Identifying Text Elements/Components

In the previous chapter, we talked about how texts are made of manifold elements and how different media forms influence the kinds of components speakers (can) use. In this chapter, we’re going to begin to break down and out these components that, individually and collectively, make meaning, make messages, make appeals, and engender affects. Remember, a text is made of choices the speaker had and the decisions and selections they, consciously or unconsciously, made. Remember, too, that medium and genre are always at play, delimiting the choices speakers can make if they want to be legible and recognizable to particular communities and audiences.

We can feel overwhelmed when we start thinking about all the things of which a text is made and all the things from which we can make a text. You can break down text components in the following ways in order to see and think about your work and the work of others more clearly:

• Content: What claims, information, and evidence did the speaker choose to include to reach their audience? What information or evidence did they choose NOT to include?
• Arrangement: How has the speaker has put their content together to align with their purpose? In what order is it presented to their reader and why? What content have they made more important or less important?
• Style and form: What kinds of words, media, colors, tone, images, description, syntax, grammar, and formats did the writer choose to engender particular appeals and affects? What rhetorical devices did the speaker choose to leverage? What decisions have they made regarding genre?

Text components across media forms

Text components look different across different media forms. You are still thinking about content, arrangement, and style, but you have to be able to see these pieces across diverse texts. The following chart is intended to help you start seeing components across media.

Remember, most media today is, in fact, mixed media. For example, print newspaper articles are primarily written but they also often contain image elements like photographs or charts. News websites, meanwhile, contain multiple layers of writing, images, sounds, and videos. How do these shifts in media and format impact the viewer? Do you think media form changes the way audiences read the news? The ways they respond to it? The way they interpret it? How do you think demographics like age impact which form audiences choose? How do demographics like class shift who has access to print or digital subscriptions and who, therefore, has access to certain types of news?

Considering the multimodality of media

The modality of communication refers to the basic sensory means by which communication happens. All of the above media components reach audiences differently and influence them differently. Thinking about multimodality helps us think about how different text components are designed to appeal and how they actually affect.

• The verbal modality refers to words spoken or sung or typed or handwritten on a piece of paper or screen.
• The visual modality refers to live images, still images, or images moving on a screen
• The auditory modality refers to spoken words, sung words, sounds, music tracks, laugh tracks, and noise
• The haptic modality refers to touch and what we can feel with our hands and skin like keyboards, screens, paper, packaging, clothing, etc.

If you think about it, ALL forms of communication involve multiple modalities.  Jodie Nicotra points out in Becoming Rhetorical that:

“A speech, for instance, includes the verbal modality (spoken words), the auditory modality (the pitch and tone of a speaker’s voice), and visual modalities (the speaker’s appearance, gestures, facial expressions, and perhaps slides). Video games use haptic, auditory, and visual modalities. Even reading the printed page encompasses verbal (words), visual (typefaces, formatting, punctuation, etc.), auditory (page turns), and haptic (the feel of paper, of book binding) modalities.”

Understanding these layers helps us break down appeal and affects like this:

Analyzing Multimodal Compositions

1. First, identify the rhetorical situation (speaker, audience, purpose, setting, text of the piece as well as its medium, genre, and circulation).
2. Then identify the modalities triggered in the piece, thinking about the rhetorical appeals and affects of each. How do the various multimodal components contribute to this effect? Nicotra guides us to ask:
   1. Does it use spoken or written language? Where and why is language used? What tone do the words create? What rhetorical devices do you notice?
   2. Does it use still or static images? How are these images arranged?
   3. Does it use moving images? What sequence do these images follow and why? How are they edited?
   4. Does it use sound? What kinds: interviews, narration, music without words, music with words, other kinds of sounds? How would you characterize these sounds? How are they layered and edited?
   5. How do users physically interact with the text? Do they turn pages, do they listen while walking or driving, do they click links, touch a screen use controllers?
3. Finally, consider the multimodal composition as a whole: How do the pieces work together to create an overall effect? What do they DO?

Recognizing rhetorical devices

A rhetorical device is typically defined as a technique or word construction that a speaker or writer uses to win an audience to their side, either while trying to persuade them to do something or trying to win an argument.  Many of the terms we use to refer to rhetorical devices are in Greek because they were articulated by classical philosophers like Aristotle. There are dozens of rhetorical devices, which you can find on a handout here. Below are five common rhetorical devices, so you can start thinking about how they work.

