Content Piece and Pitch
WRITING ANALYSES ENC 3254
September 24, 2018
THE RHETORICAL SITUATION
Basis for critical thinking
Sender The writer/speaker Receiver The audience Message The content Purpose The reason Context The place
The writer, speaker, creator of something
Can be hard if not impossible to determine the sender of
an advertisement
What can we learn about the sender from the
message?
What are important details we
should know about the sender?
The audience, the ones
getting the text
The sender has a specific audience in
mind
How can we learn about the receiver
just by looking at the piece?
What is important to know about
the receiver?
The content being given by the sender to the receiver
This the practical bits and bobs of
the piece itself
What are the most
important elements of
the message?
How does the message
connect the sender to the
receiver?
The reason the sender
decided to write the
message to this receiver
Perhaps the most
important part of this
situation
What is the purpose of the
message?
How can we figure out the
purpose?
The set of circumstances that surround the creation of
a message
Social, cultural, local, global,
political, artistic,
educational, etc
What is the context of a message?
How can you determine the
context?
Practice
Select one of the ads from the link in your inbox and identity the elements of the rhetorical situation
COMMAS, SEMI- COLONS, COLONS
Commonly Confused Punctuation
Commas Rules
1. Use commas to separate words and word groups in a simple series of three or more items
2. Use a comma to separate two adjectives when the adjectives are interchangeable
3. Commas are not used to join independent clauses, but, when two independent clauses are joined with a conjunctions, a comma should follow the first clause.
4. Use a comma after words that introduce a sentence and commas around phrases that interrupt the sentence flow
5. Commas are used to set off names or name-like things. 6. Use a comma to separate the day of the month from the year AND the year from the
rest of the sentence but NOT when there is no day.
Comma Rules
7. Use a comma to separate a city from its state and after the state name.
8. Comma after degrees and titles at the end of a name.
9. When starting a sentence with a dependent clause, us a sentence after it.
10. Use commas to set off nonessential words, clauses, and phrases.
11. Use commas to introduce or interrupt or follow direct quotations.
12. Use comma to separate a statement from a question.
13. Use a comma to separate contrasting parts of a sentence.
Semicolon Rules
1. A semicolon can replace a period between two closely linked sentences
2. Use a semicolon before words like namely, however, therefore, that is, etc. when they introduce a new clause.
3. Use a semicolon to separate units of a series when one or more of the units contain commas.
4. A semicolon may be used between independent clauses joined by a connector when one or more commas appear in the first clause.
Colon Rules
1. Use a colon to introduce a series of times.
2. Avoid using a colon before a list when it directly follows a verb or preposition.
3. In outlined lists, use a colon after full sentences before the list
4. A colon instead of a semicolon may be used between independent clauses when the second sentence explains, illustrates, paraphrases, or expands on the first sentence.
5. A colon may be used to introduce a long quotation.
6. Use a colon rather than a comma to follow the salutation in a business letter.
Practice
■ Denise prefers to eat chicken or fish I’m a vegetarian
■ I would like to leave early in the morning therefore, I am going to bed soon.
■ Please Sasha come home as soon as you can.
■ Although you may be right I cannot take your word for it.
■ Her mother is planning a trip to Portland Maine in the fall this year.
■ I need a few items at the store clothespin, a bottle opener, and napkins.
■ He thought quickly, and then, answered the question in complete detail.