What is Rhetorical Velocity?
Rhetorical velocity is a term coined by Jim Ridolfo and Dànielle Nicole DeVoss that expands the practice of composing to strategically recompose. It shifts from the concept of delivery to a consideration on how the audience will perceive and interact with the content. Rhetorical velocity determines the speed, distance, and shape of how the message will travel. An example of this is a press release, which deliberately composes context that third parties can easily recompose into new/updated content to place into news articles, media posts, etc.. This article details how news organizations recompose their news through different sources. Rhetorical velocity helps writers take parts of a text and transform them into a new piece to share, continuing the cycle.
Breaking down The Five Topoi
Gold, Garcia, and Knutson present the idea of five topoi that affect online public writing environments for students and people in general. The first being presence. Students understand that digital writing can be perceived in different ways. Therefore, they consider their online image, audience, and who will be affected by what they post. They also acknowledge the persistence of the web and how digital decisions remain forever. Persistence refers to the lasting of content, the durability of the text, and likely the relevance.
The article defines permeability as the ease by which texts translate from their original context to another. Permeability additionally includes the impact an audience or other outside elements may have on the writing. Fourth is promiscuity. Promiscuity refers to the use of rhetorical devices in a text and allows students to easily write on various platforms for various purposes geared toward various audiences. It displays the diversity of writing. Last but not least, power. Students should know when it’s a good time to write and if anything needs to be written at all. Some things are better left unsaid. The tongue is powerful, even when silent. These five topoi of online public writing environments help students navigate the affordances of digital spaces.
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