Address Research

Abstract

This essay explore four modes of theoretical reflection in public address studies: classification, generalization, subversion, and abduction. It argues that these modes have evolved as much, if not more, from moral and political pressures as they have from intellectual effort. It concludes with an illustrative analysis of George W. Bush's Second Inaugural Address.

Author

• John Murphy, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign