Description, Identity, and RhetoricVisualizing our Available Means of Persuasion

Instructor Note

* This powerpoint consists of three intersecting topics: argumentation, identity, and description, as they relate to persuasive effectiveness. Covering the entire presentation will take at least two class periods

* This presentation is highly compatible with instructors using the textbooks:

Envision, 2nd Edition, Christine Alfano and Alyssa O'BrienRemix, 2nd Edition ,Catherine Latterell

* Don't have the books or the time? Adapt this presentation for your own purposes! Feel free to omit sections or add to it according to your needs.

Quotes to Contemplate

Rhetoric's classic definition as the art of persuasion suggests a power. So much of what we receive from others—from family and friends to 30-second blurbs on TV—is intended to persuade. Recognizing how this is done gives greater power to choose.

-Victor Villanueva, Jr.

You are a god in language. You can create. Destroy. Rearrange. Shove words around however you like. You can make up stories about things that never happened to people who never existed. You can push a camel through the eye of a needle. It's easy if “camel” and “needle” are words” (Kenneally 652).

Pre-Writing Exercise: Which quote did you react to more strongly? Why?

Today's Underlying Assumption

● When we write, we make “claims to existence," or suggest that reality is or should be perceived a certain way.

● Human beings interpretations of reality are constrained by time, memory, and language: communication is never neutral, even if neutrality is the persuasive aim.

● How people interpret “reality” is further affected by their identities, the way they define community, and their general sense of the nature of their relationship to their surroundings and other sentient beings

● What we acknowledge exists undergoes a process of contestation as we classify and define what is valued in a society and what that society considers to be 'truth'—who matters, what events are significant, what languages dominate expression, etc.

Claims to Existence

Claims to Existence

Conflict and Cooperation

We reinforce our perception of reality through various combinations of verbal and visual expressions: our decision to wear certain clothes, listen to certain types of music, pursue a career in a certain field, watch a particular show on television, read certain books, play certain sports, etc.

Can you think of a time in which your expression caused a conflict? When it got you approval?

Argumentation

When we don't agree on:● the existence of something● the features of something that does exist● the harms/goods it causes● the similarities and differences between something and

other things● how something should be changed

We argue!

However, argument is not a shouting match or an attempt to see who wins and loses

Monty Python: Argument Clinic

An argument about argument: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQFKtI6gn9Y

Let's develop a criteria for argument. What's an argument? What "seems" like an argument, but isn't?

Draw on the film clip for inspiration!

Additional Perspectives...

● Arguments are persuasive messages (Alfano and O’Brien 2-3)

● They can be traditional (winning) or consensual (agreement)

● Traditional: Public Debate, Courtroom argument, Single-Perspective argument, One-on-One, Everyday (Car Sales, Late paper negotiation)

● Consensual: Dialectic (participants are equals in an argument, attempt to reach the best position), academic inquiry (reading, writing, discussion, to create new knowledge/truth about complex issues), negotiation and mediation, internal argument

Arguments are Opportunities

● Rhetoric is “visualizing what strategies will work to convince your audience to accept your message” (Alfano and O'Brien 5).

● Reflecting on those strategies creates an opportunity because the degree to which you can connect to another person depends on our ability to perceive others' needs, recognize our own, and negotiate. So long as we do this genuinely and competently, we can change...

● One of the keys to understanding what strategies will work is the ability to critically analyze your rhetorical situation

Perceiving Opportunity

● The key to understanding what strategies will work is the ability to critically analyze your rhetorical situation

● Dynamic relationship between the text, audience, and writer influence the arguments writers make.

● The shape the author's message takes will depend on how they perceive the audiences' needs, their awareness of how their message connects to other messages by which the audience is familiar, etc.

Rhetorical Analysis

● Who is the author?● Why did they write this?● In what publication space can I find this writing?● Who did they write this for?● What is the author's main claim?● What are the author's reasons?● What evidence does the author provide?● What was my first impression after reading the writing?● What strategies does the author use to accomplish

their objective(s)?

Self Rhetorical Analysis

● Who am I? Why am I qualified to write this?● Why did I write this?● In what publication space might I find others writing about the

same thing ?● Who should I write this for? Do they have the power to resolve the

problem?● What is my main claim?● What are my reasons?● What evidence should I provide?● What do I want the reader's first impression to be after they read

my writing? ● What strategies should I use to not only accomplish my objective,

but also to make myself stand out in a positive way? the author use to accomplish their objective(s)?

Devilish Details...

● Details, Details, Details: Figure out why a piece of writing works and practice techniques that stand out to you until you feel your writing appear effortlessly precise

● Establish connections that may usually go overlooked (between persons, places, subjects)

● Uncover assumptions: What does the author take for granted and how might it diminish their persuasive power?

● Try to emphasize the common ground you share with your audience instead of focusing on your differences

The Life of Persuasion

● Writing is dead without careful, creative arrangements of details

●The assignment for this unit gets you to practice description and narration, which are building blocks of (persuasive) communication

● Narration and Description best execute the five canons of rhetoric: invention, memory, style, arrangement, delivery

● Stories form one crucial module in the operating system that governs human expression and connection

What Makes a “Good” Storyteller?

