Using apocalyptic discourse to exploit audience commitments through “transfer”

Abstract

Many persuaders face the rhetorical problem of how to use audience allegiance to a revered text as the basis for urging further commitments and actions. The essay considers the way in which recent religious apocalyptic discourse motivates actions and attitudes toward secular issues by appealing to sacred texts. One strategy of that discourse is transfer, a strategy explained by Kenneth Burke's concepts of form. The strategy is traced through three components of recent religious apocalyptic. Implications for rhetorical strategies which exploit reverence for texts are explored.