Cesar Chavez's relentless campaign for social justice for farm workers and laborers in the United States marked a milestone in U.S. history. Through his powerful rhetoric and impassioned calls to action, Chavez transformed as well as persuaded and inspired his audiences.
In this first published anthology, Richard J. Jensen and John C. Hammerback present Chavez in his own terms. Through this collection and through his own words and analysis of his major speeches and writings, Jensen and Hammerback reveal the rhetorical qualities and underlying rhetorical dynamics of a master communicator and also offer a rich source of the history of the farm workers' movement Chavez led from the early 1960s to his death in 1993.
Each chapter features a clear introductory section that helps the reader focus on the highlights that won Chavez a reputation as an effective communicator. The editors explain the sources of Chavez's motivation to campaign for farm workers, his selection of characteristic and signature rhetorical elements, and the success of specific campaigns and his overall career.
"The Words of Cesar ""Chavez" offers an important new resource for scholars of public discourse, Chicano studies, and Cesar Chavez himself. It complements the editors' earlier study, "The Rhetorical Career of Cesar ""Chavez"," " by providing the primary materials for that rhetorical profile of Chavez. Through his own words, Jensen and Hammerback present Chavez doing what he did best: teaching and influencing audiences who would enact his agenda to create a new and better world.

Offers a wide-angle view that expands our perspective on Illinois history. This book treats Illinois as a microcosm of the nation, arguing that its history exhibits basic conflicts that had much to do with shaping American society in general.

He reviled the rich for their cupidity and they found his rhetoric repulsive. Plebians believed him their champion and patricians knew he was their bete noire, remarks Halford Ryan in his eloquent foreword to this definitive survey of Clarence DarroW's development as orator and unique American myth. As a writer, lecturer, debater, and trial lawyer Darrow spoke for the have-nots and cultivated an image of mythic proportions as the underdog's advocate. Many of the more than 2,000 trials in which he was active reflected the major social and philosophical issues of the last quarter of the nineteenth and first third of the twentieth centuries in America. Read today, DarroW's speeches still ring true both as political statements and as models of persuasive pleading and pathos--reason enough to study the work of this uncommon advocate who stood perpetually opposed to the great and powerful of the earth. Richard J. Jensen has written a clearsighted volume that documents how Darrow created and then enlarged his personal myth through speeches, writings, and actions. Each chapter focuses on particular segments of that creation. Half of the book consists of authoritative texts of several of DarroW's most influential and rhetorically brilliant speeches, and a speech chronology simplifies the work of researchers.

The study opens with a brief biography, an overview of DarroW's rhetoric, along with the forces that affected it, and some initial comments on the elements that make up the myth. The next chapter, Schoolmaster of the Courtroom, chronicles the origins of DarroW's image as a defender of the downtrodden and his early trials in defense of labor unions and their leaders. What is considered to be one of the most famous speeches in American legal history, that given by Darrow at the conclusion of the 1924 Leopold and Loeb trial, is the focus of Chapter Three. Chapter Four centers on the Scopes Trial, perhaps the most famous trial in recent American history, during which the dramatic confrontation with William Jennings Bryan occurred. The penultimate chapter explains the arguments Darrow used to defend the poor, radicals, Blacks, and other less fortunate members of society. Finally, DarroW's rhetoric as a writer and as an active speaker and debater on the lecture circuit is examined. Part II contains the authoritative texts of seven speeches including those given during the Leopold and Loeb Trial and the Scopes Trial, among others. The Chronology of Speeches, Bibliography, and Index close the volume. The speeches along with Jensen's intelligent, readable analysis and criticism will be an important resource for those teaching and studying Legal Rhetoric and the History of Public Address.

The authors analyze the rhetorical discourse characteristic of the Chicano protest movement of the sixties and seventies, focusing on four prominent activists, Cesar Chavez, Rodolfo Corky Gonzalez, Jose Angel Gutierrez, and Reies Lopez Tijerina. How these militant spokesmen employed their extensive skill with words is closely examined and analyzed. In the process, much about the nature, function, and meaning of the Chicano protest movement becomes clear. Similarities and differences in their rhetorical styles are discussed, as are their different backgrounds, personalities, goals, audiences, and the issues they addressed. Included is an analysis of the themes, appeals, and symbols they popularized in ther personal vision of what America ought to be for Chicanos. The volume also contains an essay by Jose Angel Gutierrez, an essay on the counter-rhetoric and ideology of other Mexican-American leaders of the time, and a bibliographic essay.

The period between the 1960s and 1970s is easily one of the most controversial in American history. Examining the liberal movements of the era as well as those that opposed them, this volume offers analyses of the rhetoric of leaders, including those of the civil rights movement, the Chicano movement, the gay rights movement, second-wave feminism, and conservative resistance groups. It also features an introduction that summarizes much of the significant research done by communication scholars on dissent in the 1960s and 1970s. This time period is still a fertile area of study, and this book provides insights into the era that are both provocative and illuminating, making it an essential read for anyone looking to learn more about this time in America.

Ronald Reagan's inability to sway the American public and press with his speeches at the former site of the infamous Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and, later, at the U.S. Air Force base in Bitburg, Germany, has been marked by many as the first major failure of the Great Communicator's second term. Richard J. Jensen highlights the qualities of the speeches that make them, in his estimation, models of presidential discourse. But he also looks at the setting for the speeches - political and historical - that doomed them despite their eloquence. Telescoping in from the broadest perspective on Reagan's rhetorical career; to the circumstances surrounding the decision to make the speeches; to the drafting, delivery, and reception of the texts, Jensen contrasts these two speeches with two very successful ones Reagan had delivered in Normandy the previous year. The result is a vivid picture of a man and a moment in history. Students and all those interested in public discourse and the presidency will deeply benefit from this mature work by a major scholar of rhetoric.

Ronald Reagan's inability to sway the American public and press with his speeches at the former site of the infamous Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and, later, at the U.S. Air Force base in Bitburg, Germany, has been marked by many as the first major failure of the Great Communicator's second term. Richard J. Jensen highlights the qualities of the speeches that make them, in his estimation, models of presidential discourse. But he also looks at the setting for the speeches - political and historical - that doomed them despite their eloquence. Telescoping in from the broadest perspective on Reagan's rhetorical career; to the circumstances surrounding the decision to make the speeches; to the drafting, delivery, and reception of the texts, Jensen contrasts these two speeches with two very successful ones Reagan had delivered in Normandy the previous year. The result is a vivid picture of a man and a moment in history. Students and all those interested in public discourse and the presidency will deeply benefit from this mature work by a major scholar of rhetoric.

Cesar Chavez urged the farm laborers of America to proclaim, "Si se puede--Yes, we can!" An indefatigable speaker, writer, and organizer, Chavez developed a well-thought-out approach to his rhetorical discourse and placed his speaking and writing at the very center of his career. By merging thought and character in his themes, arguments, and explanations, he identified with the character of his listeners. Award-winning scholars John C. Hammerback and Richard J. Jensen offer a thorough examination of how Chavez developed his speeches and writings to further his agenda for union activism. They analyze his world view, the rhetorical approaches he took, and many of his own texts, showing that although bron into one of the least powerful segments of American society, Chavez led the farm-labor movement to unprecedented heights.

Discusses the character and contributions of the various groups of people who have settled in and helped develop Illinois since the early nineteenth century.