Canons of Rhetoric
• Invention: creating and constructing ideas
• Arrangement: ordering and lying out ideas
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effectively
Style: developing the appropriate
expression/tone for those ideas
Memory: retaining invented ideas, recalling
additional supporting ideas, and facilitating
memory in the audience
Delivery: presenting or performing ideas with
the aim of persuading
Invention
• Inventing argument means you are generating
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ideas about a topic.
To develop ideas, you can use a range of
rhetorical strategies: invoking pathos, using
ethos or good character, or employing logos to
reason calmly and logically with your
readers/listeners.
Your task is to forge a powerful text that argues
a point, to convince others to see a particular
perspective---yours.
Invention, con’t.
• Photos, like written texts, are artifacts of rhetorical
invention. They are created by a writer or artist. Thus,
the “reality” that photos display is actually a version of
reality created by a photographer’s rhetorical and artistic
decisions:
– whether to use color or black-and-white film; what sort of
lighting to use; how to position the subject of the photograph;
whether to opt for a panorama or close-up shot; what backdrop
to use, how to crop, or trim, the image once it’s printed.
• We are looking at the product of deliberate strategies of
invention.
Arrangement
• After invention, arrangement becomes a key
consideration. The way in which you present material
on the page will shape a reader’s response to the ideas
• When we refer to “arrangement” in a written or visual
argument, we often are referring to the underlying
structure of the essay itself.
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Chronological structure
Cause-effect
Problem-solution
Block structure
Thematic structure
Style
• Choose appropriate expression for the ideas of
your argument. These choices relate to:
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Language
Tone
Syntax
Rhetorical appeals
Metaphors
Imagery
Quotations
Level of emphasis
Nuance
Style
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Your persona is a deliberately crafted version of yourself as the writer.
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When you compose a text (written, verbal, or visual), you decide how to use language to
represent a particular persona/voice to the audience you want to address.
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You create a portrait of yourself as the author of your argument through tone (formal or informal,
humorous or serious); word choice (academic, colloquial); sentence structures (complex or simple
and direct); use of rhetorical appeals (pathos, logos, ethos); and strategies of persuasion
(narration, example, cause/effect, analogy, process, definition).
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Creating a persona/voice requires care.
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A well designed one can facilitate a strong connection with your readers and therefore make your
argument more persuasive.
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A poorly constructed voice (biased, inconsistent, underdeveloped) can have the opposite effect,
alienating readers and undercutting your text’s overall effectiveness.
Alfano, C.L., & O’Brien, A.J. (2008). (2nd ed.). Envision: Writing and researching arguments.
Pearson/Longman: New York.