Rhetorical Modes:
An Introduction
AP English Language & Composition
AKA: “Modes of Discourse”
We use this terminology to help us categorize different types of
communication, in general, and specifically for our purposes,
different types of academic writing.
Rhetorical Modes
One of my overarching goals for you as AP Lang. students is to
become confident, versatile communicators -- a command of
multiple rhetorical modes is a significant step in that direction!
Rhetorical Modes
Modes can exist at different levels of writing:
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A single paragraph in a paper might contain
multiple different modes among its different
sentences
A single paper might contain multiple
different modes among its different
paragraphs
A single paper might be devoted to a
particular mode (think of your future college
entrance essay, for example)
The Modes!
In this class, we’re going to talk about six
of them -- some schools of thought use
more, some use fewer.
Argument
Writers like yourselves seek to
justify/support/prove the validity
of an idea or position, AND/OR
persuade their readers to think or
act in a certain way
Definition
This is not, “hey, let’s ask Siri what
a word means.” Definition writing
examines in great depth a term or
concept as a means of better
understanding its complexity.
Narrative
Tell a story. Relate an event in
sequence. Sequence details or
storylines in a logical order.
Writing does NOT have to be
fictional to be narrative.
Classification &
Division
Take a large, multi-faceted
concept and break it down to
smaller chunks or pieces,
especially in new or interesting
ways.
Cause-and-Effect
Analysis of a relationship or
dynamic in which one event is
dependent on another;
consider why this causal
relationship might be so
important.
Process Analysis
Consider this the “how-to” mode.
That is, you are laying out how a
phenomenon came to be; how an
issue might be solved; how
something might be built, etc.