Learn Logic

Divide the fallacies listed equally among group members. Members must write a page on each of their assigned fallacies, explaining them clearly and providing at least five examples. Each site provides some examples already; you may use three examples from the site, but must find at least two examples from everyday usage. You may look in newspapers, on TV, or on other Web sites that do not deal with logical fallacies. Take turns reading each report to your group.

Lannon, John M. Pearson Education (2003). Academic>Course Materials>Rhetoric

Learn the Techniques of Writing Before You Write

Writing is an art form. You must understand this art form before you can begin to challenge yourself and grow. Not many people would pick up a cello and start playing right away, without any knowledge of the basics of music, but the same does not hold true with writing. In fact, many people perceive writing to be some sort of inherent talent, without the need for training and hard work. Of course, some writers have a natural gift for creating structured and meaningful works with only minimal revision, but these are the exception rather than the rule.

McKay, Carolyn. Writer's Block (1996). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric

Learning to Link Artifact and Value: The Arguments of Student Designers  

The article explores the relationship between design and rhetoric. From the "Language and Learning Across the Disciplines" series, part of the "Writing Across the Curriculum" website at CSU.

Fleming, David. LLAD (1997). Articles>Rhetoric

Learning to Speak With, Not To, Readers

I think that most journalists prefer giving lectures to having conversations. But today it seems clear to me that the creative-writing class was the more valuable experience. As tough as it was, I learned more in that 'conversation' than I could ever have learned in my own lecture.

Conley, Paul. Blogger.com (2006). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric

Lenguaje Visual

El lenguaje escrito no es más que un caso particular del lenguaje visual. En realidad hay muchos lenguajes visuales que parecen tener reglas en común. Pensar en el lenguaje visual nos puede ayudar a transmitir nuestros mensajes de forma más efectiva.

Dursteler, Juan Carlos. InfoVis (2003). (Spanish) Articles>Language>Visual Rhetoric>Technical Illustration

Let It Flow

To become a more fluent writer, try these strategies.

Poynter Online (2004). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric

Letters and the Social Grounding of Differentiated Genres  

Several times in my research over the years, I have noticed letters playing a role in the emergence of distinctive genres: the early scientific article emerging from the correspondence of Hans Oldenburg, the first editor of the Philosophic Transactions of the Royal Society; the patent, originally known as letters patent; stockholders' reports evolving from letters to stockholders; and internal corporate reporting and record forms regularizing internal corporate correspondence. was not the first to notice any of these; however, in putting the four cases together, it struck me that these may be part of a more general pattern. As I pursued the thought that letters might have a special role in genre formation, many other examples of genres with strong connections to correspondence came to my attention, including newspapers and other periodicals, financial instruments such as bills of exchange and letters of credit, books of the New Testament, papal encyclicals, and novels. The letter, in its directness of communication between two parties within a specific relationship in specific circumstances (all of which could be commented on directly), seemed to provide a flexible medium out of which many functions, relationships, and institutional practices might develop--making new uses socially intelligible at the same time as allowing the form of the communication to develop in new directions.

Bazerman, Charles. UCSB. Articles>Rhetoric>Correspondence>Genre

Listen Up!: Speech Recognition's Impact on Communication, Rhetoric, and Interface

Look around the computer screen on which you're viewing this document. Do you see a keyboard and mouse a short distance away? These two traditional input devices have become so deeply entrenched as the established human-computer interface that they are inseparable from our notion of the 'computing experience.' Yet in many ways, keyboards and mice only make our experiences with computers more unnatural, forcing us into modes of interaction that we would never use with other people. In other words, they make humans interact with machines, rather than machines with humans.

Propper, Ryan. Stanford University (2005). Articles>User Interface>Rhetoric>Voice

Literature Review: What is Visual Literacy?  

This paper takes a look at what is being said in various disciplines (technical writing, journalism, education, psychology, user interface design, and visual arts) in an attempt to answer the question 'What is visual literacy?' A corollory is 'How will I know when I have achieved it?' A working definition of visual literacy has many implications for how we train technical writers in order to meet the professional challenges of the future.

