Purpose:
This guide will provide instruction and tips on how to create various genres of public writing, with links to samples and additional resources.
Who We Are:
English 255: Public Writing; University of Tennessee; Instructor: Dr. Reiff
As students we have 13 business, 6 communication, 1 political science, 1 human resource management, 1 psychology, 1 computer engineering, and one undecided majors.
Where: UT-Knoxville
The University of Tennessee began as Blount College on September 10, 1794 in Knoxville, Tennessee with only a small group of students and staff. The student body has grown much in the last 2 centuries, up to 26,000 students.
Objectives of English 255: Public Writing:
The first objective is to inquire into and analyze writings within public forums and to use this inquiry to frame our own rhetorical responses. Next, we attempt to discover and evaluate the methods of persuasion used in the construction of public issues. Lastly, we explore various genres of public writing and adjust writing to multiple audiences in order to analyze and produce public texts.
Tips for Writing Effective Public Texts:
First, become aware of your surroundings, and connect your writing to a real, concrete issue. Secondly, act like an author rather than an emcee. In other words, put meaning into writing, rather than just stringing facts together to fill a page. Third, act like an explorer rather than a dogmatist, or keep your mind open to new venues and stay neutral on the topic. Lastly, behave like a pioneer instead of a tourist. Look for a new frontier; do not settle to revisit issues that are already talked out. Tourists go to places already visited. Pioneers blaze their own trail. (From Having Your Say: Reading & Writing Public Arguments.)
Rhetorical Planning:
Once you have identified your audience, you must decide what tone you will take to best relate with them, work to cut out details they already know, plan for opposition within the audience, and ensure that your tone does not make your argument ineffective in the eyes of those who do not agree.
Rhetorical Appeals:
In public writing, the writer supports claims by appealing to ethos, pathos, and logos. Pathos appeals directly to emotions, be it sympathy or even stronger situations. Ethos is the appeal of the honesty and credibility of a writer to the audience. Logos is the appeal to logic and facts.
Joining a Public Conversation:
By joining a public conversation you are finding a way to connect to and to grab the attention of your audience in a productive way. There are three main entry points of joining a public conversation: 1) Personal experience is used to strengthen logos, pathos, or ethos appeals. 2) Cases are more on the public level and include specific examples that support wide spread national issues such as cases of terrorism (OK bombing, 9/11). 3) Lastly, authors aid in a deeper exploration of what has been written on the topic at hand, allowing you to look at different perspectives of the topic, which therefore builds your own credibility on it.
Who We Are:
English 255: Public Writing; University of Tennessee;
Where: UT-Knoxville
The University of Tennessee began as Blount College on September 10, 1794 in Knoxville, Tennessee with only a small group of students and staff. The student body has grown much in the last 2 centuries, up to 26,000 students.
Objectives of English 255: Public Writing:
Tips for Writing Effective Public Texts:
First, become aware of your surroundings, and connect your writing to a real, concrete issue. Secondly, act like an author rather than an emcee. In other words, put meaning into writing, rather than just stringing facts together to fill a page. Third, act like an explorer rather than a dogmatist, or keep your mind open to new venues and stay neutral on the topic. Lastly, behave like a pioneer instead of a tourist. Look for a new frontier; do not settle to revisit issues that are already talked out. Tourists go to places already visited. Pioneers blaze their own trail. (From Having Your Say: Reading & Writing Public Arguments.)
Rhetorical Planning:
Once you have identified your audience, you must decide what tone you will take to best relate with them, work to cut out details they already know, plan for opposition within the audience, and ensure that your tone does not make your argument ineffective in the eyes of those who do not agree.
Rhetorical Appeals:
In public writing, the writer supports claims by appealing to ethos, pathos, and logos. Pathos appeals directly to emotions, be it sympathy or even stronger situations. Ethos is the appeal of the honesty and credibility of a writer to the audience. Logos is the appeal to logic and facts.
Joining a Public Conversation:
By joining a public conversation you are finding a way to connect to and to grab the attention of your audience in a productive way. There are three main entry points of joining a public conversation: 1) Personal experience is used to strengthen logos, pathos, or ethos appeals. 2) Cases are more on the public level and include specific examples that support wide spread national issues such as cases of terrorism (OK bombing, 9/11). 3) Lastly, authors aid in a deeper exploration of what has been written on the topic at hand, allowing you to look at different perspectives of the topic, which therefore builds your own credibility on it.