Rhetorical Knowledge Research Articles

Knowledge Transfer Across Disciplines: Tracking RhetoricalStrategies From a Technical Communication Classroomto an Engineering Classroom

This article presents findings from an empirical study investigating the transfer of rhetorical knowledge, defined as audience awareness, sense of purpose, organization, use of visuals, professional appearance, and style, between the technical communication and the engineering disciplines. Various data collection methods were used to examine the skills and rhetorical knowledge students learned in a technical communication course and determine whether or not students relied on that knowledge as they completed writing assignments in an engineering course. Also examined was the effect of workplace experiences on shaping students' rhetorical knowledge. This study indicated that students did appear to transfer rhetorical strategies between different contexts, and those strategies were learned in the workplace as well as the classroom.

Developmental Gains of a History Major: A Case for Building a Theory of Disciplinary Writing Expertise

In literacy and composition studies, efforts to develop data-driven theories of disciplinary writing expertise and of writers’ developmental processes in joining specific discourse communities have so far been limited. This case study, of one writer’s experiences as an undergraduate history major, parses the multiple knowledge domains comprising disciplinary writing expertise and compares his beginning and later work for signs of developmental progress. A conceptual model of five knowledge domains writers must draw upon—discourse-community knowledge, subjectmatter knowledge, genre knowledge, rhetorical knowledge, and writing-process knowledge—is applied to the data both for analysis of the case and for exploring the usefulness of the conceptual model for further empirical and theoretical work. What results is a fuller depiction of the complexities of gaining expertise in any given discourse community, as well as an indication of the importance of educators across all disciplines considering the multi-dimensional and developmental nature of their curricula for building literacy skills.

Liminality and Othering

Subject matter experts, under the influence of modernist notions of authorship, often view technical writers as mere grammar and punctuation specialists and marginalize them as their ignorant “other. ” Technical writers, on the other hand, as rhetoricians occupying a liminal space between different disciplines, can understand different disciplinary rhetorics. If subject matter experts, instead of marginalizing technical writers, would view them as liminal subjects who are knowledgeable in different disciplinary rhetorics, then technical writers, through liminal practice, may be able to use their knowledge of audience and rhetoric to improve the quality of documentation.

A Combined Corpus and Systemic-Functional Analysis of the Problem-Solution Pattern in a Student and Professional Corpus of Technical Writing

This article reports on research describing similarities and differences between expert and novice writing in the problem-solution pattern, a frequent rhetorical pattern of technical academic writing. A corpus of undergraduate student writing and one containing professional writing consisted of 80 and 60 recommendation reports, respectively, with each corpus totaling approximately 250,000 words. Drawing on two analytic perspectives, the methodology included searches for key words that provided linguistic evidence for the problem-solution pattern. A more delicate examination of the linguistic meanings encoded in the problemsolution reports involved a systemic-functional approach to analysis of evaluative texts, APPRAISAL (Martin, 2000, in press), as well as an analysis of the lexicogrammatical patterning of the key word problem within a framework of causal relations. Along with many similarities between the expert and the novice writing, findings highlight important differences in the use of problem within the causal relation patterns. Pedagogical implications are discussed. The problem-solution rhetorical pattern appears frequently in technical reports and other academic writing, perhaps most notably when the author introduces the issue that the report or paper discusses as a problem and then presents the main point of the paper as a solution. As a consequence, successful academic English writers draw on important aspects of their rhetorical knowledge and strategic competence when they exploit the linguistic resources required to express the problemsolution pattern in a range of academic writing. Accordingly, ESL/EFL teachers need to understand this common pattern, particularly in terms of how it is realized linguistically by novice and expert writers. This study

Las presencias de la Reto´rica en la obra de Alfonso Reyes: Esbozo de una evolucio´n

The Mexican diplomat Alfonso Reyes (1889–1959) was notable in the cultural panorama of Spanish America in the first half of the 20th century for his acquaintance with classical rhetoric, a discipline rarely studied at that time in that part of the world. This article distinguishes four aspects of rhetoric throughout Reyes' oeuvre: (i) a vulgar sense, (ii) an erudite sense, (iii) classical theories, (iv) and modern applications. In his early work, Reyes uses rhetoric in a pejorative and vulgar sense. Around the year 1940, Reyes starts to show a lively interest in rhetoric, opts definitively for an erudite sense of the term, and initiates the study of the classical art of persuasion. In his third phase, Reyes gains deeper knowledge of rhetoric, lectures on the subject, and explains his favorite orators andtheorists. Finally,his use of rhetoric reveals a commitment to the reality of Spanish America. Reyes' rhetoric is an "actualised" and "Americanised" version that shows the possibilities of the classical art of persuasion in Spanish American society.

