Epideictic memories of war: reconceiving the classical funeral oration as exigence-driven discourse

Epideictic discourse has been and remains an enigma in rhetorical studies. The concept has been considered from numerous perspectives, but praise and blame, the purposes Aristotle ascribed to his third genre, still remain pervasive in our understanding of it. Following scholars who have questioned how well Aristotelian definitions of the concept can explain epideictic discourse in antiquity (Chase, 1961; Duffy, 1983; Walker, 2000), these essays will examine the political functions of the classical funeral oration (Epitaphios Logos), a quintessentially epideictic form of rhetoric. To date, few studies (Hesk, 2013 is a notable exception) explore the influence of political exigencies that confronted the ancient orator when speaking in ceremonial contexts. Responding to the sparse treatment of the subject, this project applies close reading of two extant funeral orations from classical Athens to investigate the connection between funerary discourse the prosecution of war efforts. As a work of conceptually oriented criticism, it aims to add to, modify, or reconceive of the epideictic genre and illuminate aspects of the text and context of the speeches under study. I propose that Aristotle\u27s conception of epideictic is insufficient to explain the discourse of his contemporaries because it ignored the political ends ceremonial orators pursued, in particular, those of Demosthenes and Hyperides, two orators for whom we have extant texts of a funeral oration each delivered. By drawing on the works of modern rhetorical theorists including Chaïm Perelman, Lloyd Bitzer, and Kenneth Burke, I argue for a more fluid conception of the epideictic genre, one that is determined more by the immediate exigencies of the rhetorical situation than by the traditional tropes thought to govern the tradition

1940: Abilene Christian College Bible Lectures - Full Text

Delivered in the Auditorium of Abilene Christian College, February, 1940, Abilene, Texas. Published April, 1940 PRICE, $1.00 FIRM FOUNDATION PUBLISHING HOUSE Austin, Texas

1954: Abilene Christian College Bible Lectures - Full Text

Preface The 1954 Abilene Christian College Lectureship was one of the best attended and most successful in the history of the school. Considerable interest was manifested in the timely theme, “Overcoming Dangerous Tendencies,” and in the two special topics, “Ways and Means of Doing Mission Work,” and “Caring For Widows and Orphans.” The reports from the mission fields were highly stimulating, and all in all, the speeches were unusually high caliber. The Panel Discussions were also on timely subjects and well presented. They received a warm response, as did also the thirty classes that were conducted each day. These classes were taught by persons expert in their particular fields, and covered a wide range of interests to the faithful, working Christian. We at Abilene Christian College predict for this book of Lectures a wide and hearty reception, and believe that its reading will issue in profit to the individual and to the church at large. J. D. Thomas Lectureship Directo

1967: Abilene Christian College Bible Lectures - Full Text

LIFTING UP THE CHRIST” Being the Abilene Christian College Annual Bible Lectures 1967 $3.95 Published by ABILENE CHRISTIAN COLLEGE STUDENTS EXCHANGE ACC Station Abilene, Texa

Erratum to: Methods for evaluating medical tests and biomarkers

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s41512-016-0001-y.]

Ornato e despojamento no mundo fabril

O artigo investiga algumas das tendências da arquitetura gerada por fábricas - galpões industriais, moradias, igrejas, escolas, clubes etc. -, erguida no Brasil entre as duas últimas décadas do século XIX e as primeiras do XX. Apoia-se em amplo inventário, como base para um esforço de análise que se propõe a identificar os temas e usos predominantes dos ornatos aplicados a construções geradas por fábricas, as referências historicistas mobilizadas e eventuais rupturas de signos arquitetônicos tipológicos, e, no limite, a abolição de ornatos e dos referidos signos. Assim, de um lado, trata da penetração da linguagem eclética nessas construções, investigando o repertório formal utilizado em diferentes tipologias. De outro, trata da simultânea difusão de uma estética tipicamente fabril, fundamentada em noções de economia, eficiência, utilidade e funcionalidade. Mostra como tais noções se expressam ora em uma simplificação ou ausência de ornatos, ora no uso de ornatos cujos temas remetem ao mundo das máquinas; às vezes, no distanciamento ou abandono de signos arquitetônicos tipológicos consagrados; ou, ainda, no emprego de materiais produzidos industrialmente e que se difundiram a partir, sobretudo, da arquitetura de fábricas.The article examines some aspects of the architecture created for factories - warehouses, houses, churches, schools, clubs etc. -, built in Brazil between the two last decades of the nineteenth century and early of the twentieth century. The research relies on extensive inventory, the basis on which an analysis effort is realized that aims to identify the themes and predominant use of ornament applied to constructions produced by factories, the historicist references mobilized and eventual disruption of typological architectural signs, and, ultimately, the elimination of ornament and of those signs. Therefore, on one side, it deals with the penetration of the eclectic language in these buildings, by examining the formal repertoire used in different typologies. On the other side, it deals with simultaneous diffusion of a typical manufacturing aesthetic, based on notions of economy, efficiency, utility and functionality. It shows how such notions are expressed in either a simplification or the lack of ornament, sometimes in the use of ornament whose themes relate to the world of machines, sometimes in the detachment or abandonment of embodied architectural typological signs, or even the use of industrially produced materials that have spread from mainly the architecture of factories

Evidence synthesis to inform model-based cost-effectiveness evaluations of diagnostic tests: a methodological systematic review of health technology assessments

Background: Evaluations of diagnostic tests are challenging because of the indirect nature of their impact on patient outcomes. Model-based health economic evaluations of tests allow different types of evidence from various sources to be incorporated and enable cost-effectiveness estimates to be made beyond the duration of available study data. To parameterize a health-economic model fully, all the ways a test impacts on patient health must be quantified, including but not limited to diagnostic test accuracy. Methods: We assessed all UK NIHR HTA reports published May 2009-July 2015. Reports were included if they evaluated a diagnostic test, included a model-based health economic evaluation and included a systematic review and meta-analysis of test accuracy. From each eligible report we extracted information on the following topics: 1) what evidence aside from test accuracy was searched for and synthesised, 2) which methods were used to synthesise test accuracy evidence and how did the results inform the economic model, 3) how/whether threshold effects were explored, 4) how the potential dependency between multiple tests in a pathway was accounted for, and 5) for evaluations of tests targeted at the primary care setting, how evidence from differing healthcare settings was incorporated. Results: The bivariate or HSROC model was implemented in 20/22 reports that met all inclusion criteria. Test accuracy data for health economic modelling was obtained from meta-analyses completely in four reports, partially in fourteen reports and not at all in four reports. Only 2/7 reports that used a quantitative test gave clear threshold recommendations. All 22 reports explored the effect of uncertainty in accuracy parameters but most of those that used multiple tests did not allow for dependence between test results. 7/22 tests were potentially suitable for primary care but the majority found limited evidence on test accuracy in primary care settings. Conclusions: The uptake of appropriate meta-analysis methods for synthesising evidence on diagnostic test accuracy in UK NIHR HTAs has improved in recent years. Future research should focus on other evidence requirements for cost-effectiveness assessment, threshold effects for quantitative tests and the impact of multiple diagnostic tests

Erratum to: Methods for evaluating medical tests and biomarkers

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s41512-016-0001-y.]