RHETORICAL MODES

Prepared by Zhian Fadhil Asaad

A rhetorical mode is (a strategy) a way or method of presenting a subject through writing or speech. They also known as modes of discourse. Its chiefly one way with no discussion, and a platform for relying one persons idea, beliefs of experience. Simple rhetoric modes include simple descriptions and narratives. Instructors have used rhetorical modes to teach writing or public speaking since ancient Greek times over two thousand years ago, perhaps longer.  Knowing the modes can help us understand the organization the methodology of most kinds of writings or other presentations.• 

What are rhetorical modes?

Using the modes is like putting together the pieces of a puzzle: most major paragraphs use at least one mode, and most papers use several modes.  The modes are useful in particular in helping writers learn how to develop paragraphs, create longer papers in many subjects and disciplines in college, and complete careful analyses of college readings.  Often it is helpful to start with "Extended Definition" because it's pattern of thought useful when writing the introduction to any paper using the other rhetorical modes.

What are the "modes of writing?"

❀ Comparison/Contrast❀ Cause-Effect❀ Classification❀ Description❀ Extended Definition❀ Exemplification❀ Narration❀ Analyzing Readings Using the Modes

Comparison/Contrast "Comparison/contrast" means to show how subjects are alike and/or different. A simple comparison/contrast paper often has two subjects and describes how they are alike and then how they differ. For example, a comparison/contrast paper on two forms of weekend entertainment. Inacademic written comparison/contrast writing sometimes is used to show how two related viewpoints, two ideas or opinions can be similar but different comparison/contrast paper simply and clearly: tell your readers in a brief introduction what you are going to do (compare, contrast, or both) and what your subject or subjects are.  It also may be helpful to offer a very brief definition, and then write the body.  It is a good idea to provide at least one paragraph for each intellectual function you are going to do.  For example, you might first have just one paragraph (or one set of paragraphs) that use comparison, then another set that uses just contrast. 

Cause and Effect     "Cause and effect" simply means that you start with a subject (an event, person, or object) and then show the causes (reasons) for it, and/or the effects (results) of it.  "Cause" means the reasons why or for something, or the source of something. "Effects" simply are results or outcomes. Cause-and-effect writing shows a chain of connected events, each the logical result of the one before it. A simple cause-and-effect paper discusses the chain of events related to a person, event, or object, showing what the causes are and what the results are. Typically a cause-and-effect paper has an introductory paragraph defining or clarifying the subject itself, and stating the nature of the paper (i.e., that your paper is a cause-and-effect paper); a body of several to many paragraphs; and a brief concluding paragraph. 

Assume, when you write a cause-and-effect paper, that you are explaining events to someone who may know a little about them but never has heard the entire story of how the events are linked by logical cause and effect.   At the end of your cause-and-effect paper, add a final, concluding paragraph.  It should summarize, very briefly, the most important cause and effect concerning your subject. 

Process

The purpose of a process analysis is to explain how to do something or how something works. 

Classification

"Classification" means that a subject, person, place, event, or object is identified and broken into parts and sub-parts. Imagine you want to classify a specific student.  You might first start by identifying this student by name and briefly defining him or her.  Second, you would choose a system by which to classify him: e.g., you could choose a system that would describe his looks, school classes, and after-school activities; or you might choose a biological system and describe him by his physical type, health, blood type, and other biological markings; or, perhaps, you might choose to describe the student by his psychological makeup, his family history, and/or even his medical history.  Third, once you have chosen a system, you would then describe the person.

Third, once you have chosen a system, you would then describe the person.  As you do so, you would want to show how, in each part of our classification, he is similar to others like him and also how he differs from them. This is the heart of developing lengthy description in a good classification paper, to use comparisons and contrasts with each small element of our classification system.      A standard classification paper starts with a short introduction. You also should state clearly that you intend to classify your subject.  In the body of your paper, you describe your subject according to the classification system you have chosen. Classification is used as a pattern of thinking, speaking, and writing in shorter forms, too.  Whenever you must break down a subject into its separate parts, you are classifying.

Evaluation

If you are working with the rhetorical modes, you sometimes can evaluate a text by describing how well or poorly the rhetorical modes in it are used.  This is true whether the basic structure and substructures use argumentation or other modes such as definition, example, cause and effect, classification, comparison/contrast, and process. Texts sometimes are set up, organized, or formed using the modes as structural patterns. If so, its structure probably looks something like this: •Introduction: Issue or Main Argument•Body Sections: Rhetorical Mode Development (Comparison/Contrast,Classificatio,Exemplification, Process, etc.)•Conclusion: Concluding Argument

Often, however, a number of different modes may be used repeatedly as each point, reason, or explanation is developed. For example, the mode of exemplification often is used over and over--because, as the text makes a series of points, it may also use a series of examples about those points; or, for example, the text might use cause and effect to prove one point, exemplification to prove another point, and classification to prove yet another. There may even be a definition mode in the introduction or before the first point is made.  

It is possible to evaluate a text entirely on the quality, quantity, and usefulness of its rhetorical modes, step by step.  However, even if you use a different evaluative system, your awareness of the use of the modes in the text will help you better understand the connections between all the various points, arguments, explanations, and examples or other proofs, thus improving your evaluative comments using whatever criteria you have chosen.  