Couse, Mary M. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Graphic Design>Research>Visual Rhetoric

Little Machines: Rearticulating Hypertext Users

In recognizing ourselves as computer users, we are also articulated (at least partially) as the used, the variable piece of the machine that closes the circuit, like a key in the ignition of a car. We are happiest when our technologies when they work automatically, when the machine appears to anticipate our every desire. The machine is never completely absent from our attention, but it is becoming increasingly difficult--pointless, it seems--to think critically about the operations of the machine and our position within it. We don't think often about the ways in which the technology (and the larger, social technical system) construct users in ways that presuppose a simple, mechanistic model of efficiency and value. If the programmers have done their work well, we reason, then we shouldn't have to think. Functional hypertexts (online documention, references, tutorials) are defined, socially and politically, in this politics of amnesia.

Johnson-Eilola, Johndan. Clarkson University (1995). Articles>Rhetoric>Hypertext

The Logical and Rhetorical Construction of Procedural Discourse     

A very useful perspective for understanding procedural ('how to') discourse and for writing better procedures is to view procedures as a framework of actions and states. The states include desired (goal) states and unwanted states; the actions are user actions, system actions, and external events. This framework underlies all kinds of procedural discourse, including streamlined-step procedures, the model that predominates in online help systems. The components that make up streamlinedstep procedures are best understood as combinations of actions and states. Procedural discourse is also highly rhetorical in nature. We can see the rhetorical implications of actions and states in the various models of procedural discourse, and in specific strategies that writers implement. Because of its terse and rigid nature, the streamlinedstep model is not well suited for certain rhetorical strategies and cognitive goals, and so while recognizing the efficiency of the streamlined-step model, writers should not neglect more

Farkas, David K. Technical Communication Online (1999). Articles>Documentation>Rhetoric

London Through Rose-Colored Graphics: Visual Rhetoric and Information Graphic Design in Charles Booth's Maps of London Poverty    

In this article, I examine a historical information graphic--Charles Booth's maps of London poverty (1889-1902)--to analyze the cultural basis of ideas of transparency and clarity in information graphics. I argue that Booth's maps derive their rhetorical power from contemporary visual culture as much as from their scientific authority. The visual rhetoric of the maps depended upon an ironic inversion of visual culture to make poverty seem a problem that could be addressed, rather than an insurmountable crisis. This visual rhetoric led directly to significant features of and concepts in western societies, including the poverty line and universal old-age pensions (social security).

Kimball, Miles A. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2006). Articles>Graphic Design>Visual Rhetoric>Geography

A Longinian Concept and Methodology for Technical Communication      

The rhetorician Longinus advises writers to 'transport' their readers by aligning the readers' perspective with the writer's.  The methods for transport are five 'fountains': high thought, emotional appeals, figures of speech, notable language, and arrangement.  This essay develops a Longinian concept and methodology for technical communication by comparing his ideas to current  scholarship and then applying them to two technical texts.  It shows how and why technical writers employ stylistic elements to achieve transport.

Todd, Jeff. Technical Communication Quarterly (1998). Articles>Rhetoric>TC

Lore: An E-Journal for Teachers of Writing

Lore is an e-journal for adjuncts and graduate students who teach writing at colleges and universities. This journal is designed to provide a forum for sharing knowledge, building communities, and voicing concerns about what happens in the classroom.

Bedford-St. Martin's. Journals>Education>Rhetoric>Writing

LORE: Rhetoric, Writing, Culture

'Lore' allues to Stephen North's idea of 'practitioner lore,' or the important traditions of teaching and research which seldom make their way into publishing writing. This journal seeks to publish such underrepresented work.

Lore. Journals>Education>Rhetoric

Make Your Content Work for You: Creating and Promoting Viral Content

With the cost of quality traffic rising and reaching and maintaining top search engine position becoming more and more difficult as EVERYONE is moving to the net, viral content blows up one of the most spouted off cliche of all time… “NOTHING IS FREE”. The exposure and added traffic that an amazing piece of content can generate is free. That’s the beauty… with a truly viral piece of content, everyone else does your promotion for you, letting you sit back and enjoy the ride.

Robbins, Kyle. ReEncoded (2008). Articles>Web Design>Writing>Rhetoric

Make Your Internal Communications Memorable with Strategic Storytelling

Jean-Paul Sartre said, “We understand everything in human life through stories.” I believe that is true. We comprehend better when a message is related in story form, and we also feel a stronger rapport with the person telling the story. Why not use these memorable stories in your internal communications? When you cram too much information into a communication, training session or presentation, you’re doing a data dump on your listener. Nothing sticks. Yet, if you’ve ever had a supervisor tell a story to illustrate a point, you learned the lesson and probably enjoyed the learning process, too.

