Rhetoric
 The art of putting one’s case in the strongest and best
possible way.
 Methods used daily to persuade for any reason
depending on the context, purpose, and audience.
 FYI – Grammar tells a writer how words should be
used and sentences framed. Grammar is Rules Based.
 Rhetoric speaks only in terms of effectiveness –
judgment.
 Judging the effectiveness of a work is the chief business
of rhetoric.
 Rhetoric is rich in detail.
Audience and Purpose
 Writing is done for a PURPOSE and for an AUDIENCE
 Instructor symbolic audience
 Instructors role is to stand in for the educated reader
 Purpose is what you hope to accomplish with your writing
 Earning a grade is NOT the purpose
 It is to ….amuse, inform, persuade
 You must understand the audience and purpose of an
assignment if you are to have a context for judging the
effectiveness of your words and sentences.
 The fitting and suiting of one’s writing to audience and
purpose are among the chief concerns of rhetoric.
The Internal Reader/Editor
 “…as it is for any writer, there are two characters in my
head: the Writer (me) and a Reader/Editor (also me),
who represents anyone who reads what I write. These
two talk to each other.”
 Your sense for judging aptness and effectiveness in
writing
Levels of English
 Formal, Informal, and Technical
 Your internal reader/editor must decide on the
appropriateness of each for a specific assignment.
 Formal English
 Characterized by full, complex sentences and the use of
standard and consistent grammar
 States ideas in an orderly fashion and with an educated
vocabulary
 Avoids ‘I’ point of view and does NOT use contractions

Examples are generalized or in third person
 Makes a case or presents an argument impartially
Levels of English - continued
 Informal English
 Based on familiar grammatical patterns and construction of
everyday speech.


Allows short sentences, contraction, the ‘I’ point of view, and colloquial
expressions.
Found in journalistic writing, personal letters, diaries, and light essays.
 Legitimate topics of informal writing are what the writer thinks or
has experienced.
 It makes free use of the pronoun ‘I’ and draws its material mainly
from the writer’s personal stock of opinions or memories.
 ONLY USE Informal English in personal writing and in those
special circumstances when you are free to express yourself in
your own individualistic style.
Levels of English - continued
 Technical English
 Formal English that uses the vocabulary of a specialized
field.
 Suffers from wordiness, overuse of abstract nouns,
misuse of the passive voice, and improper subordination
Levels of English - Finalized
 The level of English you should use in any specific
essay will depend on its audience and purpose; that is
a judgment your internal reader/editor must make.
Writing as a Process
 Learning to write is harder than learning (or
memorizing) a process or a set of facts.
 Scribendo disces scribere
 Research on Writing
 Composing is a difficult, back-and-forth process
 “In their thinking and writing writers ‘go back’ in order
to push thought forward.”
 Process of “waiting, looking, and discovering”
 A Recursive process, meaning that results are achieved
by a roundabout rather than a straight-line path
Writing as a Process
 The Topic can make a difference in your writing.
 When you can pick a topic you like
 Don’t settle for what SEEMS simplest, or EASY to write
 Your writing will not automatically improve with each
essay.
 However, your overall writing skills will improve over time
and with experience, even if the improvement isn’t reflected
in any single essay 
 Understanding Rhetoric will help you write well
 Think about your audience and your purpose; and then
choose the appropriate level of language that will work for a
particular assignment.
Writing About Visual Images
 Visual images include
 Works of art found only in museums to photographs
published in daily newspapers.
 Television images, line drawings, sketches, computer
graphics, and exotic scenes and pictures of beautiful people
from advertising.
 There are techniques for writing about works of art.
 Study the work carefully

Is it realistic or is it abstract – take note of colors and they paint is
applied.
 Sum up in a single sentence your overall impression of it. (this
is your thesis).
Writing About Visual Images – cont’d
 Techniques for writing about artwork – continued
 Pay attention to the title of the work.

Some paintings have no equivalent in reality. It often takes a
title to help us understand what the images mean.
 Use the Internet to research background about the artist
and the work.
 Check your response to the work of art against the
responses of art critics.

Art critics have the experience and background in evaluating
artistic works that enable them to spot what is unique about
an artwork and what is imitative. (you are allowed to disagree)
Writing About Visual Images – cont’d
 Techniques for writing about artwork – continued
 Support your opinions or interpretations of the artwork.

Any opinion you have about an artwork should be supported by
details drawn from the work itself (reference colors, facial
expression, or other aspects of the piece).
 Say how the work made you feel
 Artwork is made to appeal to the mind and heart – don’t be afraid to
discuss how it makes you feel or why it affects you in a certain way.
 It is acceptable to use “I” in an essay interpreting a visual image.
 You do NOT have to like any particular piece of artwork, but you do
have to say why you do not like it. You should also say why you like a
particular piece of artwork.
Writing About News Photographs
 Begin by researching and describing the context of the
photograph.
 When was it taken and by whom? Under what circumstances
was it shot?

Knowing its context puts it in historical perspective and affects your
interpretation of it.
 Describe the new photograph, clearly stating its details.
 Sum up, as well as you can, the facial expressions of people in the
shot.
 Sum up your interpretation of the meaning of the
photograph in one sentence.
 This serves as the thesis statement.
Writing about Cartoons
 Cartoons sum up in shorthand the idiosyncrasies of the
time.
 Political cartoons, particularly the caricature – which is a
cartoon that exaggerates physical appearance – is actually a
good measure of how a particular person is regarded at a
particular time.
 Make sure you understand the message of the cartoon.
 Many cartoons mix sugar (humor) with medicine (a message).
 Be aware of the topsy-turvey world of cartoons
 Spoof of accepted and habitual view of society
 Inversion of normalcy, giving us an unusual slant on a familiar
situation
 Sate what lesson the cartoon teachers
 Sometimes the lesson is obvious and sometimes it is less obvious
Writing about Advertisements
 Advertising images often have an air of unreality. They
glamorize persons, setting, and objects.
 If you are writing about advertising you have to exercise
both common sense and logic.
 Common sense to see through the pitch
 Logic to sift through the exaggerated claims made by the
hype.
 Be sure you know the audience at whom the ad is aimed
and the product that is being advertised.
 Ask yourself what the product is, who uses it, and what it
does. Sum up this information in a single sentence and you
have your thesis.
Writing about Advertisements –
cont’d
 Pay attention to the language that accompanies the image.
 Is it written in fragments? Notice any poetic touches. Or, Is it
romantic?
 Notice any inversion of reality.
 Has reality been turned on its head?
 Watch out for buzzwords or euphemisms.
 A buzzword is a slogan or saying that is associated with the
product.
 A euphemisms is a gentle way of saying something.
 Use logic to evaluate the extravagant claims of an
advertising image.
 Advertisements can tell outright lies!
 Mention any humor associated with the image.