Please note that some of these devices are also known as literary devices. That means they are primarily instruments of narrative. Since rhetoric deploys narrative, you can find literary devices in arguments and across other forms of communication. You can also check out this video on “Common Rhetorical Devices.”

1. anaphora: Repetition of a word or expression at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, sentences, or verses especially for rhetorical or poetic effect.  Ex. we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground
2. antiphrasis: The usually ironic or humorous use of words in senses opposite to the generally accepted meanings. Ex. this giant of 3 feet 4 inches
3. epistrophe: Repetition of a word or expression at the end of successive phrases, clauses, sentences, or verses especially for rhetorical or poetic effect. Ex. of the people, by the people, for the people
4. hyperbole: Extravagant exaggeration. Ex. mile-high ice-cream cones
5. litotes: the affirmation of something by negating the opposite. Ex. It’s not rocket science

Identifying claims, reasons, and evidence

Remember, argument in its most basic form consists of three parts: a claim, reasons to support the claim, and evidence to support the reasons. Nearly all texts make some kind of argument. Here are some strategies for identifying claims, reasons, and evidence in texts.

Claims

Texts are usually made of a primary claim and multiple secondary or supporting claims. A claim is the main idea or message of the writing around it. Remember, claims present an arguable stance on a topic; they are not statements of fact or topic. Remember, that claims we write and identify in college should be specific. For example, “Peanut butter is the best” is a claim, but it is not a specific claim; “peanut butter is a healthy after-school snack for kids” is specific.

Sometimes, speakers will tell you their claims explicitly using phrases, thesis statements, and topic sentences like:

• “In this piece, I will argue…”
• “It is my contention that we should…”
• “Others might think…, but I believe…
• “I will now explain what __________ is and what should be done about it.”

Other times, claims are implicit. Here are a few ways to find them:

• Look at “important” parts of the text. The most important information is often at the beginning, in the very middle, or at the end of a text. In a print or video ad, the most important elements will often take up the most space or have other visual cues that bring attention to them.
• Think about genre and context. This is easiest with genres and contexts we are familiar with. When the voice at the end of the commercial says, “Nike: Just Do It,” we know their main claim is: “You should buy these running shoes because they will help you do all the things the commercial just showed you through video and images.”
• Look for repetition. Often, the main claim and its buzzwords will be repeated multiple times.
• Think about tone. Authors often use the connotation of words to reveal their purpose in texts. The connotation of a word is how it makes us feel. A rainstorm described as “dreary” has a negative connotation, while a rainstorm described as “refreshing” has a positive connotation. The tone of a text reflects the author’s attitude towards the subject matter and can clue us about their argument.

It can be hard to distinguish between “purpose” and “claim.” Remember, purpose is what the speaker intends to do. Claim is what they say to achieve their ends.

Reasons

Reasoning is the thinking that connects evidence and supports a claim. They are responses to “why.” Without reasons, there is no argument; there is only a claim.

The most effective way to identify reasons in oral or written texts is to look for “reason markers.”  These terms include the following: because, since, for, therefore, in light of, assume or assuming, according to, considering, in fact, etc.

In texts like commercials, reasons are often offered as declarative statements without “reason markers” or they must be surmised from the evidence the commercial offers. For example, if an ad shows a Chevy truck flattening thick brush or flying through thick mud, the ad makers are offering evidence that Chevy trucks are tough, rugged, and durable–reasons you should buy one.

Sometimes in film or photographs, reasons are even more subtle. Lighting, for example, can set the mood of an image which can create a reason like “because it will make you happy” or “because you feel sad.” The facial expressions of human actors often work the same way. A political campaign ad might show people frowning or looking depressed to indicate what will happen if their opponent is elected and, therefore, a reason to elect the ad speaker instead.

Evidence

Evidence refers to content the speaker has gathered to prove reasons and, therefore, support claims. It is the speakers’ response to the question: “How do you know that?” Evidence “looks like” many things depending on media form and genre. All of the following can operate as evidence in different discursive contexts:

• data and statistics
• charts and graphs
• quotes and citations
• testimony
• information from primary and secondary sources
• common knowledge
• photographs and other images
• film and other media documentation
• narrative
• laws and certifications
• case studies