A prolific painter of portraits before and after the French Revolution ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

ch07.qxd 12/2/04 11:58 AM Page 331 explaining: the writing process 331 Explaining: The Writing Process ASSIGNMENT FOR EXPLAINING After assessing your rhetorical situation, explain what something means or is, how it should be done or how it occurs, and/or why something occurs. Your purpose is to explain something as clearly as possible for your audience by analyzing, showing relationships, and demonstrating with examples, facts, illustrations, data, or other information. With a topic in mind, think about your audience and a possible genre. As in your investigating paper, the amount and kind of detail you need depend on how much your readers are likely to know about your topic. What do they already know? What have you discovered in your research that will help explain the topic for them? Is an essay the most appropriate genre, or would an article, editorial, Internet posting, pamphlet, or letter be more effective? TEACHING TIP In most writing, definition (what), process analysis (how), and causal analysis (why) occur together as writers explain their subjects. Because definition and causal analysis can be difficult for many writers, however, teachers may prefer to give short journal assignments focusing on each of the separate strategies before assigning an integrated expository essay. CHOOSING A SUBJECT If one of your journal entries suggested a possible subject, go on to the collecting and shaping strategies. If you still need an interesting subject, consider the following suggestions: • Reread your authority list or the most interesting journal entries from previous chapters. Do they contain ideas that you might define or explain, processes suitable for how-to explanations, or causes or effects that you could analyze and explain for a certain audience? • Reread your notes from another class in which you have an upcoming examination. Select some topic, idea, principle, process, famous person, or event from the text or your notes. Investigate other texts, popular magazines, or journals for information on that topic. If appropriate, interview someone or conduct a survey. Explain this principle or process to a member of your writing class. ‘‘ You can write about anything, and if you write well enough, even the reader with no intrinsic interest in the subject will become involved. ’’ — TRACY KIDDER, NOVELIST PROFESSIONAL COPY—NOT FOR RESALE
ch07.qxd 12/2/04 11:58 AM Page 332 332 Chapter 7 explaining • If you are doing a community-service-learning project, consider a writing project explaining the agency’s mission to the public or to a potential donor. You might also write an article for a local or campus newspaper explaining some aspect of their service or a recent contribution the agency has made to the community. • Consider writing an artistic, cultural, historical, or social explanation of a particular visual image or a set of visual images. One excellent Web site for famous photographs is the Pulitzer site at http://www.gallerym.com/ pulitzerphotos.htm. Decide on a particular audience, genre, and context appropriate for the photograph. • Choose some current controversy to explain. Instead of arguing for one side or the other, however, explain the different points of view in this controversy. Who are the leading figures or groups representing each of several different positions? Choose a particular audience, genre, and context, and explain what each of these people or groups have to gain or lose and how their personal investments in the topic determine their position. COLLECTING RESOURCE NOTE As D’Angelo explains in A Conceptual Theory of Rhetoric, rhetorical strategies—such as definition, process analysis, comparison, and causal analysis— are, simultaneously, modes of thinking, invention strategies, and patterns for arrangement. Invention (collecting) exercises anticipate arrangement (shaping) patterns, just as shapes are invitations for collecting and inventing. Q UESTIONS Once you have a tentative subject and audience in mind, consider which of the following will be your primary focus (all three may be relevant): • What something means or is • How something occurs or is done (or should be done) • Why something occurs or what its effects are To explain what something is, jot down answers to each of the following questions. The more you can write on each question, the more details you’ll have for your topic. • What are its class and distinguishing characteristics? • What is its etymology? • How can you describe it? • What examples can you give? • What are its parts or its functions? • What is it similar to? What is it not? • What figurative comparisons apply? • How can it be classified? • Which of the above is most useful to your audience? PROFESSIONAL COPY—NOT FOR RESALE
Page 1 and 2: ch07.qxd 12/2/04 11:57 AM Page 302
Page 29: ch07.qxd 12/2/04 11:58 AM Page 330
Page 55 and 56: I knew my dieting had gotten out of

A prolific painter of portraits before and after the French Revolution ...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?