Lessons from Libya [Ressource électronique] : a situational approach to the generic criticism of president Obama's march 28, 2011 address to the Nation on Libya / Amy L. Schumacher

Master of arts : Communication studies : Marshall University : 2012

Bibliogr. p. 87-83

Many!scholars!have!called!the!utility!of!the!generic!method!of!rhetorical! criticism!into!question.!!Adopting!a!situational!approach!to!generic!rhetorical! criticism!increases!the!value!of!the!method!considerably.!!By!analyzing!situational! constituents!(scene,!purpose,!agent,!act,!agency,!and!audience)!surrounding!a! discourse,!a!critic!gains!a!holistic!understanding!of!that!text.!!When!coupled!with! generic!comparisons!-!whether!the!critic!proceeds!inductively!or!deductively!-!he! or!she!can!then!trace!the!recurrent!rhetorical!strategies!across!time!and!place!and,! simultaneously,!highlight!the!elements!unique!to!the!particular!rhetor!and! discourse.!!I!demonstrate!this!approach!through!an!analysis!of!President!Barack! Obama's!March!28,!2011!Address!to!the!Nation!on!Libya,!in!which!he!explained!the! U.S.!military!intervention!in!the!Libyan!Revolution!that!unfolded!during!the!Arab! Spring!uprisings.