The Development of Transitional Writers: The Role of Identification Strategies in Workplace Writing Competence  

Studies of transitional writers (between the classroom and workplace) in nonacademic settings.

Wegner, Diana. Rhetor (2004). Articles>Business Communication>Rhetoric

Digital Photography: Communication, Identity, Memory    

Taking photographs seems no longer primarily an act of memory intended to safeguard a family's pictorial heritage, but is increasingly becoming a tool for an individual's identity formation and communication. Digital cameras, cameraphones, photoblogs and other multipurpose devices are used to promote the use of images as the preferred idiom of a new generation of users. The aim of this article is to explore how technical changes (digitization) combined with growing insights in cognitive science and socio-cultural transformations have affected personal photography. The increased manipulation of photographic images may suit the individual's need for continuous self-remodelling and instant communication and bonding. However, that same manipulability may also lessen our grip on our images' future repurposing and reframing. Memory is not eradicated from digital multipurpose tools. Instead, the function of memory reappears in the networked, distributed nature of digital photographs, as most images are sent over the internet and stored in virtual space.

van Dijck, Jose. Visual Communication (2008). Articles>Graphic Design>Photography>Visual Rhetoric

The Divorce of Probabalistic Mathematics from Forensic Rhetoric (and Why This Matters to Technical Communication)

This paper discusses some of the founding work in the field of probabalistic mathematics (that of Jakob Bernoulli, the seventeenth-century Swiss scientist). By discussing similarities between Bernoulli's formulation of the mathematics to evaluate the probability of any given event and the forensic (or courtroom) rhetorics which Bernoulli had studied in school, this paper suggests that the foundations of probabilistic mathematics might well be rooted in part in forensic rhetoric. This is important to technical communication because it historicizes the origin of positivism in mathematical technical discourses.

Palmer, Terri. EServer (2001). Presentations>Lectures>Rhetoric>History

Do These Serifs Make Me Look Phat? Conveying Personality with Typeface

Explores some possible approaches to understanding typeface 'personality,' including empirical research and scholarly discussion, in the hopes of generating more discussion about how we can understand and use typeface personality when creating organizational identity packages.

Striker, Amy. Orange Journal, The (2005). Design>Typography>Visual Rhetoric

Do You Sound Like a CEO Behind a Microphone?

"You have two options when you walk into a room," says public speaking expert Richard Levick about the art of giving speeches. Most entrepreneurs find speech making to be either terrifying or a waste of time. Too many CEOs see dealing with the media or making presentations as an interruption, but it's as essential to doing business as customers. If you can't deliver energetic and commanding speeches, or polished and articulate interviews, then you're short-circuiting your company's future. It's time to do something about it.

Krotz, Joanna L. Communication World Bulletin (2003). Articles>Presentations>Management>Rhetoric

Document Design

This course will teach you to * identify and discuss principles of reading comprehension, cognitive psychology, human factors, and graphic design that apply to technical documents * analyze and evaluate the design of existing documents and recommend appropriate revisions * design and test documents for maximum usability

Dragga, Sam. Texas Tech University (2002). Academic>Courses>Document Design>Visual Rhetoric

Does Web Delivery Impact the Reader-Response Approach to Technical Communication?

This paper is an attempt to explore how reader-response criticism and the overall approach to using rhetoric in technical communication may be impacted by the large amount of technical documentation moving to the Web. The discussion focuses on three main areas: moving from the “reader” to the “user” in online documentation; the value of plain language style in this medium; and how Web delivery seems to be bridging the gap between user interface (UI) text and help documentation. I shall explore these areas in an attempt to clarify whether the publication of technical documentation on the Internet negates the rhetorical approach to technical communication and how or if Web delivery impacts the reader-response view that users play a significant role in creating the meaning of a text.

Fisher, Jeanette. Orange Journal, The (2001). Articles>Rhetoric>Theory

Review: The Economics of Attention: Style and Substance in the Age of Information, by Richard A. Lanham    

This is a clever, witty, and engaging--if at times frustrating--book. The central thesis is that in our information age, made possible by digital technology, the scarce commodity to be allocated (and thus a matter of economics) is not 'stuff,' broadly defined as what you can kick or the information based on such stuff (also, stuff). We're drowning in stuff. Instead, it's attention that's scarce, and allocating attention is a matter of style, of rhetoric.

Andrews, Deborah C. JBC (2007). Articles>Reviews>Rhetoric

Ecrire Concis

La concision, c'est l'ergonomie de l'écrivain, c'est obtenir le même résultat informatif en moins de mots, en moins de phrases, moyennant moins de 'bruit' (au sens linguistique du terme).

Redaction (2004). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric

Editorial  

Recently a striking change has taken place in the organization and visibility of what we writing teachers do.

Bruffee, Kenneth. WPA Writing Program Administration (1978). Articles>Education>Writing>Rhetoric

Educating 'Community Intellectuals': Rhetoric, Moral Philosophy, and Civic Engagement    

This article encourages technical and professional communication programs to take on the challenge of educating students to become 'community intellectuals.' The notion of educating future professionals for a career needs to be reconsidered in light of both current research concerning civic rhetoric and past practices in moral humanism courses. The triumvirate of rhetoric, ethics, and moral philosophy provides an effective foundation for reconfiguring existing pedagogy in the field and offers insights for nurturing community intellectuals.

Eble, Michelle F. and Lynee Lewis Gaillet. Technical Communication Quarterly (2004). Articles>Education>Rhetoric

The Effect of Inductively Versus Deductively Organized Text on American and Japanese Readers      

When document designers localize documents for readers in other cultures, they should consider what text organization will best suit those readers. The study presented here examines American and Japanese readers’ comprehension of and preference for expository text that contains a thesis and is organized either inductively or deductively. The results revealed that while Americans performed equally well with either organizational structure Japanese readers recalled more information from inductively organized text. The implications for document designers in English and Japanese speaking countries are discussed.

