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The “Good” Citizen and Civic (In)Action: A Rhetorical Analysis of the Naturalization Process in the United States

Abstract Details

2010, Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, English.
This dissertation examines the rhetorics of the naturalization process to become a United States citizen. I examine documents related to naturalization and citizenship rhetorics, including government-produced and legally binding documents such as study guides, brochures, and pamphlets written by organizations like the Daughters of the American Revolution, all of which are distributed during naturalization proceedings. I also consider procedures such as literacy tests, security background checks, and the oath ceremony where an applicant for citizenship swears allegiance to the nation and its people. I explore key points in history during which the United States develops various agencies – the Immigration and Naturalization Agency, for example – that produce, distribute, and process texts to help applicants learn English, the history of the nation and its government, and the culture of “we the people.” Drawing on the theories of Benedict Anderson, Anthony Smith, Kenneth Burke, and Chaim Perelman, I examine the notion of “we the people” and argue that naturalization rhetorics align “good citizenship” with patriotic responsibility and minimize citizen-action of individuals. By considering the process by which individual (ethnic) ideas and values are both deemed dangerous, unwanted, and unpatriotic, and also as a national good that, through blending, defines the nation as one community of diverse ethnie, my analysis explains how this process of citizenship, as described in policies, documents, and practices, constructs a form of comradeship necessary for an immigrant nation to maintain abstract diversity under the ideal of “we the people.” By reflecting on the historical constructions of citizenship and literacy – as the language and civics tests were developed within federal departments like the Department of Commerce and Labor, Department of Justice, and finally the Department of Homeland Security – I also unpack the ways in which naturalization discourses construct literacy skills through promises of equality and political involvement amid the reality of civic (in)action, civil obedience, and complacency.
Cynthia Lewiecki-Wilson (Committee Chair)
LuMing Mao (Committee Member)
Michele Simmons (Committee Member)
Mary Frederickson (Committee Member)
225 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Fedeczko, W. (2010). The “Good” Citizen and Civic (In)Action: A Rhetorical Analysis of the Naturalization Process in the United States [Doctoral dissertation, Miami University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1272290018

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Fedeczko, Wioleta. The “Good” Citizen and Civic (In)Action: A Rhetorical Analysis of the Naturalization Process in the United States. 2010. Miami University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1272290018.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Fedeczko, Wioleta. "The “Good” Citizen and Civic (In)Action: A Rhetorical Analysis of the Naturalization Process in the United States." Doctoral dissertation, Miami University, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1272290018

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)