ERAU ENGL 143

In this final blog, I would like to discuss how Cicero's five canons were translated to a digital model after reviewing chapter two in Eyman's Digital rhetoric: Theory, method, practice. Eyman looked at each canon individually and took into account the work of other scholars who had done previous work to reframe the canons for use with digital rhetoric. Invention was modernized from its classical definition of finding available means of persuasion; in digital practice, it becomes searching and navigating networks of information while using multimodal and multimedia tools. Arrangement which was classically viewed as formalized organization becomes the manipulation of digital media as well as selecting ready-made works and reconstituting them into new works (remixing). Style  previously viewed as ornamentation/appropriate form translates to understanding elements fo digital design (color, motion, interactivity, font choice, appropriate use of multimedia, etc.). Delivery was cla...

Fisher writes of his narrative paradigm “the narrative paradigm advances the idea that good communication is good by virtue of the fact of its’ satisfying the requirements of narrative rationality, namely, that it offers a reliable, trustworthy, and desirable guide to belief and action.” The metaphor suggests that arguments are a species of narrative, and that all narratives have a rational structure that can be analyzed and evaluated. I would have to agree with Fisher’s position of categorizing arguments as a species of narrative. Arguments, as we know them through rhetoric, are thought out, planned, and typically “battle-tested”. By this belief alone, if they are planned then they must follow a structure making it possible to analyze and evaluate, fitting right into Fisher’s metaphor. What that evaluation and analysis finds is a whole different subject, and one that could easily differ from one audience to the other based on their beliefs and values. Arguments are a form of narrative...

    George Campbell's rhetoric of science was more of what we would consider philosophy; an organized and rational account of a subject. Through new discoveries, Campbell aimed to better understand the workings of the human mind followed by instruction on eloquence based on that understanding. He looked to incorporate ideas from the enlightenment period, but to ultimately create his own rhetoric and move past it. Campbell's "science" is far removed from what we term "modern technology". Modern technology is the application of systems, methods, and devices resulting from scientific knowledge for practical purposes. If Campbell had to address digital rhetoric, I think he would have a rather difficult time as he was experienced in rhetoric he witnessed in person through dialogue and preaching, which is vastly different from the majority of digital rhetoric of today such as social media posts/comments or pre-recorded videos that you cannot experience realtime di...