Greening the lyre: environmental poetics and ethics

In an age when human depredation has severely damaged the earth and the delicate balance of life thereon, the task of poets writing about nature has become vastly more complex, fraught with the sometimes conflicting demands of aesthetics and of political and ethical responsibilities unimagined by their Romantic predecessors. In Greening the Lyre, David W. Gilcrest offers a richly insightful analysis of contemporary environmental poetry informed by a keen knowledge of psychology, linguistics, epistemology, rhetoric, and recent literary theory. If one of the roles of poetry is to make life better and understanding more profound, how is the poet to discuss the natural world in the face of environmental devastation and extraordinary rates of extinction? How can art alter the path of a culture bent on destruction? Using careful analyses of works by A. R. Ammons, Wallace Stevens, Adrienne Rich, Charles Wright, Robert Frost, and others as the foundation of his discussion, Gilcrest examines both the power of poetry to help humanity re-envision its relationship to the nonhuman world and its limitations in achieving this awesome role. Greening the Lyre is literary criticism at its most relevant, exploring the borderland between art and politics, between aesthetics and survival. Ultimately, Gilcrest suggests, a skeptical environmental poetics must develop an awareness of an evolving world that lies beyond the grasp of language, an understanding that language alone cannot fully define what is most precious in the world of wilderness, the ineluctable mystery of all living things.

Ancient Egyptian Rhetoric in the Old and Middle Kingdoms

The rhetorical ideas inherited from the Greeks have established the notion that skilled use of language is always indicated by eloquent expression, and that silence is either an aberration or a lack of skill. As we penetrate the silence that has surrounded one of the great civilizations of the earth, however, and look at Egyptian rhetoric, we find alternative views on what makes a skilled speaker. While the Egyptians esteemed eloquent speaking, a skill that in fact had a very high value in their society, Egyptian rules of rhetoric also clearly specify that knowing when not to speak is essential, and very respected, rhetorical knowledge. The Egyptian approach to rhetoric is thus a balance between eloquence and wise silence. Egyptian rules of speech also strongly emphasize adherence to social behaviors that support a conservative status quo. For the Egyptians, much more than for the Greeks, skilled speech should support, not question, society. The few studies of Egyptian rhetoric which have previously been done discuss some of the moral components of that rhetoric and the importance of silence. The current study looks at Egyptian attitudes toward language as both a magical and a practical element of life, and in addition this study places the rules of Egyptian rhetoric solidly within the Egyptian social system.

Does Being Technical Matter? Xml, Single Source, and Technical Communication

XML is a recent Web design language that will enable technical communicators to produce documentation that can reuse information and present it across multiple types of media for diverse audiences. However, little is understood about how XML will impact technical communication in terms of theory, academic research, and pedagogy. In this article, I argue that XML requires more interdisciplinary approaches toward the teaching and research of technical communication, particularly with respect to the integration of technical and rhetorical knowledge.

When a Production Worker is Technically a Writer: Using Craft and Rhetorical Knowledge in a Manufacturing Environment

Although rhetoricians have studied the discourse practices of engineers, little is known about the production workers who must assemble engineering knowledge into functional products. This case study examines what happens when a production worker tried to improve manufacturing documentation, and how her success depended upon both her craft knowledge and the rhetorical skills she attributes to a Writing Across the Curriculum program she experienced in college. … although the goal of engineering may be to produce useful objects, engineers do not construct such objects themselves. Rather, they aim to generate knowledge that will allow such objects to be built [1, p. 5].

