Macro Elements of Writing and the Rhetorical Situation
Course Schedule and Procedural Overview
Thursday Activities: The class will meet to discuss the ongoing work and topics introduced during the early part of the week.
Friday Activities: The week will conclude with an in-class writing exercise focused on the macro elements of writing. No prior preparation is required for this exercise.
Long-term Outlook: The current week is dedicated to the larger "macro" elements of writing, while the following week will focus on the "micro" elements. The overall goal for the first segment of the course is framing and contextualizing the writing process.
The Nature of Writing: Personal and Formulaic Tools
Personal Connection: Writing is described as a deeply personal process, as it involves the individual's choices and voice.
Formulaic Structure: Despite its personal nature, writing is relatively formulaic and relies on specific structures and tools that can be adapted and tailored to individual needs.
Building Skill Sets: The course encourages students to experiment with various writing tools, including:
First drafting.
Outlining.
Brainstorming activities.
Adaptation: The instructor emphasizes that not every tool works for every writer. For example, a student might choose to use a bare-bones rough draft followed by a very strong outline for their second draft, rather than writing a full-fledged first draft. The class serves as an opportunity to find which "building blocks" work best for each student’s effective communication.
Defining the Argumentative Framework
The Scope of the Class: This is not a creative writing course; it is an argument-driven course. The focus is on argumentative or informative writing using non-fiction examples.
The Definition of an Argument: An argument is not a negative interaction but a construction built upon a claim, reasoning, and evidence intended to achieve a goal or analysis.
Micro Elements (A Preview): These are contained within the argument and are specific to the individual paper or goal. They include:
Claims.
Evidence.
Reasoning.
Form and structure.
Style (polishing the writing to sound "prettier").
Macro vs. Micro Elements of Writing
The Scaffolding Metaphor: Macro elements are the "scaffolding" or "foundations" of the building. They provide the platform upon which the paper rests and constitute approximately of the work required for a tangible, workable argument.
The Interior Metaphor: Micro elements are compared to the interior finishing of a building, such as the drywall, the paint, or the molding on the floors. While essential for an effective paper, they do not serve as the foundation.
The Three Pillars (The Core Three): The instructor’s framework for the semester focuses on:
Choices: Everything in writing, such as making a claim, is a choice.
Clarity: The writer must clarify what kind of claim they are making.
Context: The writer must contextualize their claims and arguments for the reader.
The Modified Rhetorical Triangle: Key Macro Elements
The Argument at the Center: The argument is the core which all other elements work toward or off of. It is framed by three primary points and three secondary interlinks.
The Three Major Points:
The Rhetor: A "fancy term" for the speaker or writer using rhetoric. Usually, this is the student, but when reading outside texts (like George Orwell), the author is the rhetor.
The Audience: The group or individual receiving the message. The audience is not a stable or singular entity; it changes based on the topic and context.
The Message: The specific takeaway or the content of what is being said.
The Three Secondary Interlinks:
Context and Appeals (Rhetor ↔ Audience): This relationship is about building trust. The rhetor makes choices to ensure the audience is willing to hear them out. This involves "localized context" and emotional or logical appeals.
Purpose (Rhetor ↔ Message): This is the rhetor's specific reason for communication. It identifies what the writer wants to achieve.
Opportunity/Genesis (Audience ↔ Message): This is the "inciting incident" of the argument or the specific event/possibility that allows the connection between the message and the audience to occur.
Deep Dive: Understanding Purpose and Audience
Multiple Purposes: Purpose is often overlooked but critical. It is usually specific to the individual and often multifaceted. Examples of purpose include:
Institutional/Punitive: Writing for a grade or because an employer pays for the work.
Personal/Ideological: Writing because one cares about the power of language or wants to impart knowledge.
Internal: Writing because one enjoys the sound of their own voice.
Specific Audience Example: The difference between calling one's parents versus calling one’s friends illustrates how a change in audience immediately shifts the choices a rhetor makes in communication.
Case Study: Space Exploration Essay
The Scenario: A student was writing a paper on federal funding and legislation for space exploration. The paper was well-researched and full of statistics but felt disconnected and struggled to meet the page count.
The Problem: The student thought he was writing a legislative/fiscal paper, but his true purpose was to get his classmates to care about space exploration.
The Solution:
Re-evaluating the Audience: The student shifted the audience from a general "legislative" audience to his specific peer group (college students).
Contextual Shift: Instead of heavy federal budgeting data, the paper was reframed to show the "cool" and "interesting" local impacts of space exploration, such as industrial-level coatings and other NASA inventions that benefit the general public.
Result: By clarifying purpose and narrowing the audience, the student found it easier to build out the argument and connect his paragraphs.
The Analytical Framework: Two Types of Questioning
Identification and Summary (The First Layer): This involves asking basic questions to establish the context and situation. This is done using the "five journalistic W's":
Who?
What?
Where?
When?
Reasoning and Explanation (The Second Layer): This moves into deeper analysis or "the analytical mode."
Why?
How?
Contextualizing the Argument within Discourse
Self-Context: Understanding your own strengths and weaknesses as a writer.
Resources: Internal knowledge you possess. For example, if a golfer writes about golf, their knowledge is a resource.
Constraints: Internal limitations. For example, the instructor writing about golf faces a constraint of not knowing the rules. Another constraint can be being too "close" to a topic (e.g., an educator writing about education might lack a blue-collar perspective on taxation).
Topic Context: The broader sociopolitical or academic state of the topic. For the space exploration example, this includes the economic and national state of the United States.
Discourse: This term refers to the conversations that arise around a topic. A strong argument must be "linked" to the broader conversation already occurring.
Importance of Connectivity: Writing should not happen in isolation. Writers must translate their personal importance for a topic into a rationale that an audience can understand and care about.
Homework: Identifying the Rhetorical Situation
Task: Over the next 24 hours, students should observe a communication situation in their daily lives (e.g., a YouTube video, a conversation with a friend, or someone handing out a flyer on campus).
Exercise: Attempt to identify the six macro elements within that situation:
The Rhetor.
The Audience.
The Message.
The Purpose.
The Localized Context/Appeals.
The Opportunity.
Next Class: Students will perform a "Write for Five" exercise to unpack these terms and share which elements were the hardest to identify (e.g., was it difficult to determine the rhetor's purpose as an audience member?).