The Braunschweig/Wolfenbuettel University
of Business and Applied Sciences
How to invent something
to say about any topic at all
English II (SS2008)
Inventio
Inventing and Organizing Arguments or Essays
Sometimes, it is difficult to figure out where to go with your argument. Aristotle in the Ars
Rhetorica listed several inventio or "invention techniques." (The word comes from invenire, a
Latin verb meaning "to discover" or "to come upon.") These techniques can help a writer
generate ideas while brainstorming. Frequently, these tools can help you think about an issue
and possibly develop individual paragraphs. Be warned that these techniques are not a
panacea. Some work better than others in specific essays and arguments. For instance, when
discussing whether or not healthcare should cover myofascial massage, it may be important to
define what exactly a myofascial massage is, and how particular HMOs categorize it. The
reader probably doesn't know that material. On the other hand, when writing an essay on
automobiles, the reader probably doesn't need the word "car" defined. Use your best
judgement concerning when to use each technique, or ask a peer what he or she thinks.
TECHNIQUE
Narration
Questions that illustrate the technique:
How did it happen? Tell the reader a story to
illustrate a point or set the stage.
Description
Process
How can it be described?
How is it made? How is it done? How do you
do it?
What causes it?
What effect does it have on other things?
How is it similar to something else?
How it different than something else?
Is it a part of a larger group? What group is
that?
Can it be broken down into smaller groups?
What groups are those?
How does an authoritative source define it,
such as a Penal Code, Black's Law Dictionary,
a Biochemistry Guide, etc.?
Where does the word come from? Does that
knowledge help understand the problem? (If
it doesn't help, don't bother with the
etymology!)
What are some examples of it?
Simply explain it in your own words.
What is it not?
Could it work? Did it work? Does it work?
Why or why not? What are its limitations?
Can you give me a history of it?
Can you draw a diagram showing how it
works?
Can you tell me a short story to explain it?
Cause
Effect
Compare
Contrast
Classification
Division
Formal definition
Etymology
Example
Exposition
Negative Definition
Possible/impossible
History
Diagram
Anecdote
The Braunschweig/Wolfenbuettel University
of Business and Applied Sciences
How to invent something
to say about any topic at all
English II (SS2008)
Examples of Inventio
Using the Internet as a topic.
Narration:
"I once found myself on-line playing Unreal Tournament until 4:30 in the morning. As my
stale pizza fossilized in its cardboard coffin, I realized how addictive the internet experience
could be to someone who. . . ."
Description:
"The Internet is an endless sea of flashing lights. It is an endless stream of bright colors and
iridescent advertisements that pop up or disappear with the push of a button, all upon a flat
monitor no larger than a television set; one finds that . . ."
Process:
"The Internet works through the wondrous flexibility of its programming language, hypertext
mark-up language. If the right equipment is available, any person can upload data via a
technique known as "File Transfer Protocol" (FTP) to a server, which in turn.. ."
Cause:
"The explosive growth of the Internet came about through three factors--its ease of use, the
expansion of personal computers into the home, and . . . "
Effect:
"The Internet encourages nearly everyone, regardless of writing ability, to publish. In the long
run, there are two possible effects. The first effect is that there will be a lot of substandard
drivel churned out in such huge amounts that nobody will bother to read online writing, thus
stifling successful artistic endeavor. The second effect is that large publishing houses will lose
their stranglehold on literature. Why should go the Bantam books and pay seven bucks for a
Stephen King novel when its available from King's own Website for $1.50? In the long run, a
lot of publishers are going to wind up dead broke, or be forced to compete by offering on-line
services as well."
The Braunschweig/Wolfenbuettel University
of Business and Applied Sciences
How to invent something
to say about any topic at all
English II (SS2008)
Compare:
"The Internet is a community picnic. Everyone who shows up at this online picnic is free to
take a piece of this tasty pie here, or sample the neighbor's wonderful split-pea casserole, but
good manners require the newcomers to bring something worthwhile to share with everyone
else. Likewise..."
OR,
"The Internet is like a spider web. While normal arachnids make their web from fibers they
excrete, the builders of the internet create their virtual web out of photons and electrons and
miles and miles of cable. On the surface of the web, strings of zeros and ones representing
data scurry endlessly back and forth, either as short bursts of electricity over copper atoms or
as quick flashes of light over optic cable. Programs such as netspiders, 'bots, worms, and
viruses are free to move from strand to strand at any point two threads connect, just like
spiders in the physical world."
Contrast:
"Surfing the Internet is quite different from library research. There is no musty smell of old
paper, no tangible weight of a book within one's hands, and no gray-haired librarian clearly
visible to ask questions to."
Classification:
"The Internet is a form of mass media, and as a whole it shares certain traits in common with
other types of mass media such as television, radio, and print. What uniquely separates the
internet from other forms of mass media is its ability to . . ."
Division:
"If we were to divide the Internet into its component parts (if it is possible to break down a
'virtual' object into parts besides ones and zeros), we might divide it into communities. One
part of the Internet is the business community, which seeks to use the computer as the ultimate
marketing and selling tool. Another part is the research community, which. . . ."
Formal Definition:
According to Albion's netdictionary, the Internet is "A worldwide network of networks that all
use the TCP/IP communications protocol and share a common address space. . . ."
The Braunschweig/Wolfenbuettel University
of Business and Applied Sciences
How to invent something
to say about any topic at all
English II (SS2008)
Etymology:
"We can understand the importance of community in the internet by the etymology of the
word itself. The prefix inter comes from a Latin preposition and adverb meaning "among" or
"between." The suffix -net comes from the word net itself, something that is woven or braided
together. Thus, the Internet is something that is woven or braided together between or among
points."
Example:
"The Internet is everywhere. If you have ever gone to weather.com rather than waiting for the
6:00 news report to find out if snow is headed your way, you have used the Internet. Joining a
MUD, playing DOOM online, typing greetings in a chat-room, or engaging in cybersex with a
faceless stranger in Alaska, these disparate actions are all examples of the same
phenomenon."
Exposition:
"The Internet is a big collection of images, texts, and programs that people have put on
computers linked together so that people elsewhere can access them."
Negative Definition:
"The experience of the Internet is not athletic; one can surf the web sitting in a chair or lying
down. The experience is not linear; the user does not have to follow any particular order as he
surfs; the destination is not predictable; the surfer might be reading the Washington Post one
second, and the next second find himself in the 'XXX Hot Grrlz' chatroom by clicking on the
advertising banner."
Possible/impossible:
"The Internet could possibly become the primary form of publication because online
publication is arguably cheaper than cutting down a tree and pulping the wood to make oldfashioned paper. . . ."
OR,
"The Internet will never be capable of replacing face-to-face interaction because humans are
biologically wired to. . . ."
The Braunschweig/Wolfenbuettel University
of Business and Applied Sciences
How to invent something
to say about any topic at all
English II (SS2008)
History:
"The Internet began in 1969 as a military project called Arpanet. . . ."
Diagram (Present a visual and explain it to the
audience):
"Amazingly, one can even maintain an Internet connection while driving in a car, without
being plugged into an ethernet connection. The trick is to use the same technology cell phones
use. Information is sent wirelessly to a cell-phone tower, and response is sent wirelessly as
well. As long as the car is within range, the two-way transmission is carried in a straight line
back and forth from the nearest cell-tower."
Anecdote:
There's a story about a child who asked a librarian 'Why do you need all the books?' when the
child's parents took her to the local library. The librarian didn't know what to say. The story
raises another interesting question for anyone using the Internet as a . . . ."