Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing Chapter 1-Concept 3Baron, Amanda

Gonzalez, Anabel

Kadery, Nazifa

Padilla, Paula

Rodicio, Lillian

Santiesteban, Carolina

Vasquez, Celinnet

What is Rhetoric? “The study of how people use language

and symbols to influence the beliefs, attitudes, and actions of others.”

In simpler terms: The art of persuasion. Ex: Politicians use specific language in

their speeches in order to persuade an audience on an issue or topic of debate.

Everyday life => trying to convince your mom to let you go to a party.

GAPWriters should consider three

different topics to think rhetorically:

- Genre- Audience - Purpose

PurposeWhat is the author trying to

accomplish?Writing may have 6 different rhetorical

aims: To express, to explore, to inform, to analyze and synthesize, to persuade, and to reflect.

“Almost all writing is compelled by some sort of motivation or exigency.”

Exigency/ Exigence= an event or occasion that motivates a writer to begin writing.

Exigency can be internal or external.

Rhetorical AimClosed Form

◦ To inform or explain

◦ To analyze, synthesize, or interpret

◦ To persuade ◦ To reflect

Open Form◦ To express or

share ◦ To explore or

inquire◦ To reflect

Changing your Reader’s View“Focus on the change you want

to bring in your audience’s view of the subject.” ◦Ex. To express my opinion about

healthcare◦Ex. To persuade others to recycle◦Ex. To inform about a rare disease

Writing an explicit purpose statement directly expresses the change you want to bring about in your readers’ POV.

AudienceWho is your audience? (Ex:

Single Reader)Once the audience has been

identified, consider some of these analytical questions:

QUESTION DETERMINES EXAMPLE

How busy is the reader?

Length; designed; open or closed form

College essays need to be short and concise because college professors have many essays to read.

What are their motives for reading?

Length of introduction and type of writing

If the reader has requested a document, you only need a short intro and don’t have to go into much detail.

What is your relationship with the reader?

Formal or informal tone

Writing to family vs. writing to a committee or organization

Do they share the same beliefs and values?

Tone and structure; persuasive or not

Writing to a religious group without being prejudiced.

Genre Genre- “refers to categories of writing that Follow

certain conventions of style, structure, approach to subject matter, and document design.”

Influence in writing a letter, report, article, etc. comes from precedents set by previous published material in that specific genre. ◦ Ex. writers for the NY Times are expected to write

differently than writers for Teen Vogue

Writers are more likely to be successful if they write conventionally, following guidelines. ◦ Ex. Scholars who write using closed form prose are

conventional and more likely to have their work published versus those who write using open form.

Examples of GenrePersonal Writing

Academic Writing

Popular Culture

Public Affairs, Civic Writing

Professio-nal Writing

Literature

Diary/ Journal

Scholarly Article

Articles for Magazines such as “Seventeen”

Newspaper editorial

Resume Novel

Blog Research Paper

Reviews of Books, films, plays, music

Political blog

Brochure Play

Literacy Narrative

Textual Analysis

Advertisements

Letter to the editor

Instruction booklet

Short Story

BibliographyAllyn & Bacon, Guide to Writing,

(p.15-21)