Item Detail
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24170
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0
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3
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English
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Joseph Smith's Letter from Liberty Jail as an Epistolary Rhetoric
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Dialogue : A Journal of Mormon Thought
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Winter 2010
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43
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4
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43-70
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"Joseph Smith may not have ever spoken the word 'rhetoric,' but his participation in juvenile debating societies probably brought him some contact with rhetoric's long tradition. Regardless of his knowledge of this tradition, it is obvious that Smith knew how to persuade people through speech and writing. In addition, his writings instruct readers about how to persuade in a manner consistent with the restored gospel of Mormonism. Whether Smith intended to introduce a new theory of rhetoric, this article argues that his theology implies one. While it is probably true that one can be a good communicator with theorizing about what he or she is doing, this paper is on the lookout for a Restoration theory of persuasion." [Author's introduction]