Online Rhetoric Flashcards
Name for the most elemental bundles of the web. Some scholars describe them as worm holes
Hyperlinks
Who is most associated with hyperlinks?
Burbles
A myopic understanding of the hyperlink is that is is a:
Electron library and retrieval system
6 advantages of hyperlinks
- Establishes AUTHORITY
- Creates INTERACTIVITY
- Creates a SUBVERSIVE MESSAGE
- Helps readers see the BIG PICTURE OF AN ISSUE
- EDUCATES readers about the issue
Good hyperlinks are:
- Blue and underlined
- Graphically Represented
- Use eye scan behavior to highlight link
Good links start with:
Key words
Aristotle saw rhetoric as:
discovering all means of persuasion in any context
Bitzer saw rhetoric as
a way of altering reality through discourse
Eagleton saw rhetoric as
seeing speaking and writing not as textual objects, but to be endlessly deconstructured due to varying social relations
4 components of the rhetorical act:
- Intentional
- Polished
- Practiced
- Strategic
What do rhetorical acts assume and what do they focus on?
Audience’s challenges and how to overcome them to achieve a certain end
According to Bitzer, a response to a situation is coined as a
rhetorical situation
In relation to a rhetorical situation, a rhetorical act is
to take action in response
Examples of a rhetorical act
making a speech, writing a letter
Creating a link is an example of…
a rhetorical act
Purpose of Burbles article
to understand rhetorical possibilities of the web by seeing hyperlinks as means of movement and meaning-making
What does Burbles ask of us?
to be critical and reflective of hyperlink experiences by asking how and why they are there
Burble’s two dimensions of hyperlinks are
semantic and navigational
Hyperlinks can be considered pathways or road signs because they encourage
particular movement
What does Burbles suggest makes the web distinct?
the inseparability of hyperlinks’s semantic and navigational elements
In terms of navigation, how do hyperlinks affect our movement?
They shape and constrain movement
5 ways hyperlinks shape and constrain our movement
- They are bi-directional
- They are one-to-one links
- They are static
- They are author driven
- They can be described in different ways
Saying hyperlinks are bi directional means
Implied meanings from going from A to B are different than the meaning going from B to A
Hyperlinks are considered static because
the same link will always take the user to the same URL
3 factors affecting choice on the web
- Pragmatics of limited time and resources
- Inexperience
- Minimizing inconvenience and complexity
According to Burbles when discussing place and space, space might include movement, but it lacks…
the subjective quality of place
Ways we create our space on the web
homepages for browser, bookmarking sites
Reasons we limit our web places
to not be affected by bullying, tension or conflict
Using filters and intentional choices about where to link creates …….., otherwise recognized as echo chambers
safe places
Two ways Burbles says web spaces become web places
Maps and architectures
A mapped space takes on the character of a place for who?
Those who understand and can use the map
3 different kinds of maps
- Cognitive
- Patterns of Use
- Relations of centrality or periphery
5 ways of building space to become a place via architecture
- Movement/stasis
- Interaction/isolation
- Publicity/privacy
- Visibility/hiddenness
- Enclosure/exclusion
Who wrote “Humanistic Rationale for Technical Writing”?
Miller
Major question in Miller’s article
Does technical writing have humanistic value?
What does Miller argue?
That rhetoric, which is thought of as emotional, has no place in technical writing, which is logical
Explain technical communication as a windowpane theory of language
Language provides a clear view of the world where is language is clearm we see reality accurately, but if highly decorated, we struggle to see
The idea of technical writing as just a skill is rooted in the tradition of:
Positivism
What kind of view of reality does a windowpane of language give?
a positivist view, creating a mechanistic and materialistic view of reality
Aristotle’s artistic proofs
ethos and pathos
Aristotle’s inartistic proofs
logos
3 problems with window pane of language world view
- Must accept science
- If we don’t believe something then something is wrong with us
- Creates a mystique of science and tech
4 Pedagogical issues with windowpane of language
- Unsystematic definitions of technical writing
- Emphasis on style and organization
- Insistence on particular tone
- Analyzes audiences as levels
What did Kuhn challenge?
The myth of positivism, or ‘normal science’
Kuhn says normal science is dedicated to what three things?
- Objectivity
- Experimentation
- Resistance to pointless innovation
Kuhn believes that scientific progress results from…
Crisis or paradigm shifts
Miller wants us to see technical writing as not a positivist endeavor, but more from what kind of perspective?
Consensualist
Science understood as argument or consensualist asks for…
an act of will on the part of the audience
A consensualist view on tech writing is more
persuasive
Miller’s new rhetoric is to participate in…
a community
To write well, according to Miller, is to understand what?
the conditions of communication such as values, traditions and style
How is digital rhetoric different?
