Rhetoric and Rhetorical Analysis (10-15 min)
There are many MANY definitions of rhetoric. In our textbook, Graves, Corcoran, and Blankenship define it broadly as “the kinds of choices people make both to interpret and create forms of communication” (95).
Rhetoric, then, might be best thought of in the context of our class as a way of thinking.
That is, a way of considering “why do this and not that? What effect would there be if I did this instead? Why did the writer do that? I wonder what purpose that served their argument or narrative by doing that?” and so on. We can call this rhetorical thinking.
As a way of thinking, to formalize it a bit more, we might use rhetorical analysis to take the time to work out our thinking in our writing as a way to understand any object that is written, designed, composed, created, etc. How that object has a purpose of some kind, an audience it hopes to reach, different constraints that the creator was under, unstated ideologies it serves, and ways we can make meaning with that object.
An Example of Rhetorical Thinking and Analysis
One of my earliest memories of being really purposeful in rhetorical thinking was when I was in high school. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) functioned much like texting and some forms of social media function today. AIM was how we communicated with our friends, whereas people who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s may have used a landline telephone.
image of AOL instant messenger logo on desktop background. Photo credit: Brendan Dolan-Gavitt. Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/34715712@N00/174054753
One day, a friend of mine showed me a (printed out!) transcript of an AIM conversation between him and his then-girlfriend. He wanted to show me because they were talking about their relationship and though she confirmed that she wanted to stay together, he got a vibe that something was off.
I read it over and because I knew my friend wanted another perspective on it, I paid really close attention to her specific word choice. I remember lots of hedging (or, qualifying what she was saying in ways that left open the possibility that she was not as committed as she claimed) and an indirect writing style that never quite assertively said that she wanted to stay in the relationship. For instance, something like “I want to be with you, though I do think I need some time away, too, sometimes.”
My interpretation was that she wasn’t feeling it any more. It wasn’t quite working out.
Well, later on, it turned out that my rhetorical analysis I did after reading the transcript and talking with my friend was pretty accurate! They broke up a few weeks later. It wasn’t working. And though she wasn’t ready to tell him that, a close rhetorical analysis gave me and my friend a more evidence-based perspective on how the relationship was going. When they broke up, I think he was less surprised.
Rhetorical Analysis asks: Why this choice and not that choice? Why say this? Why that image? What does it do to readers/viewers/listeners when put that way instead of another way?
Rhetorical analysis is a great thing to do to help you understand the world around you, but it can also help your own writing quite a bit. It helps you get really good at revision because it makes you think about options and which ones you would prefer and why you prefer them when re-reading your writing. And analysis is different from summary–though summary can be helpful, think of it as always serving analysis.
Let’s try out some Rhetorical Analysis for Revision in Terms of Style and Sentence Length/Type (30-45 min)
What do you notice about the rhythm of the following? Is there anything notable about how the sentences follow one another or how sentences are constructed? Read below and have some thoughts ready.
The speeches given at the gala prior to Rob’s all mention equality, diversity, and community. All these are grand and amazing sounding ideas, as Joffe-Walt explains, but within the setting of the gala, they seem out of place. She draws attention to the contrast by noting that the gala is full of wealthy white people and the venue is in an Italian Renaissance inspired palace. To us, the paradox is obvious: the white and wealthy gala attendees are preaching about the importance of diversity when there is none to begin with at the gala. There is only one race and one economic group present. By doing this, Joffe-Walt has shown the podcast listeners that it’s possible that the gala attendees are not aware of and cannot understand how those who aren’t white and rich live. This gap in experiences between the white gala attendees and people of color establish that the decisions and ideas the white parents have may not be in the interest of the students of color.
Style: Rhythm and Variety #1 – ENG 2150, Fall 2021: Composing institutions (cuny.edu) (DON’T CLICK THIS UNTIL I TELL YOU)
Style: Rhythm and Variety #2 – ENG 2150, Fall 2021: Composing institutions (cuny.edu) (DON’T CLICK THIS UNTIL I TELL YOU)
Style: Rhythm and Variety #3 – ENG 2150, Fall 2021: Composing institutions (cuny.edu) (DON’T CLICK THIS UNTIL I TELL YOU)
- Open your Information Literacy Narrative draft project (you can do another piece of writing, too, but it makes sense to do something you are currently working on).
- Choose a paragraph (don’t worry too much about which one you choose.
- Calculate the length of the sentences by following these directions.
- Record the length of each sentence.
- Then, label each sentence by what sentence type it is (if not sure, that’s okay; give best guess).
- Then write down all the punctuation you use (not each instance, just whether you used any of the following: period, comma, semicolon, em-dash, parentheses, colon, question mark, exclamation point, quotation marks, ellipses, brackets).
- Finally: make a revision that utilizes what we talked about today from one (or more) of the three style pages:
Style: Rhythm and Variety #1 – ENG 2150, Fall 2021: Composing institutions (cuny.edu) (DON’T CLICK THIS UNTIL I TELL YOU)
Style: Rhythm and Variety #2 – ENG 2150, Fall 2021: Composing institutions (cuny.edu) (DON’T CLICK THIS UNTIL I TELL YOU)
Style: Rhythm and Variety #3 – ENG 2150, Fall 2021: Composing institutions (cuny.edu) (DON’T CLICK THIS UNTIL I TELL YOU)
Things you want to try out!!!: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lAeS6dw_dK-p45oisGKsn6EnOQ56UwmOQH1VV7et2bY/edit?usp=sharing
Initial Thoughts on Revision: Assessment Letter, Style Activity, Own Thoughts [Awaiting Prof. Libertz Comments!] (20 min)
Let’s try out a “revision plan” based on feedback we currently have. Though, you will get more from me by this weekend or early next week which will provide you even more to work with as you revise.
