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NotesNotes to Chapter One to Chapter OneEnglish 308

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Rhetorical SituationRhetorical Situation

AudiencePurposeContext

Text

Text

Text

TextText

Text

Text

TextText

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AudienceAudience

those who will use your document: who they are, what they know about the subject, their previous experience with documents like the one you’re designing; even their cultural background.

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PurposePurpose

what you want your document to accomplish: persuade your readers to think or act a certain way, enable them to perform a task, help them understand something, change their attitude, and so on.

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ContextContext

the circumstances in which readers will use your document and/or the conventions which limit what choices you have in achieving your purpose.

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Rhetorical StrategiesRhetorical Strategies

ArrangementEmphasis

ClarityConciseness 

ToneEthos

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Arrangement/EmphasisArrangement/Emphasis

Arrangement—Order, the organization of visual elements (including text) to show relationships, sequences, hierarchies and so on.

Emphasis—what information stands out

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Clarity/ConcisenessClarity/Conciseness

Clarity—helps the reader understand the document quickly and easily (clarity covers virtually every feature of a document)

Conciseness—refers to visual bulk and intricacy (the opposite of visual concision is often called “clutter”)

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Tone/EthosTone/Ethos

Tone—the “attitude” towards your subject and towards your audience conveyed by the text and design

Ethos—whether the audience believes you (trusts you)

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Conventions:Conventions:

What Readers Expect

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Conventions:Conventions:

Conventions are the “rules” that govern any piece of conventional discourse. In fact, we could say that belonging to a discourse community almost entirely revolves around knowing what the conventions are, how flexible they are, and whether they apply to a small or large group.

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Some guidelines for using Some guidelines for using conventions are:conventions are: 1. Identify relevant conventions for any

design problem you’re trying to solve2. Realize that some conventions are more

rigid than others.3. Think of conventions in terms of your

readers, who give them meaning and significance