Date of Award
2000
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Communication Studies
First Advisor
Kenneth Zagacki
Abstract
The Morrill Act was the political telos of numerous rhetorical messages calling for pedagogical changes in higher education. This study examines the role of prudence in four of them. The method is a mode of textual criticism that attempts to capture the bifurcated sense of rhetorical invention: The immediate rhetorical situation, and the cultural grammar that constrains the rhetor performatively. The author illustrates how the relevant rhetorical strategies/gestures within each text and the text's textual context pointed to a certain conception of prudence. Historically, the author argues that the struggles between different notions of prudence impacted political, pedagogical action. Theoretically, the author reflects on the nature of prudence in relation to the rhetorical canons, agent, purpose, and audience. The study contributes to a broader understanding of how prudence emerges in rhetorical action.
Recommended Citation
Munsell, Jason Brian, "Rhetoric, Prudence, and the "Morrill Act" of 1862." (2000). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 7215.
https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/7215
ISBN
9780599853386
Pages
232
DOI
10.31390/gradschool_disstheses.7215