First, let’s take a look at the prompt for the Information Literacy Narrative Draft 2 + Cover Letter. Go to Blackboard>Major Assignments to see it.
Next, get started on your Revision Plan (next draft due October 11). You will, of course, probably continue to work on your revision plan after you get feedback from me next week.
- It’s about love!!!! Ask yourself: What do you love about this piece? What do you want to return to and work on more? Why? Choose “love” and not “well, this was bad” or “well, this was pretty good.” Instead, what did you enjoy working on most? What is the most exciting part of this text? Why? How do you build off of that? Or, what about this text, generally, interests you the most? There will always be moments where you’ll have to revise something you don’t want to ever look at again. Still, even for something you rather not look at again (which will happen to you), finding something that attracts you to it, something that can make it a positive experience, will both motivate you and also help you to identify its strength.
- Let yourself be guided. How can you let that excitement and energy guide you? What enhances that energy? What takes away from that energy?
- Hear out others (including yourself). Part of (but not ONLY) what should inform you is the feedback you have received previously: my comments on your draft, peer response feedback, your old notes as you were working on the draft, assessment letters, etc.
- Task list. Begin to develop some tasks that can assist you in addressing the above. (e.g., revise this paragraph, move this section up earlier and adjust it so it fits, add this supporting argument, do this analysis and see where it takes me, do more research for secondary sources). Consider what YOU want to do with the piece and the comments you received from others (NOTE: let me know if you are having trouble with reading my comments!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!).
- Be specific. As you write out your tasks, you MUST be specific. Why are you doing this task? As in, what about your writing has led you to think you should do x to enhance the essay overall? How will you do this task? As in, what specifically do you have in mind as some potential changes that would work to address the “why” of the task you chose. For example: I will add more examples or secondary sources to support the claim I make in paragraph 4, I need to show a more cohesive transition between section 3 and 4, my argument is too broad so I need to be more specific about the limits of my argument when I make the main argument early on, I want to rework many sentences that are a little harder to read, etc.
- Be a planner. Finally, begin to develop a schedule of when and how you will work on your revision. Revison (or any aspect of writing!) can benefit from work that is spread out rather than work that happens all at once (even if it is 2 writing sessions instead of 1, that is a worthy difference in approach to do something in two sessions rather than one session). A fresh mind is an asset. Backwards plan. “This is due 10/7, what do I need done by 10/5? By 10/3? By 10/1? Etc.”.
- What are the constraints? Re-read the Information Literacy Narrative, Draft 2 + Cover Letter Guidelines. What is required for this assignment? Does your revision plan meet all of those requirements?
Assessment Letter Grade Boost, Learning Community Ideas, CITI and IRB Check-in (10-15 min)
Let’s take a quick look at the Grading Contract since the first opportunity for a grade boost has now come up.
I also want to talk about Learning Community Outing ideas:
Get some food? See a lecture, speaker, etc. related to our course topics? Something else?
Finally, I wanted to check with a couple people about their CITI/IRB stuff to make sure everything went through.
Reading Dense Material (15-20 min)
Let’s read the first paragraph of the reading due for October 6. It ain’t easy stuff. But it is relevant to our class and it will be useful to you to develop as readers of more complex material (especially for the research project you do later in the term and also just in general for college and beyond).
I want to go over some strategies for reading difficult material:
- Skim first. Read the title. Read subheadings. Read any bolding or italics. Write down any words that you don’t know.
- Figure out the “genre” or type of text it is by looking at the different sections/organization/layout to get a good idea of who this kind of text is for, what kind of situation it is for, and what kind of purpose it might be written.
- As you read, take breaks as needed. If you are stuck or confused, annotate through it: write out a bit what is confusing or what you don’t understand. A great way to take a break is to annotate during the break but you might also need 30 seconds to a minute to just get up and clear your head.
- Note any vocabulary that you don’t know and/or words you do know but seem to have a more technical meaning. Try to make sense of things using the context of the sentence or paragraph and go back later to find definitions if you don’t have the energy to look up definitions while reading in the moment.
- Make time to re-read. Just like how we revise our writing, we can (and should) re-read our readings. Sometimes that means another skim or looking over notes. But for difficult texts, re-reading each word can go a long way. You will see new things with new eyes of another day or time.
Try out the above steps with the reading due October 6 by Patrick Love. Let’s get as far as we can and then talk about it a bit.
Next Time (2-5 min)
- Make sure your Labor Log is updated by tonight
- Make sure you submit your Assessment Letter to Blackboard and also email it to the writer of the piece you are reading as well as to Prof. Libertz
- Schedule time to meet with Prof. Libertz on October 17, 18, 19, 20, or 21 (I’ll have a Google Doc up for this soon, I have to look over my calendar still)
- Read “Rhetorically Defining ‘Information’ For Designers and Technical Communicators: Transport, Institutional Shift, and Usability” by Patrick Love
- Post at least five annotations
- Have Labor Log updated since last update submitted on September 22
- No Working Writer’s Journal for September 22 or October 6