Rhetoric and Writing in Electronic
Environments
Prepared by Julia Romberger
For English 439
What will I discuss in this
presentation?
 Key Definitions
 The Rhetorical Triangle
 Rhetorical Canons
Key Definitions
• Text - includes the visual, textual and
interactive components
• Composing - communicating through
textual and visual forms
• Rhetor(s) - the person(s) who develop a text
for the use of a given audience in a specific
context
What is the rhetorical triangle?
Rhetorical Triangle
Context
Context
Audience
When considering your audience you need to
determine:
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What they already know
What they are interested in knowing
What they need to know
How they will access the information
What communication technologies they use/like
Rhetor or Author
As an author you need to be aware of how
your audience perceives you – your Ethos.
Ethos is connected to:
 Your authority & competence
 Your professionalism and ability to
communicate purpose
 Your ability to create easily navigable
communication
 Your ability to use conventions
Working your Ethos
How can you improve your Ethos?
 Use of adequate evidence and research
 Awareness of your audience’s needs regarding
technology literacy and content
 Convincing arguments and clear purpose
 Professional presentation
 Understanding limits of audience’s time and
tech savvy
Message and Purpose
A text may have one or more purposes:
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To inform
To earn or maintain good will
To persuade
To amuse, please, or entertain
 The ultimate purpose of composing in general
is to effect positive action and improve
relations between people.
The Text
A text is structured according to a genre such
as:
Tutorials, Memos, Instant messages, Web Pages,
Wikis, etc.
New technologies are making these genres
more flexible than ever before, and new
genres are continually emerging. Conventions
shift and change almost daily.
Computer-Mediated Texts
Computer-mediated versions of texts general
are comprised of:
 Text
 Visuals linked to text and context
 Interactivity
Context
Context is the situation surrounding the text’s
origination. It is linked to:
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The need that spurred the writing of the text
The position of the writer relative to the audience
The technologies used to access the text
Expectations of the person who initiated the writing of
the text
The 5 Canons
Invention
Invention concerns finding something to say.
Certain common categories of thought
became conventional to use in order to
brainstorm for material. These common places
(places = topoi in Greek) are called the "topics
of invention." They include, for example,
cause and effect, comparison, and various
relationships.
Arrangement
Arrangement concerns how one orders
speech or writing. In ancient rhetorics,
arrangement referred solely to the
order to be observed in an oration, but
the term has broadened to include all
considerations of the ordering of
discourse, especially on a large scale.
Style
Style concerns the artful expression of
ideas. If invention addresses what is to be
said; style addresses how this will be said.
From a rhetorical perspective style is not
incidental, superficial, or supplementary:
style names how ideas are embodied in
language and customized to
communicative contexts
Memory
Memory is much more than memory aids; it clearly
had to do with more than simply learning how to
memorize an already composed speech for representation. The Ad Herennium author calls
memory the "treasury of things invented," thus
linking Memory with the first canon of rhetoric,
Invention. This alludes to the practice of storing
up commonplaces or other material arrived at
through the topics of invention for use as called
for in a given occasion.
Delivery – classical definition
Delivery, the last of the five canons, concerns
itself (as does style) with how something is
said, rather than what is said (Invention).
One Greek word for delivery is "hypokrisis"
or "acting," and rhetoric has borrowed from
that art a studied attention to vocal training
and to the use of gestures.
Impact on the Canons
• Delivery – Delivery becomes a greater issue
than before. There are multiple ways to send
the same information.
• Arrangement – Every delivery method has its
own tendencies toward arrangement. More
attention must be paid.
• Style - There are many different styles for
different media. Kairotically appropriate style
must be chosen for each one.
Delivery has Expanded
Questions that need to be asked when considering
delivery:
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Where will it be read
How will it be read
What media will be used for transmission
How much control will the reader have
What are the advantages/limitations of the media
These choices are all linked to purpose