Woza Lugard? Rhetoric and Antiquarian Knowledge

Woza Lugard? Rhetoric and Antiquarian Knowledge

Teaching writing to ESL graduate students: A model and an illustration

Background. Graduate students, especially those writing in a second language, have specific writing needs. Previous research suggests that intervention might be more didactic than writing instruction frequently is. Aims. 1. To adapt a knowledge x levels x process model of writing (Biggs & Moore, 1993) to conceptualise the writing needs of graduate students. Students need to know certain rhetorical knowledge, and to apply cognitive space‐saving strategies at the appropriate place and level of ideation during writing. The model integrates the didactic and eclectic elements of Torrance, Thomas & Robinson's (1993) interventions with graduate students’ writing. 2. To develop and trial a workshop based on the model, addressing the writing needs of graduate students to whom English is a second language. Samples. Eighteen students from science‐related disciplines, and 16 from nonscience, participated in the workshop. All were enrolled in research higher degrees in a Hong Kong university where English is the required medium for the dissertation. Method. The workshops ran for 2 1/2 days each, focusing on dissertation writing, and writing for an academic journal. Before/after measures were taken on the Inventory of Processes in College Composition (IPIC) (Lavelle, 1993), and students completed an open‐ended questionnaire at the end of the workshop. Results. Three IPIC scales showed significant pre‐/post‐change: lower procedural and spontaneous/impulsive scores (surface‐related), higher elaborationist (deep‐related). Open‐ended feedback supported the view that

Students� Reasoning and Rhetorical Knowledge in First-Year Chemistry

Students� Reasoning and Rhetorical Knowledge in First-Year Chemistry

Revealing the mind of the sage: The narrative rhetoric of theChuang Tzu

(1995). Revealing the mind of the sage: The narrative rhetoric of the Chuang Tzu. Rhetoric Society Quarterly: Vol. 25, No. 1-4, pp. 134-148.

Perceptions of rhetoric from the federal judiciary

The purpose of this study was to begin to explore empirically the nature and scope of the federal judiciary's knowledge of rhetoric. Specifically, judges were asked to rate their knowledge of and attitude towards seven well‐known works on rhetoric. The results revealed, in specific, a lack of knowledge about several key works and, in general, a sense of the usefulness of rhetoric in legal practice coupled with a notable degree of hostility toward rhetoric.

The performance of rhetorical knowledge

The performance of rhetorical knowledge

Edward Miner Gallaudet's “remarks on the combined system”: An analysis of the “preservative” function of rhetoric of education

Despite considerable effort by scholars in rhetoric to explore the epistemological dimensions of the art, few attempts have been made to apply rhetorical epistemology to education. This essay examines Edward Miner Gallaudet's speech, “Remarks on the Combined System,” in an effort to illustrate the power of the rhetorical knowledge thesis to account for paradoxes in Gallaudet's discourse on educating the deaf student. We contend that Gallaudet offered his remarks, not so much to persuade his immediate audience, but to preserve his ideas for a later age, when those ideas could receive sympathetic treatment. Implications of the study are suggested for education, contemporary rhetorical theory, and criticism.

Retoriek, retoriese analise en prediking

In characterising rhetoric, its persuasive intent should be highlighted because the persuasive element is true of all three rhetorical genera. Graeco-Roman pupils were well-trained in the rhetorical arts and it can be accepted that Paul also had a working knowledge of rhetoric. Rhetorical analysis of the New Testament attempts to study the texts of the New Testament in the light of rhetorical features, as developed by the classical theorists and refined by a modern scholar like Perelman. Since the 1970's rhetorical analysis of the New Testament has flourished, although approaches have varied considerably and not all efforts were convincing. Nevertheless, it has become clear that the rhetorical approach can enrich our understanding of the New Testament, and especially of its letters, considerably. Examples from Romans and Galatians are presented to underscore this point. Since preaching, like rhetoric, aims at convincing and persuading an audience, rhetoric can provide us with important stimuli for the praxis of preaching, as can be demonstrated from the five prescribed phases of preparing a public speech, as well as from the three modes of persuasion: logos, ethos and pathos.

