Rhetorical velocity is a term originating from the fields of
Composition Studies
Composition studies (also referred to as composition and rhetoric, rhetoric and composition, writing studies, or simply composition) is the professional field of writing, research, and instruction, focusing especially on writing at the college leve ...
and
Rhetoric
Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate parti ...
used to describe how rhetoricians may strategically theorize and anticipate the third party recomposition of their texts. In their 2009 article "Composing for Recomposition: Rhetorical Velocity and Delivery"
in ''
Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy'', Professors
Jim Ridolfo and
Dànielle Nicole DeVoss provide the example of a writer delivering a press release, where the writer of the release rhetorically anticipates the positive and negative ways in which the text may be recomposed into other texts, including news articles, blog posts, and video content. It is similar to having something go viral. Author, Sean Morey, agrees in his book "The Digital Writer" that rhetorical velocity is the way in which a creator predicts how the audience will make use of their original work.
Practicing rhetorical velocity allows the speaker/writer to theorize of all possible outcomes with time and delivery (or Kairos) since it is information that could be in the Public sphere. Ridolfo and DeVoss argue that this thinking is indicative of the modern notion of
actio
Pronuntiatio was the discipline of delivering speeches in Western classical rhetoric. It is one of the five canons of classical rhetoric (the others being inventio, dispositio, elocutio, and memoria) that concern the crafting and delivery of sp ...
, one that requires a new strategy and theory for thinking about the delivery, distribution, and recomposition of texts and rhetorical objects. It is stated in their article that "...composing in the digital age is different than traditional practices of composing." Since traditional composition consists of one's original thought that is transformed into writing, digital composition requires a lot more editing in its own sphere. Ridfolfo and DeVoss referred to its qualities as "mix, mass
and merge".
For example, the rhetorical velocity of a
press advisory encompasses the publication deadlines, reporters' material conditions (including how local reporters prefer to receive and process the text). These considerations are calculated alongside the rhetorical goals of the advisory writer(s). It takes into account the delivery and composition of the given work in relation to the writers' future goals for reproduction. In this sense, rhetorical velocity considers the future times (and in particular moments) and places of texts as part of a
distributive strategy.
Another example is the rhetorical velocity of an
internet meme
An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...
, which includes the various characteristics of
rhetorical circulation Rhetorical circulation is a concept referring to the ways that texts and discourses move through time and space. The concept seems to have been applied to texts sometime in the mid 1800s, and it is considered, by most scholars, to be either subordin ...
, including economics, distribution, and transformation. For instance, memes can participate in the circulation of technical scientific and environmental communication for digital public discourse.
See also
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Rhetorical circulation Rhetorical circulation is a concept referring to the ways that texts and discourses move through time and space. The concept seems to have been applied to texts sometime in the mid 1800s, and it is considered, by most scholars, to be either subordin ...
*
Digital rhetoric
Digital rhetoric can be generally defined as communication that exists in the digital sphere. As such, digital rhetoric can be expressed in many different forms —including but not limited to text, images, videos, and software. Due to the incr ...
*
Modes of persuasion
The modes of persuasion, modes of appeal or rhetorical appeals (Greek: ''pisteis'') are strategies of rhetoric that classify a speaker's or writer's appeal to their audience. These include ethos, pathos, and logos, all three of which appear in A ...
*
Meme
A meme ( ) is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural i ...
*
Public sphere pedagogy
*
Kairos
Kairos ( grc, καιρός) is an ancient Greek word meaning 'the right, critical, or opportune moment'. In modern Greek, ''kairos'' also means 'weather' or 'time'.
It is one of two words that the ancient Greeks had for 'time'; the other bei ...
References
{{Reflist,
refs=
[Ridolfo, Jim and Dànielle Nicole DeVoss. ]
Composing for Recomposition: Rhetorical Velocity and Delivery
” Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy 13.2 (2009).
[Eyman, Douglas. (2005). Modules. WRA 202: Introduction to Professional Writing. Retrieved January 9, 2008, from http://www.msu.edu/~eymandou/wra202/mods.html.]
Rhetoric
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