Directions: Read 3 extracts from Chapter 3 to answer the questions or activities below:
- Invention (pg 90-97)
- Arrangement (pg 97-108)
- Style (Tone etc) (pg 110-115)
Invention-
Invention: 'finding all available arguments, creating and constructing ideas'
Methods to do this include:
- definition - what does it mean?
- division - what parts make it up?
- comparison - what does it mean compared to other texts or other times?
- classification - what is the purpose?
- testimony - what do others say about it?
All texts - whether written or visual - are shaped by individual perspective and point of view.
Practice: Complete the activity in the Writer's Practice (yellow box) of your textbook on page 97. Answer the three questions below:
1. What argument is Heisler making about Americans' response to the war and casualties?
2. Now, consider this image as the basis for inventing your own position: What types of arguments might you construct that would use this image as visual evidence?
3. What other sorts of images or evidence would you use to develop your argument?
Arrangement
Arrangement: the way in which you present material on the page will shape the reader's response. This includes the underlying structure and organizational strategies, which include:
- chronology - time
- cause & effect - how one thing impacts another
- problem-solution - outlines the problem and offers possible solutions
- block structure - series of examples
- thematic structure - sections on different themes and integrating examples
- deferred thesis -starts with question, provides evidence, thesis at end to synthesize ideas
Practice: Look back, for about ten minutes, at one of your papers from previous semesters (on Canvas or in your own personal files) and outline each paragraph. Which organizational strategy from this chapter were you using?
Style in Argument
Style - the way the argument is presented.
Use of appropriate expression - language, tone, syntax, rhetorical appeals, metaphors, imagery, quotations, emphasis, nuance
- writer's "voice" - a writer's unique persona and rhetorical stance as it is manifested in word choice, syntax, pacing, and tone
- best use matches rhetorical situation
- contributes to ethos
Reflect: Think of a time where you had to tell the same information to two different audiences. How did your voice change for each? Please describe the situation in how your voice changed in a paragraph.
Developing Persona and Rhetorical Stance persona - deliberately crafted version of yourself as a writer
- you decide how to use language to present a persona to the audience at hand
- established through...
- tone (humor vs seriousness; formal vs informal)
- word choice (academic vs colloquial)
- sentence structure (simple vs complex, directness)
- use of rhetorical appeals (ethos, pathos, logos)
- strategies of persuasion (narration, example, cause and effect, analogy, process, classification, definition)
A well-established persona strengthens the relationship with the audience, but a poorly executed one (biased, inconsistent, under developed) will diminish effectiveness.
Rhetorical stance - claimed by Booth to be the most essential aspect of effective communication, defined as the writer's position in relation to the rhetorical triangle (btw author, audience, and text)
- when out of balance communication can fail.
- persona and rhetorical stance involve stylistic choices signaled through word choice, sentence structure, tone, and strategies of persuasion
Developing Persona and Rhetorical Stance persona (p. 113- 116) deliberately crafted version of yourself as a writer.
1. you decide how to use language to present a persona to the audience at hand
2. established through...
- tone (humor vs seriousness; formal vs informal)
- word choice (academic vs colloquial)
- sentence structure (simple vs complex, directness)
- use of rhetorical appeals (ethos, pathos, logos)
- strategies of persuasion (narration, example, cause and effect, analogy, process, classification, definition)
Assignment link - https://www.dropbox.com/s/pewqshz7oylv26w/Assignment.rar?dl=0.