Rhetoric, according to Merriam-Webster dictionary, is the art of speaking or writing effectively: such as

• Purpose
• Audience
• Stance
• Genre
• Medium/Design
• Exigence

Purpose: Purpose is why we write. What is your goal when writing, what do you want the readers to take with them. For example, in my literacy narrative my purpose was to inform readers about the importance of reading. And how to get interested in reading. In my expository essay, the purpose was to inform readers about vintage fashion, it is a trend that is soaring in today’s society.

Audience: Who will read what you’re writing. There are different types of audiences: known, multiple, unknown; assuming they know nothing about your topic (requires more formal writing). Throughout the different writings, there are a variety of audiences. In my literacy narrative it was toward readers who are interested in reading but do not know where to start. The audiences changes in my expository essay,

  “The audience could possibly be people who are also fascinated on this trend and want to know why there is an attraction to 90s vintage clothing.” (Expository essay, reflection paper)

   In my argumentative essay, it is more narrow, because it is for people who are leaning towards the way vintage fashion is helping express ones personality.

Stance: Attitude toward your topic. In my argumentative essay my stance is shown throughout the essay. It is a more stronger attitude than my expository.

“My stance on this topic is that I believe that the recent attraction to vintage fashion is mostly because it is a way that people can express their personality and feelings.”(Reflection Argumentative)

Genre: Kinds of writing. There are different types of writing and everything other rhetoric elements is changed depending on the genre. I explored through different types of genre.

• Literacy narrative: It made me open up as a writer to inform the reader as to what influenced me into the engagement with literacy. Everyone has a unique story as to how they got engaged into reading. I started being interested in reading from a mystery book. I did not like to read but when we had to pick out a book in elementary school, I picked out that book and continue to find joy in reading.
• Expository essay: It is an essay on which something is being explained. It could make the reader see clearly and understand your topic. With the help of research on the specific topic the writer can explain their findings. My expository essay was on the attraction on vintage apparel. Vintage clothing helps the environment and it helps express people’s personalities.
• Argumentative essay: It is an essay in which we investigate a topic and evaluate the evidence and choose a side. It has less background information to orient your reader to your side. But information on the other side of the argument is needed to show that you collected info.

Medium/Digital: A way for information to be conveyed from one person to another, the delivery method or vehicle used to deliver message to audience. Mostly the information is conveyed through writing. In some instances it is digitally, on blackboard and power point presentation.

Exigence: Issue or situation that leads to demands for rhetoric speech or writing, moment in which something happens or fails to happen, why is one compelled to speak out (write)?

Lit narrative: “The exigence of this narrative was to show how I did not have the urge to read or write, I did not find any excitement from it. Once I started to read something that I liked and could relate to, I started to enjoy reading and learning new vocabulary words.”

Expository: “The exigence in this essay was when I saw the amount of people wearing this new fashion trend, I wanted to know more about this trend. I became intrigued and started to incorporate the trend in my wardrobe.“

Argumentative: “The exigence in this essay was when I saw the amount of people wearing this new fashion trend, I wanted to know more about this trend. I became intrigued and started to incorporate the trend in my wardrobe. After researching on this topic, I came across reasons as to why there an attraction to this trend.“

Without exigence you do not have the passion to write and the writing would not feel well structured.

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