Lucifer state: A novel approach to rhetoric

By Trevor Melia and Melia

Book Overview

View another society as compared to ours and question why everyone does what they do with no questions asked and makes no effort to change.This book creates a new view of society & persuasion. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 084033057X
• ISBN13: 9780840330574
• Release Date: January 1983
• Publisher: Kendall/Hunt Pub. Co
• Length: 191 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Introduced me to the world of rhetoric...

This book was by far the most interesting and poignant read of my collegiate career. I was lucky enough to have one of the co-authors - Dr. Jean Jones as a professor for the Persuasion and Propoganda class that we read this for. With her in-class critique and well-coached, thought-provoking analysis I was able to make sense of the purpose of this book. The key to this book is that There is NO ULTIMATE TRUTH! The book has a fantastic, open-ended ending that allows the reader to draw his/her own conclusion which I loved! It's absolute great read and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in developing their sense of awareness about our modern society. "Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men." ~ Plato

So Enjoyable, I re-read it several years after graduating

The first thing you have to understand about this book, is it was the prime textbook for Melia's popular class, "Rhetoric in a Free Society," at the University of Pittsburgh. It's a class I took and enjoyed very much in the mid-1980s. Because this is a textbook, there are so many things happening that someone erroneously referred to as "symbolism." The plot devices, as they're introduced in this science fiction novel, co-incide with what's being taught in the lecture hall. That way, instead of students trying to grasp abstract ideas, they're presented for them in the context of this novel. As students hear about brainwashing techniques in the classroom, they read about it happening in this fictitious society. What's more, beyond the textbook itself (which reads a little like a Robert Ludlum take on the world of sci-fi), the story is enjoyable enough to keep the students' attention. In fact, if you never took the course, you'd probably enjoy this book as a sci-fi novel. Also, the footnotes at the book's end tie into many of the recommended readings from the lectures. If there were more textbooks written like this, there'd be more students pursuing higher education. Long live Melia!

The best college text I have yet to read!!!!!!

This was really the most interesting book I have had to read in college. I look forward to reading it again on my own time and plan on passing it on to my friends. It was really enjoyable and enlightening with great twists of events! You can read this book again and again and pull something new from it every time!

Lucifer State: Textbook or Sci-Fi Novel?

A little of both, actually. Lucifer State, in textbook form, is an efficient book, focusing primarily on how rhetoric is used to influence the mind and also inside puns from 1984 (For instance, the numbr of the e-car that James *Adam* Sebring takes in the first chapter.) As a sci-fi novel, Lucifer State has an engaging plot, believable characters, and a good pace... It has been an inspiration to me as a writer, and I recommend that any science fiction writer read this (But not before reading 1984!!)

"Lucifer" comes as an angel of light and bearer of knowledge

Melia and Ryder spin a futurist tale of a society with a computer that assigns all newborns their natural and precise date of death. Such knowledge has profound implications for all aspects of the way in which individuals in the Lucifer State shape and live their lives. From career choices to marriage partners, life decisions in Lucifer State are directed by societal rules surrounding appropriate use of one's appointed life span. The society emphasizes "safety;" when one's natural death date is in the distant future, to die in a careless accident is a special tragedy.As the book progresses, the novel becomes the tale of one woman's investigation into the most inner reaches of the Lucifer State. All taken-for-granted notions are called into question as the identity of "Lucifer" is revealed, and the book becomes impossible to put down -- the reader must find out how it all will end. The ending will startle!The book was originally designed as an alternative to standard textbooks in rhetoric and persuasion. It contains helpful footnotes explaining allusions. At the back of the book, the reader finds two critical essays. These additions do not detract from the novel, which stands well on its own as a good story. For the student of persuasion and rhetoric, the footnotes and essays enhance the reading."Lucifer State" is a rare treat. It is a good read and the reader learns something. It causes the careful reader to reflect on his or her society's rhetoric and causes readers to consider the nature of the "essential myths" that shape their lives.