{"id":{"repo_id":"mo-state","oai_identifier":"oai:bearworks.missouristate.edu:theses-1351"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/mo-state/oai:bearworks.missouristate.edu:theses-1351","repository":{"repo_id":"mo-state","name":"Missouri State University","base_url":"https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"Self-Structure and the Rhetorics of Social Discourse in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn","abstract":"In this thesis, I argue that Mark Twain's runaway slave, Jim, displays the characteristics of a brilliant modern rhetor; that is, Jim accounts for the historical and cultural complexities influencing the meaning of the linguistic sign and applies several effective rhetorical strategies based on this knowledge. Significantly, I borrow Toni Morrisons's term \"American Africanism\" to assert that Jim consciously becomes with or embodies Africanist American stererotypes influencing \"white\" American racial discourses. In other words, Jim appropriates an ethos consistent with antebellum \"white\" rhetorics aimed at racial subordination. To explain Jim's ironic decision, I employ Marshall W. Alcorn's theory of self-structure: a theory defined in his article \"Self-Structure as a Rhetorical Device: Modern Ethos and the Divisiveness of the Self\" and ironically rooted in both sociolinguistic and psycho-analytic philosophies. In the end, this study seeks to identify the technique and trace the influence of social discourses on the self-structure of Huckleberry Finn, and map Huck's moral growth in the context of rhetorical argument.","abstract_html":"In this thesis, I argue that Mark Twain's runaway slave, Jim, displays the characteristics of a brilliant modern rhetor; that is, Jim accounts for the historical and cultural complexities influencing the meaning of the linguistic sign and applies several effective rhetorical strategies based on this knowledge. Significantly, I borrow Toni Morrisons's term "American Africanism" to assert that Jim consciously becomes with or embodies Africanist American stererotypes influencing "white" American racial discourses. In other words, Jim appropriates an ethos consistent with antebellum "white" rhetorics aimed at racial subordination. To explain Jim's ironic decision, I employ Marshall W. Alcorn's theory of self-structure: a theory defined in his article "Self-Structure as a Rhetorical Device: Modern Ethos and the Divisiveness of the Self" and ironically rooted in both sociolinguistic and psycho-analytic philosophies. In the end, this study seeks to identify the technique and trace the influence of social discourses on the self-structure of Huckleberry Finn, and map Huck's moral growth in the context of rhetorical argument.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Desnoyer, Brett Patrick"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts in English","degree_level":"Masters","degree_discipline":"English","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Donald Holliday"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":1994,"date_issued":"1994-12-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"1994-12-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:15:23Z","subjects":["English Language and Literature"],"languages":[],"rights":["© Brett Patrick Desnoyer"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/350","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Donald Holliday"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Desnoyer, Brett Patrick"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts in English"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["English Language and Literature"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["© Brett Patrick Desnoyer"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/350"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["In this thesis, I argue that Mark Twain's runaway slave, Jim, displays the characteristics of a brilliant modern rhetor; that is, Jim accounts for the historical and cultural complexities influencing the meaning of the linguistic sign and applies several effective rhetorical strategies based on this knowledge. Significantly, I borrow Toni Morrisons's term \"American Africanism\" to assert that Jim consciously becomes with or embodies Africanist American stererotypes influencing \"white\" American racial discourses. In other words, Jim appropriates an ethos consistent with antebellum \"white\" rhetorics aimed at racial subordination. To explain Jim's ironic decision, I employ Marshall W. Alcorn's theory of self-structure: a theory defined in his article \"Self-Structure as a Rhetorical Device: Modern Ethos and the Divisiveness of the Self\" and ironically rooted in both sociolinguistic and psycho-analytic philosophies. In the end, this study seeks to identify the technique and trace the influence of social discourses on the self-structure of Huckleberry Finn, and map Huck's moral growth in the context of rhetorical argument."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Self-Structure and the Rhetorics of Social Discourse in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Donald Holliday"],"dc:creator":["Desnoyer, Brett Patrick"],"dc:description.abstract":["In this thesis, I argue that Mark Twain's runaway slave, Jim, displays the characteristics of a brilliant modern rhetor; that is, Jim accounts for the historical and cultural complexities influencing the meaning of the linguistic sign and applies several effective rhetorical strategies based on this knowledge. Significantly, I borrow Toni Morrisons's term \"American Africanism\" to assert that Jim consciously becomes with or embodies Africanist American stererotypes influencing \"white\" American racial discourses. In other words, Jim appropriates an ethos consistent with antebellum \"white\" rhetorics aimed at racial subordination. To explain Jim's ironic decision, I employ Marshall W. Alcorn's theory of self-structure: a theory defined in his article \"Self-Structure as a Rhetorical Device: Modern Ethos and the Divisiveness of the Self\" and ironically rooted in both sociolinguistic and psycho-analytic philosophies. In the end, this study seeks to identify the technique and trace the influence of social discourses on the self-structure of Huckleberry Finn, and map Huck's moral growth in the context of rhetorical argument."],"dc:identifier":["https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/350"],"dc:rights":["© Brett Patrick Desnoyer"],"dc:subject":["English Language and Literature"],"dc:title":["Self-Structure and the Rhetorics of Social Discourse in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts in English"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:15:23Z"}