Visual rhetoric is the study of how document design (including the use of illustrations, charts and graphs, typography and layout) communicate, as opposed to aural or verbal messages. Visual rhetoric examines also the relationship between images and writing.
#27788
Are You Frodo, Aragorn or Legolas? Writing Wisdom from The Lord of the Rings
Are you a 'Frodo,' 'Aragorn' or 'Legolas' writer? Each has a unique style and advantages suited to specific types of writing. Much can be learned from J.R.R. Tolkien's epic The Lord of the Rings characters.
Stelzner, Michael A. WhitePaperSource (2006). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric
#14424
Argument: An Alternative Model
During the last five decades, rhetoricians have been deeply divided over whether rhetoric can be effectively used in teaching composition. Some have argued that rhetoric involves some or all forms of persuasion. Others believe that it is the arguer's manipulation of the audience. These two views, among others, point to the fact that they are, in principle, incompatible to the extent where rhetoricians will never meet. Because of these different views, rhetoricians are in a state of flux as to what strategies or principles should be used when teaching rhetoric and composition.
Shiyab, Said. Lore (2002). Articles>Rhetoric
#14827
Argumentation Interpretation Rhetoric is an international and interdisciplinary journal founded by the University of Amsterdam and St Petersburg State University to address philosophical and linguistic problems of rhetoric and argumentative discourse. This electronic journal is the first and so far the only one in Russia dealing with problems of argumentation theory, rhetoric and communication processes.
Argumentation (2000). (Russian) Journals>Rhetoric
#18317
Argumentation: An Overview of Theoretical Approaches and Research Themes
Argumentation is a phenomenon we are confronted with daily. We argue all the time for our own views and we react continually to oral or written argumentation put forward by others. Apart from being a verbal activity, argumentation is also a social activity directed at other people. On top of that, it is a rational activity aimed at defending a standpoint in such a way that it is acceptable to a reasonable judge.
van Eemeren, Frans H. Argumentation (2002). Articles>Rhetoric>Theory
#14573
Argumenteren Over Lezersproblemen: Is Consensus Haalbaar?
Kunnen experts het met elkaar eens worden over de vraag of een lezersprobleem aannemelijk is en of dat probleem ernstig is? Uit menig onderzoek is gebleken dat beoordelaars sterk van elkaar verschillen in hun oordelen over tekstkwaliteit. In dit artikel wordt verslag gedaan van een poging om met behulp van de Delphi-methode consensus te bereiken tussen beoordelaars. In het eerste deel van het artikel wordt duidelijk dat op deze manier consensus niet haalbaar is, hoewel de mate van overeenstemming wel enigszins stijgt. In het tweede deel analyseren we de argumenten die beoordelaars aandragen voor de stelling dat een probleem (on)aannemelijk en wel of niet ernstig is. Vijf typen minder adequate argumentatiepatronen worden met behulp van voorbeelden toegelicht.
Lentz, Leo and Menno D.T. de Jong. Universiteit Stellenbosch Taalsentrum (2002). (Afrikaans) Articles>Rhetoric>TC
#29028
Aristotelian Rhetorical Theory as a Framework for Teaching Scientific and Technical Communication 
Classical rhetorical theory has been used for relatively discrete, practice-oriented purposes in its application to teaching Scientific and Technical Communication. However effective these appropriations are, they isolate these resources from a comprehensive framework and from that framework's role in shaping disciplinary practice. Because these theoretical assets are integral to each student's preparation to be an effective, responsible practitioner, I have developed and taught an upper level rhetorical theory course for STC majors that is grounded in Aristotle s <em>On Rhetoric</em> and in his understanding that effective communication is a systematic <em>tekhne</em>/art.
Newman, Sara. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (1999). Articles>Education>TC>Rhetoric
#15028
Welcome to the online version of Aristotle's Rhetoric. These hypertext pages are based on the 1954 translation of noted classical scholar W. Rhys Roberts. In editing this text, every effort was made to preserve the original style of Roberts' print edition, though footnotes and parenthetical Greek phrasings were omitted due to the typographical restrictions of hypertext markup language. In addition, British punctuation rules were generally altered to conform to American style, though British spelling conventions were retained.
