Rhetoric's Audience Reconsidered

Session Submission Type: Panel Discussion

Abstract

The panel focuses on different ways to understand “audience” as a category in the criticism of public address. Through analyses of Martin Luther King’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech, Henry McNeal Turner’s “Negro Convention” speech, and Bill Clinton’s first inaugural address, the panelists consider how distinct conceptualizations of the interaction of rhetoric and audience can influence how rhetoricans understand the meaning and persuasive force of discourse.

Sub Unit

• Public Address Division

Chair

• Robert E. Terrill, Indiana University

Respondent

• Frank Thomas, University of Memphis

• Andre E Johnson, Univ of Memphis

• Antonio R de Velasco, Univ of Memphis

Session Organizer

• Antonio R de Velasco, Univ of Memphis