With a Double Heart Do They Speak [microform] / Walker Gibson
- Bib ID:
- 5498047
- Format:
- Book and Microform
- Author:
- Gibson, Walker
- Description:
-
- [Washington, D.C.] : Distributed by ERIC Clearinghouse, 1988
- 8 p.
- Summary:
-
When introducing doublespeak in the classroom, there is a great temptation to pose as the good guy exposing the lying words of all the powerful bad guys. To a degree teachers should do this. But they cannot stop there, for it implies a posture of moral superiority. A solution to this problem is to focus on questions of choice and to be aware of all expressions that close off debate. An example that closes off debate is the reference by Colonel Oliver North at the Iran-Contra hearings to the Freedom Fighters, rather than the less inflammatory choice, Contras. Using the term Freedom Fighters begs the question, for if they are really fighters for freedom, then the case is closed and there is no argument. But, there is not enough evidence to make a decision like that. Another troubling example, and much more subtle, is George Bush's accusation that Michael Dukakis was "soft on crime." This accusation was subtly converted in people's minds to the phrase "lover of Blacks" after he used as proof for his charge the case of Willie Horton, who was released from prison on furlough and committed rape and murder. The "Weekend Passes" television commercial produced by the National Security Political Action Committee helped make this identification explicit and perpetuated a kind of doublespeak. (MS)
- Notes:
-
- ERIC Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Council of Teachers of English (78th, St. Louis, MO, November 18-23, 1988).
- May also be available online. Address as at 14/8/18: https://eric.ed.gov/
- Reproduction:
- Microfiche. [Washington D.C.]: ERIC Clearinghouse microfiches : positive.
- Subject:
- Available From:
- ERIC
- Copyright:
-
In Copyright
You may copy under some circumstances, for example you may copy a portion for research or study. Order a copy through Copies Direct to the extent allowed under fair dealing. Contact us for further information about copying.
Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Literary Dramatic Musical
- Published status:
- Published
- Publication date:
- 1988
Copyright status may not be correct if data in the record is incomplete or inaccurate. Other access conditions may also apply. For more information please see: Copyright in library collections.
Request this item
Request this item to view in the Library’s reading room.
Feedback
Similar items
- The Ends of rhetoric : history, theory, practice / edited by John Bender and David E. Wellbery
- Hn. Joh. Clerici Gedancken von der wahren und falschen Rede-Kunst [microform] : ihres Nutzens wegen aus dem Frantzoischen [sic] ins Teutsche ubersetzet
- Le discours litteraire et l'imaginal
- L'empire rhetorique : rhetorique et argumentation / par Ch. Perelman
- Gendai no retorikku / [chosakusha Hatano Kanji]