Rhetoric in Technical Writing Prepared by Julia Romberger For English 334

What will I discuss in this presentation?  The Rhetorical Triangle  Application to Professional Writing  Relevance to Class Projects

What is the rhetorical triangle?

Rhetorical TriangleContext

Audience When considering your audience you need to determine:  What they already know  What they are interested in knowing  What they need to know

Communicator or Writer As a writer you need to be aware of how your audience perceives you -- your Ethos. Ethos is connected to:  Your authority  Your competence  Your professionalism

Working your Ethos How can you improve your Ethos?  Convincing arguments  Use of adequate evidence and research  Awareness of your audience’s needs  Professional presentation

Message and Purpose  A document or message may have one or more purposes:  To earn or maintain good will  To persuade  To inform  To amuse, please, or entertain  The ultimate purpose of workplace writing is to effect positive action and improve relations between people.

The Document A document is structured according to a genre common to technical writing such as:  Memos, Reports, Power Point Presentations A technical document might contain:  Arguments and Rationales  Evidence and Data

Context Context is the situation surrounding the document’s origination. It is linked to:  The need that spurred the writing of the document  The position of the writer relative to the audience  The tone of the workplace  Expectations of the person who initiated the writing of the document

How does this connect to the workplace?

Understanding Rhetoric can:  Help you develop effective, persuasive documents of various types  Help you meet your audience’s expectations  Improve your professional profile

How is this linked to projects in this class?

The Professional Writing Program’s goals are to:  Teach students how to apply the Rhetorical Triangle to a variety of writing situations Context Audience Writer Purpose  Teach students the basics of genres of technical writing and the need for flexibility within those genres