ENG/IMS 224: Digital Writing and Rhetoric / Blankenship
Prompts for Day 2 Readings: Introduction to Rhetorical Analysis
To help reinforce the concepts for the course, respond to the following prompts for
our reading this week and post to your blog by our next class.
IMPORTANT: Please title your blog post: “Steps Toward Rhetorical Analysis: Week 1.”
“Rhetoric,” wikipedia
How do the collaborative authors of this piece define rhetoric?
Who is considered the central figure in Western rhetoric and how did this person
define rhetoric?
What are the central “five canons” of Western rhetoric? What do they mean and why
are they important?
Given Aristotle’s definition of rhetoric, why is rhetoric applicable to all fields of
learning, not just politics?
Laura Bolin Carroll’s “Backpacks vs Briefcases: Steps toward Rhetorical Analysis”
How does Bolin Carroll define rhetoric?
Define Bitzer’s “rhetorical situation”. What are its three components and their
meaning(s)? Why is this concept important for digital composing?
List the components of Aristotle’s “rhetorical triangle” and give definitions of each.
ENG/IMS 224: Digital Writing and Rhetoric / Blankenship
Why is the rhetorical triangle concept important in this class and your future
endeavors?
Describe a situation recently where you found this concept important, maybe without
thinking consciously about using Aristotle’s principles.
Why is the rhetorical context of a rhetorical piece [ad/commercial/video/any
argument] important when you’re doing a rhetorical analysis?