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This paper captures the discursive interaction between the Syrian regime and the protesters during the revolt that began in March 2011. The purpose of this study is two-fold. First, we trace the use of symbolic rhetoric as a method of control long used by the Syrian regime to shape permissible discourses in society. The Assad family has long relied on the powerful symbols of Baathism, Pan Arabism, and resistance to colonialism to justify its rule with an iron fist. Second, we demonstrate that the protesters are using the same tactics to challenge the regime, as a form of reverse indoctrination, to undermine and counter its dominant narratives. They have engaged the authoritarian state through the use of poetry, music and slogans. The power of their words represents a symbolic collapse of the regime as the protesters negate and reinvent their political identity.Key Words: Arab Spring – Authoritarianism – Collective Resistance – Iltizām (commitment) poetry – Semiotics – Syria

RESEARCHERS are continuously striving toward the determination of methods to compensate for confusion or guessing on the part of survey respondents. However, despite the need for knowledge, very little published data are concerned with this aspect of research. This article is not an attempt to lay down any hard-and-fast rules on the subject; it is intended merely to stimulate thought in directions which may lead to the solution of a basic problem. This paper is designed merely to state the problem, not to solve it. In a recent study conducted by the author, housewives were asked, "Here is a list of several home economists. Will you please tell which of these you have heard of?" The home economists' names were then listed by interviewers. When a respondent said that a particular name was familiar, she was asked to name the company employing that home economist. For control purposes, the name "Edith Roberts," which is not the name of any home economist, was included in the list. Upon completion of the survey, it was found that 3.I per cent of all respondents said that the fictitious name was familiar, and .5 per cent of the total sample actually named some company as Edith Roberts' employer. The problem of adjusting for these "confused" or "guessing" respondents now arose. In other words, the task in