[home][details][policies][calendar][projects][links]

Rhetoric

[Taken from the first edition of Writer / Designer]

Rhetoric: “the study of making texts that effectively persuade an audience toward change” (21)

Rhetorical situation: “the set of circumstances in which an author creates a text” (21).

• Author (25-26):
  • How does the author (implied or actual) establish credibility?
  • Does the author (implied or actual) have a certain reputation? Does the text work to support this reputation, or does it work to alter this reputation?
  • If you know who the actual author is, can you find any historical or biographic information that will help you understand his or her credibility, character, and reputation?
  • Will the audience trust this author? Why or why not?
• Audience (22-23):
  • Who is the intended audience?
  • Who might be the secondary audience(s)?
  • What values or opinions do the primary and secondary audiences hold?
  • Does the author appeal to these values or opinions in any way?
• Purpose (23-24):
  • What do you consider to be the overall intention for the text? Why?
  • Do you think there might be one or more secondary intentions? Why?
• Context (24-25):
  • What is the medium? Why did the author choose this medium instead of another?
  • Where did you find the text? What was the publication venue (book, newspaper, tv, web, etc.)?
  • What were the historical conventions for this type of text? What materials, media, or publishing venues were available at the time?
  • What are the social and cultural connotations within the text? What colors, pictures, or phrases are used? What technologies does the text use?
  • How will readers interact with this text? Will they read it on their phone or tablet while walking down the street? on a desktop computer in a public library? on a laptop in their backyard?
• Genre (26-27):
  • How might you define the genre of the text? Consider both a broad definition and a more specific definition.
  • In what ways is the text similar to other texts within this genre?
  • What key features make it part of the genre you’ve identified?

[home][details][policies][calendar][projects][links]