{"id":1224,"date":"2020-03-25T15:34:58","date_gmt":"2020-03-25T15:34:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-writingskillslab\/chapter\/rhetorical-context-and-style\/"},"modified":"2024-04-24T22:16:56","modified_gmt":"2024-04-24T22:16:56","slug":"rhetorical-context-and-style","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-writingskillslab-2\/chapter\/rhetorical-context-and-style\/","title":{"raw":"Rhetorical Context and Style","rendered":"Rhetorical Context and Style"},"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 style<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\nStyle is the way writing is dressed up (or down) to fit the specific context, purpose, or audience. Word choice, sentence variety, and the writer\u2019s voice all contribute to the style of a piece of writing. How a writer chooses words and structures sentences to achieve a certain effect is also an element of style. When Thomas Paine wrote, \u201cThese are the times that try men\u2019s souls,\u201d he arranged his words to convey a sense of urgency and desperation. Had he written, \u201cThese are bad times,\u201d it\u2019s likely he wouldn\u2019t have made such an impact!\r\n<h2>Not just right and wrong<\/h2>\r\nStyle is not a matter of right and wrong but of what is appropriate for a particular setting and audience.\r\n\r\nWhen you first draft an essay, the sentences may sound informal or similar to the way that you speak. This is perfectly acceptable for the drafting process. It is important, however, to revise the style to match the rhetorical situation.\r\n\r\nConsider these differences between conversational, spoken language and more formal, academic language:\r\n<table style=\"width: 66%; height: 53px;\">\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr style=\"height: 13px;\">\r\n<td style=\"width: 274px; height: 13px;\"><strong>Spoken Language<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<td style=\"width: 353px; height: 13px;\"><strong>Written Language<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr style=\"height: 13px;\">\r\n<td style=\"width: 274px; height: 13px;\">Shorter sentences<\/td>\r\n<td style=\"width: 353px; height: 13px;\">More complex sentences with varying structures<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr style=\"height: 13px;\">\r\n<td style=\"width: 274px; height: 13px;\">Vague words (e.g., stuff, some)<\/td>\r\n<td style=\"width: 353px; height: 13px;\">Precise word choice with quantifying terms<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr style=\"height: 14px;\">\r\n<td style=\"width: 274px; height: 13px;\">Contractions, interjections, and slang\r\n(e.g., can\u2019t even, wow!, keep it 100)<\/td>\r\n<td style=\"width: 353px; height: 13px;\">Non-colloquial, standard word choice<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\r\n<h3>practice<\/h3>\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/lumenlearning.h5p.com\/content\/1292085776808139778\/embed\" width=\"1089\" height=\"638\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" allow=\"autoplay *; geolocation *; microphone *; camera *; midi *; encrypted-media *\" aria-label=\"Tone, Content, and Appeal- Academic Language\"><\/iframe><script src=\"https:\/\/lumenlearning.h5p.com\/js\/h5p-resizer.js\" charset=\"UTF-8\"><\/script>\r\n\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Recognize rhetorical context in relation to style<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>Style is the way writing is dressed up (or down) to fit the specific context, purpose, or audience. Word choice, sentence variety, and the writer\u2019s voice all contribute to the style of a piece of writing. How a writer chooses words and structures sentences to achieve a certain effect is also an element of style. When Thomas Paine wrote, \u201cThese are the times that try men\u2019s souls,\u201d he arranged his words to convey a sense of urgency and desperation. Had he written, \u201cThese are bad times,\u201d it\u2019s likely he wouldn\u2019t have made such an impact!<\/p>\n<h2>Not just right and wrong<\/h2>\n<p>Style is not a matter of right and wrong but of what is appropriate for a particular setting and audience.<\/p>\n<p>When you first draft an essay, the sentences may sound informal or similar to the way that you speak. This is perfectly acceptable for the drafting process. It is important, however, to revise the style to match the rhetorical situation.<\/p>\n<p>Consider these differences between conversational, spoken language and more formal, academic language:<\/p>\n<table style=\"width: 66%; height: 53px;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"height: 13px;\">\n<td style=\"width: 274px; height: 13px;\"><strong>Spoken Language<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 353px; height: 13px;\"><strong>Written Language<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 13px;\">\n<td style=\"width: 274px; height: 13px;\">Shorter sentences<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 353px; height: 13px;\">More complex sentences with varying structures<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 13px;\">\n<td style=\"width: 274px; height: 13px;\">Vague words (e.g., stuff, some)<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 353px; height: 13px;\">Precise word choice with quantifying terms<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 14px;\">\n<td style=\"width: 274px; height: 13px;\">Contractions, interjections, and slang<br \/>\n(e.g., can\u2019t even, wow!, keep it 100)<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 353px; height: 13px;\">Non-colloquial, standard word choice<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\n<h3>practice<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/lumenlearning.h5p.com\/content\/1292085776808139778\/embed\" width=\"1089\" height=\"638\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" aria-label=\"Tone, Content, and Appeal- Academic Language\"><\/iframe><script src=\"https:\/\/lumenlearning.h5p.com\/js\/h5p-resizer.js\" charset=\"UTF-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-1224\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Oral versus Written Language. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning\/SUNY OER Services. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-fmcc-standupspeakout1\/chapter\/oral-versus-written-language\/\">https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-fmcc-standupspeakout1\/chapter\/oral-versus-written-language\/<\/a>. <strong>Project<\/strong>: Speak Up, Speak Out. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Academic Language Interactive.. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Bob Danielson for Lumen Learning.. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":161083,"menu_order":13,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Oral versus Written Language\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\/SUNY OER Services\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-fmcc-standupspeakout1\/chapter\/oral-versus-written-language\/\",\"project\":\"Speak Up, Speak Out\",\"license\":\"cc-by-nc-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Academic Language Interactive.\",\"author\":\"Bob Danielson for Lumen Learning.\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"8419efd2-80c1-48b3-95f8-71d9a6798fac, e10df4a1-0b69-4fdd-ba33-80162c4ff4b5","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-1224","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":1211,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-writingskillslab-2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1224","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":6,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-writingskillslab-2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1617,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-writingskillslab-2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1224\/revisions\/1617"}],"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\/1224\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-writingskillslab-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-writingskillslab-2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=1224"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-writingskillslab-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=1224"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-writingskillslab-2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=1224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}