Honeycutt, Lee. Iowa State University (2001). Books>Rhetoric
#23609
Assessing Visualizations in Public Science Presentations 
Natural resource agencies and other technical and scientific organizations face an immense challenge of when communicating complex technical information to diverse publics. The laptop computer, presentation software, and projection unit have emerged as one of the primary presentation tools in many technical and scientific fields. Advances in software functions enable presenters to capitalize on a wide range of multimedia functions thought to make presentations more appealing, interesting, and effective. Our presentation reports on a specific research project and then provides guidance for enhancing their presentations.
Zimmerman, Donald E., Carol A. Akerelrea, Jane Kapler Smith and Garrett O'Keefe. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Presentations>Visual Rhetoric
#18430
Association for the Rhetoric of Science and Technology (ARST)
ARST was founded in 1992 with the hope of providing a forum for researchers and teachers in the area of the rhetoric of science and technology. Since then, ARST has hosted day-long conferences in conjunction with the annual meetings of National Communication Association (NCA). In addition, ARST acts as an interest group of NCA to host panels and papers within the conference itself. Originally called the American Association for the Rhetoric of Science and Technology, in November 2006 members voted unanimously to rename the organization to the Association for the Rhetoric of Science and Technology in order to better reflect the international nature of its membership and intellectual concerns.
ARST. Organizations>Rhetoric>Technology>Scientific Communication
#24100
Attributing Meaning to Corporate Logos: A Cross Cultural Comparison 
Visual symbols are an essential part of corporate communication. The development of an appropriate corporate logo is an expensive and a time-intensive process. This study examines the meaning of visual form as perceived via corporate identity. Global economies demand that such symbols carry consistent meaning across cultures. 170 subjects from the U.S. and Hong Kong participated in a survey that identified positive business attributes associated with six logos. Another 60 subjects (30 from the U.S., 30 from Hong Kong) participated in focus groups and collectively discussed and collectively identified attributes as related to certain logos. Results indicate that there was agreement between and within groups on the perception of attributes with specific shapes. There were no significant differences between cultural groups.
Martinson, Barbara and Sauman Chu. University of Alberta (2003). Design>Graphic Design>Visual Rhetoric>International
#22278
A PDF document for teachers to revise and adapt for their students. The worksheet helps writers to make audience-based decisions about content, organization, formatting, style, usage, and mechanics.
Zuidema, Leah A. Michigan State University (2003). Presentations>Rhetoric>Audience Analysis
#21406
Audience Analysis the Easy Way
Audience analysis is more often a process of guesswork than of an in-depth inquiry into the mind and activities of the user. In fact, it is pretty easy to analyze your audience without having to do any research. Essentially, there are only two things that technical writers need ask themselves during the audience-analysis phase: what does the user know about the thing I am writing about? And what does the user want to know about the thing I am writing about?
Docsymmetry (2003). Articles>Rhetoric>Audience Analysis
#21576
Audience Analysis: Can You Get There From Here?
As writers we face many pitfalls. One of the most challenging is trying to meet multiple audience needs -- once we identify the audience. Rarely do we have the luxury of knowing the members of our audience personally and, even if we did, bringing them to consensus would consume all our time. As writers we often decide what the readers in our audience need before the readers have ever seen our material. The analogy of map readers can help us focus on our clients' needs.
Blagg, Lynn and Carolyn K. Johnson. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Rhetoric>Audience Analysis
#22116
Audience and Document Analysis
Before you begin editing a document, try to find out as much as you can about the audience for the document and purpose of the document.
Hollis Weber, Jean. Technical Editors Eyrie (2001). Articles>Writing>Audience Analysis>Rhetoric
#13728
The Author's Voice and the Reader's Role: An Analysis of Rhetorical Issues in How-to Texts
In mainstream computer applications such as Microsoft Word for Windows version 6.0, one will find a User's Guide included with the product. This User's Guide is a primary manual. It is included with the software application. A visit to any large bookstore will also reveal a large number of manuals about Word. Called secondary manuals, these manuals are not written by the same software development company that produced Word, nor are they included with Word. Both types of manuals are produced by technical writers and in many ways are similar in scope, content and cognitive strategies. However, in other respects some primary and secondary manuals are quite different, and that difference is the focus of this thesis.
Chatfield, Carl S. Wisechat.com (1995). Books>Rhetoric>Theory
#18951
This is an alternative/modified title page for a web of documents focused on the issue of authority and exists as the result of my decision to include this site on authority in hypertext as part of another project. This page exists for several reasons: the passage of time, the nature of the WWW, and the fact that the authority web exists. I will briefly discuss each of these reasons.