Reading, Writing, and Knowing: The Role of Disciplinary Knowledge in Comprehension and Composing

To explore how writers with extensive experience and learning in an academic discipline used both topical and rhetorical knowledge to construct synthesis essays, 40 graduate students equally representing the two disciplines of psychology and business wrote synthesis essays on either supply-side economics or rehearsal in memory. Half of the writers completed think-aloud protocols, and their composing processes were analyzed for different qualities and frequencies of elaborations and rhetorical awareness and for task representation. Their written products (40 essays) were analyzed for the importance and origin of information and for the quality of key rhetorical moves. Analyses of variance revealed that high-knowledge writers evidenced more local and evaluative elaborations as well as an awareness of rhetorical contexts. They also included more new information in their essays in the top levels of essay organizations. Low-knowledge writers elaborated less but did rely on structural and content-based awareness to compose, factors which also were influenced by specific topics and disciplines, and they included comparable amounts of borrowedimplicit information in their essays. Intercorrelations of process and product features revealed that evaluative elaborations and awareness of rhetorical context corresponded with the presence of new information in essays for all 40 writers, suggesting that prior knowledge of an academic topic may take the form of a complex, situational strategy for composing. The findings confirm the interrelatedness of comprehension and composing processes and illustrate how writers, with varying levels of topic familiarity, use both their knowledge of disciplinary topics and their experience as readers and writers to compose synthesis essays.

Cognitive Correlates of Explanatory Writing Skill

Explaining difficult ideas to lay readers is an important and frequently needed writing skill. When explaining, writers must recognize and overcome the confusions that lay readers may experience in learning abstract concepts. To date, there has been little study of this demanding writing skill. Consequently, this article identifies a particular class of explanatory discourse and proposes working hypotheses about the types of knowledge likely to be associated with skill in this genre. These hypotheses are explored through a study of individual differences in explanatory writing skill among 169 college students. The results of the study showed that variations in the accuracy and adaptiveness of the students' explanations were partially accounted for by measures of topic knowledge, social cognition, and discourse knowledge. A discourse knowledge index and a topic knowledge index were correlated with explanatory writing skill. Cognitive complexity, a measure of social cognition, was associated with adaptiveness in explaining but not accuracy. These findings suggest that explanatory skill is a function of several types of knowledge and that it may be as dependent on discourse or rhetorical knowledge as it is on topical expertise.

Introduction: Rhetoricians on the Rhetoric of Science

Readers of this journal need no reminder that the rhetoric of scientific writing has become an important research site in the sociology of science, largely motivated by constructivist, strong program, and ethnomethodological concerns. Although the use of the term rhetoric relies on a residual communal memory of an ancient branch of knowledge, in the sociological literature, rhetoric as a term and as an analytic method has been treated as a late-twentieth-century invention, conceptually born of French theorists and methodologically realized by British sociologists. But other welldeveloped bodies of rhetorical knowledge are alive in the academy and have developed both theory and analytical methods of use to sociologists interested in the rhetoric of science. Rhetoric as a discipline had its origins in the political and juridical activity of Athens; the sophists, Plato, Aristotle, and others considered how one ought to talk and present one's case in public and in what linguistic manner one could or ought to enquire after knowledge. The consideration of the most effective means of persuasion was taken up by the Romans, and then by medieval churchmen, Renaissance courtiers, and eighteenthcentury reformers. Sir Francis Bacon, Thomas Hobbes, Joseph Priestley, Adam Smith, and Alexander Bain are among those who wrote influential works on rhetoric in the early modem period; each of these considered both persuasion and the relationship between language and knowledge. As the social circumstances and social projects of the rhetoricians changed, so did the theory and practical guidelines. Together the historically deep literature of rhetoric provides many insights into the use of language and offers many analytical concepts to help expose how individual speeches and texts work. Useful introductions, surveys, and bibliographies of the history of rhetoric are James J. Murphy, A Synoptic History of Classical Rhetoric (1983), and Winifred B. Horner, nhe Present State of Scholarship in Historical and Contemporary Rhetoric (1983). Currently rhetorical knowledge is located within three separate departments in the modern American academy: philosophy, speech, and English