Thank you for calling, how may I help you? : a Burkean analysis of agency as established through call soft skills training materials, 2018

Item — Call Number: MU Thesis Dep

Identifier: b7876906

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

The collection consists of theses written by students enrolled in the Monmouth University graduate English program. The holdings are primarily bound print documents that were submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for the Master of Arts or Master of Fine Arts degrees.

From the Collection:

Students become eligible to pursue the Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) degree if they have obtained a Master of Arts (M.A.) in English from Monmouth University and demonstrate a proficiency for creative writing through a thesis or equivalent work.

From the Collection:

After completing their 30-credit M.A. in English with a Creative Writing concentration, Monmouth’s M.F.A. students take an additional 18 credits of intensive creative writing study that includes the completion of a book-length Creative Thesis.

From the Collection:

During the fall 2022 semester (in instances where the requisite waivers were received from consenting student authors), the Monmouth University Library, together with the University's Graduate School and Wayne D. McMurray School of Humanities and Social Sciences, began providing open access to select full-text digital versions of current theses and dissertations through links to the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global website in the Library's Online Public Access Catalog. Links to these open access digital publications can also be found in the "External Documents" section under any conforming titles that are listed among the holdings itemized in the collection inventory for this finding aid.

Dates

Creation: 2018

Creator

DePaolo, Victoria (1992- ) (Author, Person)
Hanly, John P. (Thesis advisor, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use. Access is by appointment only.

Access to the collection is confined to the Monmouth University Library and is subject to patron policies approved by the Monmouth University Library.

Collection holdings may not be borrowed through interlibrary loan.

Research appointments are scheduled by the Monmouth University Library Archives Collections Manager (723-923-4526). A minimum of three days advance notice is required to arrange a research appointment for access to the collection.

Patrons must complete a Researcher Registration Form and provide appropriate identification to gain access to the collection holdings. Copies of these documents will be kept on file at the Monmouth University Library.

Extent

1 Items (print book) : 45 pages ; 8.5 x 11.0 inches

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Introduction [excerpt]

[T]he complex rhetorical situations in which customer service representatives are rountinely engaged ... require specialized training through the use of manuals and other specialized texts. These texts, compiled by the organization's training and managerial staff, serve as guidelines on how to assist, to interact with, and to serve, customers within a professional context. Employees who are undergoing training learn how to service external audiences through the implementation of interpersonal or "soft" skills. This study focuses on the rhetoric of customer service training texts of an insurance company presents [sic] a complex case of how language functions in organizations and provides insight into the rhetorical purpose of organizations. These call center training materials also show how rhetoric functions in customer-employee exchanges. In order to analyze these texts, I apply Kenneth Burke's contemporary theories of rhetoric. Burke's insights allow for the examination of the communicative, the persuasive, and the identificatory functions of rhetorical strategies used in training texts and how these strategies function to idealize employees's roles, to prescribe particular language usage, and to allow opportunities for the exercise of agency in a call center.