● Tone● Hand gestures● Humor● Rhythms● Suspenseful Pauses

Can we think of additional criteria? Let's give as many examples as we can!

What Makes a Good Written Story?

● Narrative’s shape the audience’s senses!● Sensory details

● Keep the story moving● Convey the intensity of a particular emotion

What are several other features that must be present in a good written story? Give as many examples as you can? Also, don't just think of good storys as 'novels,' consider various other places you see written stories (hint: film performances are derived from written scripts).

Showing not Telling

● Visuals (i.e. colors)● Smells● Sounds● Things that we feel (physically or

emotionally)● Clichés ● Avoid passive verbs (e.g. to be, to have)

What are some examples of SNT words and phrases?

Telling

●The weather took a turn for the worse●The boy looked sick●The instructor hadn’t prepared for class●She was in love

Showing

●Clouds morphed from thin lazy stretches to bulbous grey mounds hovering over the smoky sky.

●We could hear his stomach bubbling over the constant clinks of knives and forks. His lunch had moved from his mouth the floor, looking quite as it did when it was plopped on his plate by the lunchlady.

Your turn!

● Try turning some of the following sentences into shows, not tells (Individual or Group Assignment):

● The instructor is ditzy.● Traffic was a nightmare that morning.● She was in love.● I'm happy I'm going on vacation.● My roommate is not pleasant to be around ● The flowers are gorgeous ● Fall is my favorite season

*Hint: Your descriptions will convey some kind of narrative! See...description and narration are inseparable!

Play with Showing not Telling

Transform these vague sentences into shows not tells. You will need to provide as much context as you can to show, rather than tell the

underlined word. (Individual or Group Assignment)

●[describe activity] makes me happy●[describe person] is my arch nemesis●[describe song] is a classic●[describe person] is my hero●[describe X] relaxes me●[describe place] stresses me out●[describe building] is comforting●[describe X] unifies people

Playing with Representation

●I retrieved this description from the menu of a local restaurant. Revise the entry to persuade someone that they must order this dish or their palatte will not be satisfied for the evening. Feel free to add items to the dish that you feel would make it reach its full $17 value (Group Assignment)

Pacific Rim Salmon: Grilled fillet of salmon with a ginger – orange glaze. 16.99

Identity Narratives: Avatars

● What is Dibbell's main argument?● How does he defend his argument?● How does including the word origin of the term “avatar” help

Dibbell make his claim?● What strikes you most about the reasons these gamers provide for

creating their avatars?● Why are avatars an example of rhetoric?● How do their avatars compare to their real-life identities?● What real-life/or in-game barriers do their avatars allow them to

overcome? ● What real-life and in/game prejudices do their avatars reveal?

Identity Narratives: Social Networking Profiles

● What is the purpose of online profiles?● What roles do they serve in people's lives?● Why are fb profiles an example of rhetoric?● To what extent does Sethi's essay support the assumption that “identity is

shaped by culture” (9)?● What is Sethi's main argument?● How does she defend it?● Who is she writing for?● How does Sethi's fb profile reflect who she is?● Compare her essay about her profile with her profile. What sense of

identity comes across from each? What questions about her does each leave you with?

● Consider how much Facebook has changed since Sethi wrote her article, in what ways does the interface allow or restrict identity expression?

● Has Facebook ever served as a site of conflict for you? How so? In what ways does the site create 'stories?'

Identity Narratives: Tattoos

● Tattoos can convey messages that make a statement about a person's identity. Are tattoos or other forms of body art effective ways to convey to others who we are? Why or why not?

● Do you have a tattoo? If so, what prompted you to get one?

● In what ways are tattoos, avatars, and social networking sites similar expressions of identity?

How do I use these Ideas?

Step 1: Assess what you know and acknowledge the constraints of you perception

Step 2: Develop a sense of purpose and determine how you can convey your messages in such a way that your audience will trust you

Step 3: Begin trying to identify the values, beliefs, and attitudes of the academic community (begin with our class syllabus for instance)

How do I use these ideas?

Step 4: Pay attention to the arguments you are surrounded by in everyday life (including visuals)

Step 5: Think about what others are trying to persuade you to do and how they are attempting to persuade you to do it

Step 6: Analyze the way arguments are constructed both within and outside of the academic community

Step 7: Be able to determine whether or not an argument succeeds in being persuasive and for whom. Don't hesitate to play with those strategies!

How do I use these ideas?

Step 8: Recognize description and narration as foundations you must master in order to be a compelling writer

Step 9: Train your mind to visualize and memorize details

Step 10: Train yourself to re-articulate tells into shows. When you see something you like, go the extra step and be prepared to state precisely why you like it.

Step 11: Train yourself to play with and re-create details. She's not just a graceful woman, rather Jacqueline effortlessly glides in four inch heels

Questions?

**Any useful links on narration/description such as http://owl.english.purdue.edu should be included here!**