Rhetorical Modes

Rhetorical modes are the ways that authors and speakers organize their ideas to communicate effectively.You might already be familiar with some of these modes because instructors will sometimes assign them as the purpose for writing a paragraph or an essay. For example, you might have been asked to write a cause and effect paragraph or a comparison and contrast essay.

Rhetorical modes usually happen naturally because of the way the writer engages with and organizes information while writing. Most writers don’t sit down and say, “I think I’ll write a comparison and contrast essay today.”  Instead, a writer might be more likely to be interested in a topic, say, the state of drinking water in the local community, and as the writer begins to explore the topic, certain cause and effect relationships between environmental pollutants and the community water supply may begin to emerge. And in fact, many times, one essay may incorporate two or more rhetorical modes, as the author makes an argument for their point of view.