Norman Vincent Peale's best-sellers through the lens of metaphoric criticism and invitational rhetoric

Abstract

This study analyzes Norman Vincent Peale's bestsellers, A Guide to Confident Living and The Power of Positive Thinking, through the lenses of metaphoric criticism and invitational rhetoric. Invitational rhetoric includes characteristics such as openness, equality, mutual respect and reciprocal understanding. Metaphoric analysis includes the dominant categories of metaphors, their roles and transition across topics. The dominant tenors of mind and thought were identified, which shows consistency with Peale's main themes such as positive thinking, peace and faith. The meaning of the archetypal metaphors of light, water and sun are also discussed, along with the role of other metaphors in supporting invitational rhetoric.