Rhetorical Strategies

Organizational ways of thinking to achieve the greatest clarity

and strength in conveying those ideas to others

Exemplification

• Purposes:1) Makes writing more vivid + interesting2) To explain or clarify ideas

• Used in almost all writing:1) reports, cover letters, editorials,

proposals, law briefs, + reviews2) creative stories, novels, songs, poems

Nature of Examples

• Choose wisely: specific + relevant examples

• Representative: should be typical of main point/concept

• Organized in order that serves your purpose, is easy to follow, + has max effect

ExampleNatalie Goldberg, Be Specific

Be specific. Don’t say “fruit.” Tell what kind of fruit – “It is a pomegranate.” Give things the dignity of their names. Just as with human beings, it’s rude to say, “Hey, girl, get in line.” That girl has a name. (As a matter of fact, if she’s at least twenty years old, she’s a woman, not a “girl” at all.) Things, too, have names. It is much better to say, “the geranium in the window” than “the flower in the window.”

Description

• To convey through words, the perceptions of our five senses

Why use description?1) To inform2) To develop a dominant impression

Types of Description

1) Objective: factual, emphasizes actual qualities of subject, + minimizes writer’s responses

- ex. Surgeon describing operation2) Subjective: often uses colorful language, figures of speech; is impressionistic

- ex. Food critic describing meal

Common Uses

• Can stand alone

• (Used with narration) to describe setting or character, provide context

• (Used with/as definition) to define unusual objects or things

• (Used with process) to clarify steps

Example

James Wilson – The “Shaw”

I open my eyes and see street vendors of all shapes and sizes. I see little children trying to sell ten dollar cutlery sets to every motorist that stops at a street light, and grown adults selling the latest in scandal fashion. With clothes bearing slogans like “Let the Juice Loose” or “Free O.J.,” you can’t help but think that people will try to make money off of anything these days.

Narration

Can you guess what will happen next?

Whenever you recount an event, tell a story or anecdote, you are using narration.

That night, Tyler overcame his fear and crept through the swamp to set the trap. Silently, his eyes like two, empty hollows reflecting the light of the moon, he knelt down…

Narration• Can be fiction or non-fiction + is used in

combo with other rhetorical strategies

• Nonfictional narratives: biography, autobiography, history, news reporting

• Why use them? - they are compelling- share meaningful experiences with others

Narration Construction

• Establish context• Choose point of view• Select “showing” details

- who, what, where, when, why, how• Choose organization: beginning to end,

flashback, in medias res• Consistent verb tense, dialogue, transition

sequence

Process Analysis

• A series of actions/stages that follow one another in specific order + lead to specific end

• Why use it?1) to give directions2) to inform

• Combine one of reasons w/other rhetorical strategy to evaluate the process in question

Examples

• Directional: operator’s manual for PC or cooking instructions on frozen food package

• Informational: how presidents are elected or how plants reproduce

• Evaluative: Paul Roberts’s “How to Say Nothing in 500 Words” – description of ineffective writing process + c/c w/more effective process

Compare/Contrast

• Purpose: to make a choice

• Types: 1) point-by-point: compare both subjects

in terms of one point, then another, then another…

2) block: info of one subject explored, then info of the second explored