Writing is no longer tect driven, but relied on words, motion, interactivity and visuals to make meaning
Digital writing requires a deep attention to:
context, audience, and meaning making across the multiple tools and media available to us
3 divisions of rhetoric according to aristotle
- Epideictic
- Forensic
- Deliberative
who is deliberative rhetoric directed to?
those who must decide on a course of action
deliberative rhetoric is concerned with…
what will turn out to be useful form an action, such as to achieve a specific end
Another way of seeing deliberative rhetoric is as a
performance
2 aims deliberative rhetoric should be concerned with
what we should avoid or what we should take action on
When we try to persuafe people to chose an action, we want them to see which two elements?
What is worthy or good and what is the most expedient and useful
Whether one should give more weight to worth or usefulness depends on…
the subject and the audience
The practice of arriving at a conclusion by the exchange of logical arguments
dialectic
The counterpart to dialectic
rhetoric
closed logical form of debate
dialectic
What fills in the gaps between closed logic with style, language, and artistic appeals?
Rhetoric
What represents a closed fist?
Dialectic
What represents an open hand?
Rhetoric
Richard Weaver believes that the limitations of dialectic can be overcome with adding
rhetoric
Ernesto Grassi said that we come to know the world through ingenium, which is:
the basic process by which humans gain control over nature
Grassi identifies rhetoric with
the power of language and human speech to generate a base for human thought
The face-to-face back and forth oral engagement that takes place in real time is called
public argument
Who coined the phrase, the public sphere?
Habermas
Barber says that written discourse is the preparation for
the real work of democracy
2 Benefits of public oral debate
- It is immediate and intimate
2. There is dialectic/back and forthness
Which authors are most linked to deliberative and digital rhetoric?
Jackson and Wallin
Jackson and Wallin say writing happens where and when?
In a community, where readers and writers bring their own backgrounds, values and assumptions to the process
Argument can be considered a product because it can be
crafted and consumed
Because dialectic is a procedural argumentation, it can increase…
answerability and engagement in an issue
Type of dialectic that can be progressive
informal
4 challenges of the web in digital dialectical rhetoric
- Accessibility
- Echo chambers
- Incivility via anonymity
- Algorithms and fake news
2 benefits of the web to engage in discourse
- Private citizens can influence public discourse
2. Those who feel disempowered can have a voice
3 components of classical ethos
- Phronesis
- Arete
- Eunoia
What is phronesis?
useful skills and wisdom
What is arete?
virtue and goodwill
What is eunoia?
goodwill toward the audience
To establish digital credibility, Warnick suggests that we have to
move away from formal credibility to credibility established by user experience
3 ways to establish credibility via user experience
Navigation, design, content
Warnick starts off her article with the example of
the athenian trial
The athenian trial is an example of
using only words as rhetoric and no evidence
Warnick says classical ethos is a portrayal of
one’s moral character and the extent to which it aligns with societal values and audience
4 Traditional modes of credibility that do not work well on the web
- Identity of the author
- Credentials of the author
- the site sponsor
- author affiliation
can the web be considered work or text?
text
semiotic theorist mentioned by Warnick
Barthes
What did the Princeton Study from Warnick’s article show?
Users see credbility of writing based on trusting info on site and easy navigation, but ownership was least important
the Fogg et al study showed
users made decisions about credibility based on superficial elements such as website design
what is the amelioration effect?
the power of making something better through visual design
What does Fogg’s study echo?
Barthes idea of consumers making meaning
Who said that credibility is perceived quality?
Fogg et al
The Sweetland study revealed…
academic librarians’ assessment of website credibility ranked bibliographic information as number one, but saw navigation and usability as also very important
3 reasons anonymity was first promoted
- Avoiding responsibility
- Improving quality and diversifying voices
- Espousing democratic ideas
Journalist view on anonymity
unethical
Readers suggest that online comments are ethically…
neutral
The dominant message in the mass media and academy is that anonymity curbs…and promotes….
social inhibitions, promotes insensitive or inflammatory rhetoric
3 current benefits of anonymity
- Broader participation
- Counteracting fear of social isolation by expressing minorities opinion
- Can result in collective action
Anonymity is poly-semic, meaning
it has multiple meanings
Example of anonymity being poly-semic
a person’s online self can reflect offline self, but without identifying information
Theory that suggests that hegemony is not simply a top-down influence, but a product of deliberation among different influential hegemons
concordance theory
Readers’ study focused on
the negative aspects of anonymity, arguing that audience feedback should not be anonymous and that otherwise is unethical and against civil society
3 themes in Reader’s study against anonymity
- Anonymity as filth
- Dehumanizing the trolls
- Protecting the ‘villiage sqaure’
In Readers’ study, how many people were against banning anonymity in forums?
71%
3 themes in Reader’s study promoting anonymity
- Power to the people
- Paranoid about privacy
- Anonymity as freedom
