ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 argues for the importance of rhetorical criticism in the analysis of social movement texts. By emphasizing both the persuasive character of movement literature, and the broader ideological dimensions of movement activity found within movement texts, rhetorical criticism allows us to examine not only what social movement texts mean but also what they do. An analysis of Dr Martin Luther King’s speech, “How Long, Not Long,” provides an example of how social movement texts identify an adversary and the just society that will surely follow the defeat of this adversary and the things that they stand for.
