writing 103 section 1: description, narration, and reflection

description

a rhetorical mode that emphasizes eye-catching, specific, and
vivid portrayal of a subject. Often integrates imagery and thick
description to this end.

narration

a rhetorical mode involving the construction and relation of
stories. Typically integrates description as a technique.

reflection

a rhetorical gesture by which an author looks back, through the
diegetic gap, to demonstrate knowledge or understanding
gained from the subject on which they are reflecting. May also
include consideration of the impact of that past subject on the
author’s future—“Looking back in order to look forward.”

rhetorical situation

the circumstances in which rhetoric is produced, understood
using the constituent elements of subject, occasion, audience,
and purpose. Each element of the rhetorical situation carries
assumptions and imperatives about the kind of rhetoric that will
be well received. Rhetorical situation will also influence mode
and medium.

constraint-based writing

a writing technique by which an author tries to follow a rule or set
of rules in order to create more experimental or surprising
content, popularized by the Oulipo school of writers.

description

a rhetorical mode that emphasizes eye-catching, specific, and
vivid portrayal of a subject. Often integrates imagery and thick
description to this end.

defamiliarization

a method of reading, writing, and thinking that emphasizes the
interruption of automatization. Established as “остранение”
(“estrangement”) by Viktor Shklovsky, defamiliarization attempts
to turn the everyday into the strange, eye-catching, or dramatic.

ethnography

a study of a particular culture, subculture, or group of people.
Uses thick description to explore a place and its associated
culture.

figurative language

language which implies a meaning that is not to be taken
literally. Common examples include metaphor, simile,
personification, onomatopoeia, and hyperbole.

imagery

sensory language; literal or figurative language that appeals to
an audience’s imagined sense of sight, sound, smell, touch, or
taste.

thick description

economical and deliberate language which attempts to capture
complex subjects (like cultures, people, or environments) in
written or spoken language. Coined by anthropologists Clifford
Geertz and Gilbert Ryle.