Suggestions for finding a topic

❀ Discuss your ideas with your course instructor.❀ Discuss your ideas with a reference librarian.❀ Look over the index and the article titles in a

specialized encyclopedia that covers a relevant subject area or discipline

Identifying a topic

State your topic idea as a question. For example, if you are interested in finding out about Title IX (Title Nine) and women athletes in college athletic programs, you might pose the question, "How did Title IX impact women athletes in college athletic programs? Identify the main concepts or keywords in your question. These are potential search terms. In this case they are "title ix," "women," "athletes," and "college athletic programs“.

Testing the topic

Before you commit to a specific topic for your research, do a scan to make sure that your topic isn't completely covered in another paper; at the same time ensure that there is enough information available to complete the project. 

Finding background information

Once you have identified the main topic and keywords for your research, find one or more sources of background information to read. These sources will help you understand the broader context of your research and tell you in general terms what is known about your topic. They will give you an idea of how much and what kind of information is available on a given topic.

Finding books, articles, and other materials

❀ Searching the Library Catalog Find library materials such as books, music,

videos, articles and audio recordings via the Library Catalog. This catalog searches not only Cornell's collections, but also the collections for many other libraries.

❀ Evaluating resources When using a book, article, report, or Web

site for your research, it is important to gauge how reliable the source is.

Initial appraisal❀ Author or creator: What are the author's credentials

(educational background, past writing, experience) in this area? Have you seen the author's name cited in other sources or bibliographies? Respected authors are cited frequently by other scholars. For this reason, always note names that appear in many different sources.

❀ Year of publication: Is the source current or out of date for your topic? Topic areas of continuing and rapid development, such as the sciences, demand more current information. Topics in the humanities often require material that was written many years ago.

❀ Edition: Is this a first edition? Later editions indicate a source has been revised and updated. Multiple printings or editions may indicate that the work has become a standard source in the area and is reliable.

❀ Publisher: Is it a university press or a large reputable publisher?

Content analysis

❀ Intentions: Read the preface (book) or abstract (article) to determine the author's intentions. Scan the table of contents and the index to get a broad overview of the material covered. Note whether bibliographies are included.

❀ Intended audience: What type of audience is the author addressing? Is this source too elementary, too technical, too advanced, or just right for your needs?

Objective reasoning:

❀ Is the information fact, opinion, or propaganda? It is not always easy to separate fact from opinion.

❀ Does the information appear to be valid and well-researched, or is it questionable and unsupported by evidence?

❀ Is the author's point of view objective and impartial? Is the language free of emotion-rousing words or bias?

Coverage:

❀ Does the work update other sources, substantiate other materials you have read, or add new information? You should explore enough sources to obtain a variety of viewpoints.

❀ Is the material primary or secondary in nature? Primary sources are the raw material of the research process; secondary sources are based on primary sources

Writing style❀ Writing style: Is the publication organized

logically? Are the main points clearly presented? Do you find the text easy to read? Is the author repetitive?

❀ Evaluative reviews (books):❀ Locate critical reviews of books in a reviewing

source, such as Book Review Digest. Is the book considered a valuable contribution to the field? Does the reviewer mention other books that might be better? If so, locate these sources.

❀ Do the various reviewers agree on the value or attributes of the book, or has it aroused controversy among the critics?

❀

Using Source Materials to discover and Evaluate a Topic

After free writing and clustering have produced a promising topic, go to the library for exploratory reading in reference books, biographies, or periodicals. Read carefully the title of articles and record key words. Look for tips on how to focus the topic. Speed up the process by using the new computer technology.

Using the public access catalog

Most libraries have PAC which is a computer version of the card catalog files. It will guide you quickly from general subjects to subtopics and, finally, to specific books.

❀ First type in a general subject at the PAC.❀ Second examine on the screen a set of subtopics, a list of

perhaps 20 topics or 200.❀ Third scan the list looking for an interesting topic. The

PAC has carried you to specific titles of books and to the contemporary issues.

❀ Fourth, if one book looks interesting, you can enter the number and get a complete description of the book:

In effect, the PAC has rapidly identified a specific issue about a broad topic and provided a printout of bibliographic data for a book for preliminary reading.

Using CD-ROM Files on Computers:

In addition to a PAC, most college libraries now have compact disc (CD-ROM) facilities, which means that data-base files, such as Readers' Guide to periodical literature or Psychological Abstract, are located on a compact disc stored as read only memory in the computer. ROM means the computer can read the files for you, but nobody can write into the files to change them. CD-ROM systems have different names, but their function is the same: to help you work from a general subjects to specific topics and, finally, to the reading materials.

❀Type in a general subject.❀Read the list of subtopics provided on the

screen and narrow your search to one. ❀Enter a choice, to get a list of articles.❀Use these article titles to narrow your own

work. If one seems appropriate, read it for ideas and terminology.

❀Use PAC and CD-ROM to begin research with two or three topics at once.

References

❀ D. Lester. 1995, WRITING RESEARCH PAPERS,7th ed., HarperCollins College publishers.

❀ www.google.com /wikipedia-the free encyclopedia, 12.15pm .