• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.64 no.3
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• pp.361-381
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• 2018

Shakespeare reflects/refracts the controversial spirit of his age in the epistemological and political skepticism of his Roman plays: Titus Andronicus, Julius Caesar, Coriolanus, and Antony and Cleopatra. Skepticism doubts all received truth and suspends judgment, and it often takes the form of mental jousting on both sides of a question. Renaissance skepticism was strengthened by rhetorical education. Arguing on both sides of the question (in utramquem partem) was a practice taught in Shakespeare's grammar school in order to enhance students' mental abilities in logic and dialectic. This rhetorical exercise seldom leads to a third-term resolution: it just reveals all the apparent and hidden aspects of a problem at issue. Shakespeare's Roman plays, especially his Julius Caesar, demonstrate this skeptical attitude, leaving the judgment to the audience.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.36
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• pp.399-422
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• 2006

Whether to reduce the current 'screen quota' for domestic films in conjunction with the FTA discussions between Korea and the United States is one of the hotly debated issues in Korea. Using Toulmin's Argumentation Model, this study attempts to trace the use of data and warrants for each pro and con claims as portrayed in newspaper editorial columns and to find its rhetorical significance. A total of 67 editorial columns were collected from 9 nationwide news dailies in Korea for the purpose. The rhetorical analysis of those articles showed that the major warrants used in each pro and con opinion were absent of the potential issues of the opponents, which inherently fails to invite rebuttals from the opposite sides. This conceptual wall in each argumentation models implies an inactive conversation and subsequent absence of clash between the pro and con argumentation fields. It is thus suggested for opinion writers to find more adequate evidences to support the data and warrants to hold persuasive power of their respective claims, ultimately to enhance the public discourse among citizens.