Wednesday, October 12th 2016 Rhetoric in the genre of the letter Style lesson 1 Considering audience

Refresher: Define the Terms Exigence Audience Rhetor Constraints Logos Ethos Pathos

Genre

A Definition Genre refers to a specific category of text or art form. Sample sentence: Jacob Andrews’ comic satirizes the proliferation of obscure genres of music.

One Definition* Recognizable types of texts Meet the need(s) of the rhetorical situation(s) in which they function Develop/change over time as needs change Specific features vary across subgroups that use them * Adapted from Wardle & Downs (2010), Writing About Writing (p. 467)

A Simple Example: Recipes What are the characteristics of the “recipe genre”? How might the genre vary according to specific rhetorical situations? How might the genre change over time? Have them answer each question before going to the next slide.

“Genre Analysis”: Recipes Characteristics: List of ingredients Set of instructions to prepare the recipe Time required Number of servings Possible variations: “Specialized” terms, equipment, and ingredients for “advanced” cooks regional or linguistic variation (e.g., “chickpeas” vs. “garbanzo beans”) Measurement conventions Detailed nutritional information (e.g., in Cooking Light magazine) Photos (or videos)

1935 Cornbread Recipe

1970s Cornbread Recipe

2012 Cornbread(ish) Recipe 2012 Cornbread Recipe Does this belong in the genre of a recipe? Why or why not? Ask them to watch ANALYTICALLY, and make OBSERVATIONS (not opinions).

Academic Genres What kinds of written texts do teachers or professors give you to read? What kinds of written texts do teachers or professors ask you to produce? What are the characteristics of these genres, and how might they differ from one another? Ask them for examples of what they READ and what they WRITE before moving on.

Academic Genres That you might be asked to read That you might be asked to write Textbooks Specialized journal articles & other research reports (e.g., written for a government agency) Scholarly books or book chapters Specialized disciplinary genres (lab reports, case studies, etc.) Exam responses (short answers, definitions) Specialized genres (lab reports, grant proposals) Out-of-class essays or research papers based on specific course content Papers based on your own primary or secondary research

Assignment 2 – Genre: Letter/Memo Written as an outsider May be written for one or a handful of people Might contain sensitive information Uses positive language—trying to make a good impression Written as an insider Usually written to a larger group of people Not the format for sensitive information May use strong/critical language—trying to persuade and get attention

Format/Tone of Letter/Memo See http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/653/1/ (letters) http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/590/1/ (memos)

BREAK 5 MINUTES

Sample 1: “Response to Concerned Students” How does the law professor begin and conclude his memo? Why does he begin and conclude in this way? Select three of the identified “critiques” and consider: What specific criticism is the professor making of the students’ memo? What part of the memo’s rhetorical situation does the criticism apply to (e.g. audience, exigence, ethos)? Is the professor making a “move” here that you could duplicate in your own persuasive letter? In what ways is this sample analysis similar to what you’ll be writing for Assignment 2? In what ways is it different?

Clarity “Have something to say, and say it as clearly as you can. That is the only secret of style.” -- Matthew Arnold

Review -- Concision “An understanding of the causal factors involved in excessive drinking by students could lead to their more effective treatment.” How would you rewrite this sentence in order to make it more CONCISE?

A General Principle for Clear Sentences: Make the main character in your sentence its subject and make its important actions verbs. Example 1) “Once upon a time, as a walk through the woods was taking place on the part of Little Red Riding Hood, the Wolf’s jump out from behind a tree occurred, causing her fright.” Example 2) “Once upon a time, Little Red Riding Hood was walking through the woods, when the Wolf jumped out from behind a tree and frightened her.”

Principle of Clarity 1: Make Main Characters Subjects. Look at the subjects in Ex) 1. The simple subjects (yellow) are not the main characters (italicized): Once upon a time, as a walk through the woods was taking place on the part of Little Red Riding Hood, the Wolf’s jump out from behind a tree occurred, causing her fright.

A comparison – Example 2 Once upon a time, Little Red Riding Hood was walking through the woods, when the Wolf jumped out from behind a tree and frightened her.

Principle of Clarity 2: Make Important Actions Verbs Now look at how the actions and verbs differ in Example 1: its actions (yellow) are not in verbs (CAPITALIZED). Ex 1) “Once upon a time, as a walk through the woods WAS TAKING place on the part of Little Red Riding Hood, the Wolf’s jump out from behind a tree OCCURRED, causing her fright. Notice how vague the verbs are: was taking, occurred.

A comparison: Example 2 Once upon a time, Little Red Riding Hood WAS WALKING through the woods, when the Wolf JUMPED out from behind a tree and FRIGHTENED her.

Practice Take 5-7 minutes to rewrite the following sentences so as to make their main characters into subjects and their main actions into verbs. Ask yourself: Who are the characters? What are the actions? Then revise: Make the characters into subjects. Make the actions into verbs.

“The problem was the topic of our discussion.” “The consideration of the issue by the committee occurred last week.” “The Federalists’ argument in regard to the destabilization of government by popular democracy was based on their belief in the tendency of factions to further their self-interest at the expense of the common good.”

Key Questions for Audience Analysis Who is the intended audience—and are there others? What do they already know about the topic? What kinds of information and evidence will this audience find persuasive? What kinds of appeals (logos, ethos, pathos) will be most effective? What kind(s) of response(s) are desired?

More Questions: Author’s Position What is the author’s relationship to the audience? What knowledge is the author expected to have? What is the author’s goal? What tone is appropriate?

Who’s the Audience? For each of the text excerpts on the following slides, see if you can identify who the intended audience is—and why you think so. What specific content or language gives you clues about this?

Forum post title: [I want to beat a FNM Standard Tourney with a common-only deck... Is it possible? Please help!] I want to see if it is possible to win a Friday Night Magic tourney with only common cards that are in standard; effectively playing pauper standard in a full on FNM tourney. Will you help me with my attempt? I have the common cards for almost all sets in standard right now, except I'm missing some cards from Fates Reforged, and maybe some from Khans and Dragons (not too many though). Who is the intended audience—and are there others? What do they already know about the topic? What kinds of information and evidence will this audience find persuasive? What kinds of appeals (logos, ethos, pathos) will be most effective? What kind(s) of response(s) are desired?

[College of University Confessions] What is the author’s relationship to the audience? What knowledge is the author expected to have? What is the author’s goal? What tone is appropriate?

Plan On a piece of paper or on your laptop, write: What problem you think you will write about Who your audience will be Whether the genre will be letter or memo A possible problem statement You will be turning this free write in (not for a grade).

For Monday, October 17th Complete a draft (600 words) of Assignment 2 and bring 2 copies to class for peer review. Complete Homework 4 and upload it to Canvas (due Monday).