Writing is an incredibly broad term that encompasses all aspects of life. One form of writing is professional writing, defined by Bowdon and Scott in terms of a duty to relay information to a user and help the user apply the information correctly. Therefore, the goal of professional writing is often to not only inform, but also persuade.
One of the most important aspects of professional writing to consider is the rhetorical triangle, the balance between logos, pathos, and ethos. I believe these three concepts lay the foundation for any writing addressed to any audience, not only professional writing. The author must first establish credibility and connect with their readers, evoking ethos and pathos, since this connection must be established for the writing to inform and influence the reader. Only then can facts and reasoning be applied to support the argument. Though the emotional aspect of ethos is not necessary in all cases, the consideration of the reader’s values and reasoning are crucial to this author-reader connection. If the reader does not believe the author is credible, feels alienated, or disagrees with the reasoning, they are unlikely to be affected by the writing and may stop reading altogether. The need for this balance differentiates professional writing from other forms such as entertainment or storytelling since professional writing does not assume the audience is already interested and has higher stakes, as it aims to affect the reader.
Bowdon and Scott also identify the five canons of rhetoric as a tool in professional writing. Style, defined as “the expression of a text shaped by word choice and sentence composition,” is much more important in professional writing than other forms. In non-professional writing, such as narratives, an author may choose to use a certain “voice” to portray a personality: for example, choppy sentences can be used to portray someone as absentminded, or a situation as intense or confusing. On the other hand, professional writing may use an unorthodox voice or tone, but must be used without compromising clarity, concision, or coherence. Any claims or suggestions must be explained clearly and concisely, and the flow of the information and argument must be coherent to keep the reader engaged.
Since the interests I discussed in my first blog post were related to healthcare, which reaches a very broad audience, it will be crucial to keep the rhetorical triangle and style in mind in my related work. Establishing credibility without coming off as snobby and disdainful is required to gain the attention and respect of the reader, especially healthcare and policy may invoke doubt or even fear in some readers. Equally important is the use of sound logic and reasoning. For this writing to be accessible to a large audience, I need to explain concepts and jargon in simple terms, and guide readers through my reasoning so it is comprehensible to everyone, not only individuals a science background. Throughout every piece of writing, style is employed to tie these elements together: the voice needs to suggest that the author is educated and informed, while the background information and arguments must be explained clearly and concisely and the flow of logic must be coherent.
I really enjoyed reading your blog post. You really broke down the text and conveyed the main points in an effective an efficient manner. I read the assigned text immediately after our last class, so this refreshed my mind on the important topics discussed within it. One of the parts that sticks out to me is the discussion of egos, pathos, and logos. In my opinion, this is critical for writing to be effectively delivered. This is vital for the reader to form a connection with the piece and become engaged in the text. If they cannot form a connection, the purpose of the text will be lost.
With that said, I think the last sentence of your first paragraph is the most important of your entire post. The idea that, “the goal of professional writing is often to not only inform, but also persuade”, is the main point that I took out of the text, and you summarized it in one sentence. This is what makes professional and public writing different from other forms. There is a general purpose that surpasses the preliminary one that other forms of writing try to confer. This is often the most challenging, because the writer has to be persuasive while also being informative. This can be difficult because the author has to keep the reader’s attention simultaneously. Overall, I am interested in seeing your work in the future, and how you incorporate these aspects in to your writing.
You write the “emotional” aspect of ethos. That’s interesting, someone else made a similar move to describe ethos. But isn’t pathos all about emotion? Are these two appeals (ethos and pathos) hard to separate? Or, for that matter, are they all kind of jumbled and mixed up? Hmm. Interesting to think about. What do you think?
I like how you discussed both the balance of logos, ethos, and pathos, and the five canons. Do you believe one is more important than the other, concerning logos, ethos, and pathos? Some of the other bloggers didn’t include the five canons, so I appreciate that you did; it is just as an important tool as the balance of logos, ethos, and pathos. I don’t know if I would agree that style is more important in professional writing than it is say for fictional writing, but the argument can be made that it is equally important for every type of writing. Style is important in regards to professional writing because it is how the writer communicates to the audience. As you said in your blog, it is important that you don’t come across to your audience as “snobby”. How does a writer strike the balance between having a professional voice and not sounding “snobby”? I like how you discuss what you need to do for your project to get your message across to your audience; you break it down nicely. Concerning healthcare, is your audience the general public? Or just adults, who pay for healthcare compared to kids, who don’t? Both benefit from healthcare.
I thought your blog post did a great job explaining how the rhetorical triangle is especially important in professional writing. I agree with what you said about needing to connect via ethos and pathos before using logic in your argument. If the reader cannot connect with the argument, there is no hope for them to want to follow the logic. This is especially true in professional writing where the reader is not already interested in the topic. The things you wrote about style are also very interesting. It is difficult for a professional writer to have too unorthodox of a style and still keep a coherent argument. However, a professional writer should still work to have a well developed voice.
The healthcare field is a great example of a professional writing environment that reaches a tremendous amount of people. The difficulty in writing for such a large group is trying to connect with a wide range of people. The same appeals certainly will not work for everyone. In this field especially I agree with the need to establish credibility before any argument can be developed. Only after credibility is established will people be willing to hear what the speaker has to say, especially in writing on such a serious topic.