{"id":1214,"date":"2020-03-25T15:34:57","date_gmt":"2020-03-25T15:34:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-writingskillslab\/chapter\/rhetorical-context-and-content\/"},"modified":"2024-04-24T22:15:44","modified_gmt":"2024-04-24T22:15:44","slug":"rhetorical-context-and-content","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-writingskillslab-2\/chapter\/rhetorical-context-and-content\/","title":{"raw":"Rhetorical Context and Purpose","rendered":"Rhetorical Context and Purpose"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\r\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Recognize rhetorical context in relation to content<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p class=\"code-line\">In any writing project, three key factors\u2013purpose, author, and audience\u2013all work together to influence what the text itself says, and how it says it. Revisiting these factors, the rhetorical context, can help with expanding and revising your draft.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"code-line\">Purpose<\/h2>\r\nWhen revising a draft, it can be helpful to ask yourself again, \u201cWhy am I writing?\u201d Remember that all writing, no matter the type, has a purpose. Purpose will sometimes be given to you (by a teacher, for example), while other times, you will decide for yourself. As the author, it\u2019s up to you to make sure that purpose is clear not only for yourself, but also\u2013especially\u2013for your audience. If your purpose is not clear, your audience is not likely to receive your intended message.\r\n\r\nThere are, of course, many different reasons to write (e.g., to inform, to entertain, to persuade, to ask questions), and you may find that some writing has more than one purpose. When this happens, be sure to consider any conflict between purposes, and remember that you will usually focus on one main purpose as primary.\r\n\r\nBottom line: Making sure your purpose is clear can help identify areas needing revision or areas for further exploration.\r\n<h2 class=\"code-line\">Why Purpose Matters<\/h2>\r\nIf you\u2019ve ever listened to a lecture or read an essay and wondered \u201cso what\u201d or \u201cwhat is this person talking about,\u201d then you know how frustrating it can be when an author\u2019s purpose is not clear. By clearly defining your purpose before you begin writing, it\u2019s less likely you\u2019ll be that author who leaves the audience wondering.\r\n\r\nIf readers can\u2019t identify the purpose in a text, they usually quit reading. You can\u2019t deliver a message to an audience who quits reading.\r\n\r\nIf teachers can\u2019t identify the purpose in your text, they will likely assume you didn\u2019t understand the assignment and, chances are, you won\u2019t receive a good grade.\r\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\r\n<h3>practice<\/h3>\r\nIdentify the purpose for the piece of writing in the following scenarios:\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/3b6a902e-1c95-49c1-af0e-1de8b6d0de09\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Recognize rhetorical context in relation to content<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"code-line\">In any writing project, three key factors\u2013purpose, author, and audience\u2013all work together to influence what the text itself says, and how it says it. Revisiting these factors, the rhetorical context, can help with expanding and revising your draft.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"code-line\">Purpose<\/h2>\n<p>When revising a draft, it can be helpful to ask yourself again, \u201cWhy am I writing?\u201d Remember that all writing, no matter the type, has a purpose. Purpose will sometimes be given to you (by a teacher, for example), while other times, you will decide for yourself. As the author, it\u2019s up to you to make sure that purpose is clear not only for yourself, but also\u2013especially\u2013for your audience. If your purpose is not clear, your audience is not likely to receive your intended message.<\/p>\n<p>There are, of course, many different reasons to write (e.g., to inform, to entertain, to persuade, to ask questions), and you may find that some writing has more than one purpose. When this happens, be sure to consider any conflict between purposes, and remember that you will usually focus on one main purpose as primary.<\/p>\n<p>Bottom line: Making sure your purpose is clear can help identify areas needing revision or areas for further exploration.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"code-line\">Why Purpose Matters<\/h2>\n<p>If you\u2019ve ever listened to a lecture or read an essay and wondered \u201cso what\u201d or \u201cwhat is this person talking about,\u201d then you know how frustrating it can be when an author\u2019s purpose is not clear. By clearly defining your purpose before you begin writing, it\u2019s less likely you\u2019ll be that author who leaves the audience wondering.<\/p>\n<p>If readers can\u2019t identify the purpose in a text, they usually quit reading. You can\u2019t deliver a message to an audience who quits reading.<\/p>\n<p>If teachers can\u2019t identify the purpose in your text, they will likely assume you didn\u2019t understand the assignment and, chances are, you won\u2019t receive a good grade.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\n<h3>practice<\/h3>\n<p>Identify the purpose for the piece of writing in the following scenarios:<\/p>\n<p>\t<iframe id=\"assessment_practice_3b6a902e-1c95-49c1-af0e-1de8b6d0de09\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/3b6a902e-1c95-49c1-af0e-1de8b6d0de09?iframe_resize_id=assessment_practice_id_3b6a902e-1c95-49c1-af0e-1de8b6d0de09\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:100%;min-height:300px;\"><br \/>\n\t<\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":161083,"menu_order":3,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"6c1b6ffb-b64d-43ec-bd7a-fd8d3e1db3ee, d6cd7e92-10b7-4e0e-9e3a-b16e4db76497","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-1214","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":1211,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-writingskillslab-2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-writingskillslab-2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-writingskillslab-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-writingskillslab-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/161083"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-writingskillslab-2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1612,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-writingskillslab-2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1214\/revisions\/1612"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-writingskillslab-2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/1211"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-writingskillslab-2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1214\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-writingskillslab-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-writingskillslab-2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=1214"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-writingskillslab-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=1214"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-writingskillslab-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=1214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}