Wikipedia: Rhetorical Situation

Wikipedia's RhetoricalSituation

How to convince WP that your content belongs...

Rhetorical Situation

Audience

Author Text

Before making any rhetorical choices, you should consider the rhetorical situation.

Let's start with the audience....


Audience

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Who is the audience of Wikipedia?


Audience

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EVERYONE!


Audience

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EVERYONE!

But let's describe the audience in more detail.


Audience

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Audience: English speakers around the world.

That's huge. Humans speak English on every continent. Even in countries where English is not the dominant language, many people speak English. For this audience, you have to think super global.


Audience

Author Text


That's huge. Humans speak English on every continent. Even in countries where English is not the dominant language, many people speak English. For this audience, you have to think super global.

Your readers could be in every nation on Earth, belong to almost any religion, and be of any age old and young.


Audience

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Think about how this may change your writing. Can you write this sentence: "The Constitution established freedom of speech as an inalienable right."What is wrong with this? Well, what constitution? In America, we talk about the constitution, the church, the president, congress as if the American versions are the only ones in the world. When writing with a globally diverse audience, you cannot assume that your audience will share much of the 'common knowledge' that we share as fellow Americans.


Audience

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Audience: English speakers around the world. Seeking reliable information.

Your readers go to Wikipedia to learn information about a topic. Some will want a very brief introduction. Those people will just read the first few paragraphs. Some readers will want more in-depth knowledge. Those readers will keep reading through the body of the article. Those readers may also keep researching by looking at your references


Audience

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Ok, that's a good start. Let's talk about the text.


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What is the text? Wikipedia. Let's talk about text as both a medium and a genre.

First, how is the medium of Wikipedia unique?



Audience

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Text: Medium, Online.

Because the medium is online, we know that Wikipedia is not limited like print publications. Wikipedia can grow and grow without worrying about space.



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Text: Medium, Online. Collaborative,

Wikipedia is the encyclopedia that anyone can edit. The articles change on a daily basis. After you finish this project, future editors will change your contribution. That's how WP improves. Constant change!



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Text: Medium, Online. Collaborative, Multimedia,

Wikipedia articles include text, images, and even video.



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Text: Medium, Online. Collaborative, Multimedia, Hyperlinking.

Finally, Wikipedia articles link to other articles. Have you ever gone to WP for information on one topic and then clicked through links for way more time than you planned? I know I have! That's a virtue in Wikipedia.



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Text: Medium, Online. Collaborative, Multimedia, Hyperlinking. Genre: Encyclopedia.

Encyclopedias are not considered scholarship. They do not make original arguments.



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Encyclopedias summarize existing knowledge. They collect notable information. Readers go to encyclopedias to gain a broad understanding of a topic.



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Ok, that's a good start on the medium. Think about how you the medium may change your writing style. On to author...



Audience

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Who is the author of Wikipedia?

You are!



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You are!

No... not really.



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The word author means the originator or creator. You are not creating anything new. Instead, you are summarizing and paraphrasing existing knowledge.



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Also, your work is not the final version of the Wikipedia article. Other editors will revise, remove, and expand your contributions.



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You are not the author of Wikipedia; you are an editor of Wikipedia. Who, then, is the author of this rhetorical situation?



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Author: Generic Wikipedia Editor.

You need to adopt the persona of a generic editor of Wikipedia.



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You need to learn about Wikipedia conventions so that your contributions are cohesive with every other Wikipedia editor's contributions.



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Why is this important? Think about how each of us has a unique voice. We have to train and discover our voice as writers. In WP, you need to train your voice to blend with the voices of Wikipedia. This is not an individualistic project. Instead, the best editors are the editors who create the most cohesion across Wikipedia.


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Wikipedia: Rhetorical Situation