Spyridakis, Jan H. and Waka Fukuoka. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication (2002). Articles>Language>Rhetoric

Effective Presentations

An essential aspect of any research project is dissemination of the findings arising from the study. The most common ways to make others aware of your work is by publishing the results in a journal article, or by giving an oral or poster presentation (often at a regional or national meeting). While efforts are made to teach the elements of writing a journal article in many graduate school curricula, much less attention is paid to teaching those skills necessary to develop a good oral or poster presentation - even though these arguably are the most common and most rapid ways to disseminate new findings. In addition, the skills needed to prepare an oral presentation can be used in a variety of other settings - such as preparing a seminar in graduate school, organizing a dissertaton defense, conducting a job interview seminar, or even addressing potential philanthropic sources!

University of Kansas. Articles>Presentations>Rhetoric>Scientific Communication

Effective Technical Graphics  

This presentation examines ineffective technical graphics with problems in simplicity, orientation, and scale. It identifies principles of effective graphic communication that could prevent such problems, and clarifies objectives and techniques in designing editing and preparing technical graphics for printed documents and briefing materials. Graphics principles illustrated by transparencies include avoiding clutter, orienting properly, controlling scales, checking the content, and avoiding extraneous graphics. message, and that the table title or figure caption focuses clearly on the subject of the graphic.

Samson, Donald C., Jr. STC Proceedings (1993). Design>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration>Visual Rhetoric

Effective Writing, or Tips on How to Write English 'Gooder'    

Some quick tips toward a clearer, more lucid, meaningful,…well, you know what I mean.

Perez De Tagle, Robert. MetroVoice (2004). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric>Minimalism

The Effects of Contrast and Density on Visual Web Search

This study evaluated the effects of white space on visual search time. Participants were required to search for a target word on a web page with different levels of white space, measured by level of text density. Screens were formatted with one of four types of graphical manipulation, including: no graphics, contrast, borders and contrast with borders under two levels of overall density and three levels of local density. Results show that search times were longer with increased overall density but significant differences were not found between levels of local density. Only the use of contrast was found to be significant, resulting in an increase in search time.

Weller, Donnelle. Usability News (2004). Design>Web Design>Visual Rhetoric>Search

The Effects of Information Design on Perception of Environmental Risk  

Communication about environmental risk is important and problematic. A few prior researchers have explored the impact of information design in this area. This paper describes research done involving one common graphic tool, the risk ladder. Risk ladders explain the magnitude of risk from an environmental hazard, often by including comparative information about more familiar risks.

Campbell, Kim Sydow. STC Proceedings (1998). Design>Information Design>Environmental>Rhetoric

The Effects of Motivational Elements in User Instructions    

Should instructional texts be purely technical, with a focus on effectiveness and efficiency, or should they also focus on satisfying and motivating users? Good arguments have been made for paying attention to motivational aspects. But only analyses of existing instructions have been published so far, and guidelines for making user instructions motivational have not yet been studied carefully. This article presents motivational strategies and an experiment to test their effects. The results show that motivational elements have little effect on users’ effectiveness and efficiency in performing tasks, their product appreciation, and their self-efficacy, but they do increase users’ appreciation for the instructions.

Loorbach, N., Steehouder, M., Taal, E. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2006). Articles>Documentation>Rhetoric>User Centered Design

The Elements of Style

Asserting that one must first know the rules to break them, this classic reference book is a must-have for any student and conscientious writer. Intended for use in which the practice of composition is combined with the study of literature, it gives in brief space the principal requirements of plain English style and concentrates attention on the rules of usage and principles of composition most commonly violated.

Strunk, William, Jr. and E.B. White. Bartleby.com (1959). Reference>Style Guides>Writing>Rhetoric

Eleven Tips on Terrific Titles

Honestly, which white paper would YOU sooner read: 'Implications of Business Intelligence Methodologies on Operational Efficiencies: A Retrospective Study' or 'Six Things You Must Know about Data Warehousing'? This article offers eleven tips on putting together compelling titles for white papers.

Graham, Gordon. WhitePaperSource (2006). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric>White Papers

The Emergence and Evolution of a Research Project  

Research never goes exactly according to plan; nor should we expect it to because research is a rhetorically situated activity. This paper illustrates this truism by providing a brief summary of the author’s experiences in designing, proposing, re-designing, and carrying out an investigation into electronic editing using both quantitative survey and qualitative methods.

Dayton, David. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Research>Rhetoric

An Emerging Electronic Rhetoric of the Body: Arguing the Feminine in Cyberspace  

Some form of a body rhetoric has existed since classical times. If rhetoric can be loosely defined as a means of persuasion, then an electronic rhetoric of the body, for the purposes of this essay, can be defined as the ways in which the body is used to persuade, the ways it becomes the language of a culture for both genders. But what should we consider 'the electronic body' to consist of? The physical body? The mental body? And here is where the problem lies… But before an electronic rhetoric can be established, historical precedent must first be clarified.

Tulley, Ronald J. and Christine E. Tulley. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Rhetoric>Online>Gender

Emotional Design: Communicating an Experience

Today communicating is not always about a single message but an entire experience. One of the reasons the Web and the Internet has gained in popularity is not only because of its commercialization but because users can dynamically interact with it. Walker Gibson uses the term 'mock reader' to describe when a reader accepts the role within a story that an author has presented. The authors of Web sites, the designers, create an experience that immerses the site visitor or viewer into the Web site. A successful Web site designer has the ability to create a 'mock Web visitor' who becomes completely immersed emotionally in the site the designer has created.

Chinn, Darryl. EServer (2001). Design>Web Design>Visual Rhetoric>Emotions