Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing Chapter 1-Concept 3

1. Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing Chapter 1-Concept 3 Baron, Amanda Gonzalez, Anabel Kadery, Nazifa Padilla, Paula Rodicio, Lillian Santiesteban, Carolina Vasquez, Celinnet

2. What is Rhetoric? • “The study of how people use language and symbols to influence the beliefs, attitudes, and actions of others.” • In simpler terms: The art of persuasion. • Ex: Politicians use specific language in their speeches in order to persuade an audience on an issue or topic of debate. • Everyday life => trying to convince your mom to let you go to a party.

3. GAP • Writers should consider three different topics to think rhetorically: • Genre • Audience • Purpose

4. Purpose • What is the author trying to accomplish? • Writing may have 6 different rhetorical aims: To express, to explore, to inform, to analyze and synthesize, to persuade, and to reflect. • “Almost all writing is compelled by some sort of motivation or exigency.” • Exigency/ Exigence= an event or occasion that motivates a writer to begin writing. • Exigency can be internal or external.

5. Rhetorical Aim • Closed Form • To inform or explain • To analyze, synthesize, or interpret • To persuade • To reflect • Open Form • To express or share • To explore or inquire • To reflect

6. Changing your Reader’s View • “Focus on the change you want to bring in your audience’s view of the subject.” • Ex. To express my opinion about healthcare • Ex. To persuade others to recycle • Ex. To inform about a rare disease • Writing an explicit purpose statement directly expresses the change you want to bring about in your readers’ POV.

7. Audience • Who is your audience? (Ex: Single Reader) • Once the audience has been identified, consider some of these analytical questions:

9. Genre • Genre- “refers to categories of writing that Follow certain conventions of style, structure, approach to subject matter, and document design.” • Influence in writing a letter, report, article, etc. comes from precedents set by previous published material in that specific genre. • Ex. writers for the NY Times are expected to write differently than writers for Teen Vogue • Writers are more likely to be successful if they write conventionally, following guidelines. • Ex. Scholars who write using closed form prose are conventional and more likely to have their work published versus those who write using open form.

10. Examples of Genre

11. Bibliography • Allyn & Bacon, Guide to Writing, (p.15-21)