Stevenson, Doug. Communication World Bulletin (2004). Articles>Business Communication>Workplace>Rhetoric

Making Sense of Step-by-Step Procedures    

Procedural instructions that consist of only a sequence of steps will probably be executable, but nevertheless 'meaningless' to users of technical devices. This paper discusses three features that can make procedural instructions more meaningful: adding functional coordinating information, adding information about the use of the technical device in real life, and adding operational information about how the device works. The research literature supports the effectiveness of the first feature, but offers little evidence that real life elements enhance understanding of instructions. As for operational information, the research suggests that users are willing to read it, and that it contributes to better understanding and performance in the long term, but only if it is closely related to the procedure. As a conclusion, we propose a theoretical framework that assumes three levels of mental representation of instructions: syntactical, semantic, and situational.

Steehouder, Michael F., Joyce Karreman and Nicole Ummelen. ACM SIGDOC (2000). Articles>Documentation>Rhetoric>Technical Writing

Making Sense of the Visual in Technical Communication: A Visual Literacy Approach to Pedagogy    

We employ an array of terms to denote the visual; however, we have not yet agreed on a clear framework for understanding the function and relationship between visual concepts. I propose a literacy approach to the visual so that as educators, researchers, students, and practitioners, we acquire more than skills that rely on changing definitions and technologies but an intellectual faculty that provides the knowledge, understanding, and abilities that the visual affords. Through an analysis of arguments for visual instruction, I present the wayS in which scholars justify their claims about the visual. These arguments uncover the breadth and depth of the visual and contribute to a taxonomy of visual terminology.

Portewig, Tiffany Craft. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2004). Articles>TC>Education>Visual Rhetoric

Making the Strange Familiar: A Pedagogical Exploration of Visual Thinking    

Scholarly conversation within the field of professional communication increasingly has focused on the practice, research, and pedagogy of visual rhetoric. Yet, visual thinking has received relatively little attention within the field. If our programs produce students who can think verbally but not visually, they risk producing writers who are visual technicians but are unable to move fluidly between and within modes of communication. This article examines the literature and pedagogical practices of visually oriented disciplines to identify strategies for helping students develop the ambidexterity of thought needed for the communication tasks of today's workplace.

Brumberger, Eva R. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2007). Articles>Education>Graphic Design>Visual Rhetoric

Masacre en Madrid

La tragedia del 11 de Marzo en Madrid ha creado una catarata de informaciones (y de emociones) algunas de las cuales se han convertido en representaciones visuales que nos acercan al qué y al cómo de lo que ha pasado en estos días horribles. 

Dursteler, Juan Carlos. InfoVis (2004). (Spanish) Design>Information Design>Visual Rhetoric

‘May I Have Your Attention?’: Exordial Techniques in Informative Oral Presentations      

An introduction, even a short one, makes audiences more willing to listen to a speech, think more highly of the speaker, and understand a speech better than when no introduction is given. Two experiments at Delft University of Technology support this conclusion. Subjects viewed videotapes of professional presentations on the topic of Sick Building Syndrome. In one experiment, subjects rated the effectiveness of three introductory or 'exordial' techniques in gaining audience attention: an anecdote, an ethical appeal, and a 'your problem' approach. Results indicate that audiences do respond to exordial techniques, and in a predictable manner. In the second experiment, two speeches with anecdotal openers were tested against one without any introduction. The anecdotes led to significantly higher ratings of the presentation's comprehensibility and interest, as well as the speaker's credibility. The presence of an anecdote also resulted in higher retention scores. Oddly enough, the relevance of the anecdote did not seem to make a difference in the ratings.

Andeweg, Bas A., Jaap C. de Jong and Hans Hoeken. Technical Communication Quarterly (1998). Presentations>Advice>Rhetoric

Meaning in Organizational Communication    

The authors propose an alternative to the postmodern way of viewing metaphor primarily as an instrumental and functional rhetorical tool designed to influence members of an organization through ideological appeals, a view that depicts rhetoric as merely subjective and manipulable. Our alternative draws from the "aesthetic side of organizational life" and argues that communication exceeds the theoretical reach of the postmodern perspective, which requires a new conceptualization of metaphor as epistemic and capable of signaling meaning that is inseparable from its unique and discrete form.

Hogler, Raymond, Michael A. Gross, Jackie L. Hartman and Ann L. Cunliffe. Management Communication Quarterly (2008). Articles>Rhetoric>Organizational Communication>Tropes