Forgive Me Public for I Have Sinned: A Rhetorical Analysis of Mark Sanford's Apology

Author

Michael Spencer Harris

Date of Graduation

Spring 2010

Degree

Master of Arts in Communication

Department

Communication

Committee Chair

Elizabeth Dudash

Abstract

Governor Mark Sanford was propelled to infamy after admitting an affair with an Argentinean woman in 2009. As Sanford disclosed private information about his affair, he engaged in a unique rhetorical construction of privacy boundaries. The purpose of this paper is to analyze Sanford's apology as an act of atonement (Koesten & Rowland, 2004) while he was simultaneously constructing and maintaining privacy boundaries. The author concludes that atonement should be updated to account for varying rhetorical contexts and that rhetorical criticism could benefit from the use of theories in other communication fields.

Keywords

atonement, communication privacy management, disclosure, Sanford, rhetorical criticism

Subject Categories

Communication

Copyright

© Michael Spencer Harris

Recommended Citation

Harris, Michael Spencer, "Forgive Me Public for I Have Sinned: A Rhetorical Analysis of Mark Sanford's Apology" (2010). MSU Graduate Theses. 2516.
https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/2516