Clark, Dave, Roxanne Clemens, Christianna I. White and Mark Zachry. Iowa State University. Articles>Rhetoric>Theory
#25693
Bakhtin, Vygotsky, Composition, and Rhetoric
The Bakhtin/Vygotsky listserv invites subscribers to post information relevant to Bakhtin/Vygotsky scholarship, including announcements of publications, conferences, seminars, calls for papers, etc.
Zappen, James P. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Resources>Mailing Lists>Rhetoric
#14313
In the 1940's researchers at Bell Telephone Laboratories devised a model of the process of human communication. This model consists of numeous elements.
Malik, Suman Lata. Technical Communications Group (2000). Books>Rhetoric>Theory
#26722
Beetle Bailey and Presentation Skills
An audience, whether it is one person or many, wants speakers to provide maximum relevant information, delivered in minimum time and in the clearest possible terms, centered on the needs and concerns of the audience.
Tracy, Larry. Klariti (2005). Articles>Presentations>Rhetoric
#19370
Behind the Scenes of Scientific Debating
In analysing a scientific debate, there are at least two types of relevant information. One is the debate itself, experienced first hand or via a transcript. Another is what can be called backstage information, which includes the debaters’ preparations, plans, notes, thinking and reservoir of arguments and responses. Familiarity with backstage information can provide insights for understanding the dynamics of the debate. Often, the only individuals with much backstage information are the debaters themselves, plus perhaps one or two advisers or close friends. An observer of the debate seldom has access to backstage information. The next best thing, then, is generalisations based on backstage experience with debates of a similar nature.
Martin, Brian. University of Wollongong (2000). Articles>Scientific Communication>Rhetoric
#31232
Being Good for Goodness' Sake: Corporate Social Responsibility Imagery
It sees you when you’re sleeping. It knows if you’re awake. 'It' is the world, and it knows if your company has been naughty or nice. The digital revolution has put a photographic device, be it a camera or camera-phone, in the hands of virtually everybody everywhere—so you can be sure someone besides Santa is constantly watching your company’s behavior. For that and other good reasons, corporate photography is looking very green this season.
Salvo, Suzanne. Communication World Bulletin (2007). Design>Graphic Design>Visual Rhetoric
#27330
Beware of adverbs. They can dilute the meaning of the verb or repeat it.
Clark, Roy Peter. Poynter Online (2004). Articles>Writing>Diction>Rhetoric
#10501
Bibliography for Rhetoric, Composition, and Professional Communication
This bibliography contains citations for over 7,600 articles and books dealing with issues related to rhetoric, composition, professional communication, and associated topics, such as linguistics, psychology, and philosophy.
Thune, W. Scott. Iowa State University. Resources>Bibliographies>Rhetoric
#19451
This study synthesizes Y. Engeström's version of cultural historical activity theory and North American genre systems theory to explore the problem of specialized discourses in activities that involve non-specialists, in this case students in a university 'general education' course in Irish history struggling to write the genres of professional academic history. We trace the textual pathways (genre systems) that mediate between the activity systems (and motives) of specialist teachers and the activity systems (and motives) of non-specialist students. Specifically, we argue that the specialist/lay contradiction in U.S. general education is embedded in historical practices in the modern university, and manifested in alienation that students often experience through the writing requirements in general education courses. This historical contradiction also makes it difficult for instructors to make writing meaningful for non-specialists and go beyond fact-based, rote instruction to mediate higher-order learning through writing. However, our analysis of the Irish History course suggests this alienation may be overcome when students, with the help of their instructors, see the textual pathways (genre systems) of specialist discourse leading to useful knowledge/skill in their activity systems beyond the course as specialists in other fields or as citizens.
Russell, David R. and Arturo Yanez. WAC Clearinghouse (2002). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric
#18438
When we come to accessibility of web design, we will say that accessible web design is a sign of good web design. A lot of the information on the Web is not accessible to people with disabilities because of poor design. While many web site managers and developers accommodate various browser constraints, most of them do not realize that they are developing sites that people with disabilities have difficulty in navigating, or in many cases, cannot navigate at all.
Hung, Edward. Universal Usability. Design>Usability>Accessibility>Visual Rhetoric
