1. Wikipedia's
Rhetorical
Situation
How to convince WP that
your content belongs...

2. Rhetorical Situation
Before making any rhetorical
Audience choices, you should consider the
rhetorical situation.
Let's start with the audience....
Author Text

3. Rhetorical Situation
Who is the audience of Wikipedia?
Audience
Author Text

4. Rhetorical Situation
Who is the audience of Wikipedia?
Audience EVERYONE!
Author Text

5. Rhetorical Situation
Who is the audience of Wikipedia?
Audience EVERYONE!
But let's describe the audience in
more detail.
Author Text

6. Rhetorical Situation
Audience: English speakers around
Audience 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.
Author Text

7. Rhetorical Situation
Audience: English speakers around
Audience 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.
Your readers could be in every
nation on Earth, belong to almost
any religion, and be of any age old
and young.
Author Text

8. Rhetorical Situation
Audience: English speakers around the
Audience world.
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.
Author Text

9. Rhetorical Situation
Audience: English speakers around
Audience 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
Author Text

10. Rhetorical Situation
Audience: English speakers around
Audience the world. Seeking reliable
information.
Ok, that's a good start. Let's talk
about the text.
Author Text

11. Rhetorical Situation
Audience: English speakers around
Audience the world. Seeking reliable
information.
What is the text? Wikipedia.
Let's talk about text as both a
medium and a genre.
Author Text First, how is the medium of
Wikipedia unique?

12. Rhetorical Situation
Audience: English speakers around
Audience the world. Seeking reliable
information.
Text: Medium, Online.
Because the medium is online,
Author Text we know that Wikipedia is not
limited like print publications.
Wikipedia can grow and grow
without worrying about space.

13. Rhetorical Situation
Audience: English speakers around
Audience the world. Seeking reliable
information.
Text: Medium, Online.
Collaborative,
Wikipedia is the encyclopedia that
Author Text 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!

14. Rhetorical Situation
Audience: English speakers around
Audience the world. Seeking reliable
information.
Text: Medium, Online.
Collaborative, Multimedia,
Wikipedia articles include text,
Author Text images, and even video.

15. Rhetorical Situation
Audience: English speakers around
Audience the world. Seeking reliable
information.
Text: Medium, Online.
Collaborative, Multimedia,
Hyperlinking.
Author Text 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.

16. Rhetorical Situation
Audience: English speakers around
Audience the world. Seeking reliable
information.
Text: Medium, Online.
Collaborative, Multimedia,
Hyperlinking. Genre:
Encyclopedia.
Author Text Encyclopedias are not considered
scholarship. They do not make
original arguments.

17. Rhetorical Situation
Audience: English speakers around
Audience the world. Seeking reliable
information.
Text: Medium, Online.
Collaborative, Multimedia,
Hyperlinking. Genre:
Encyclopedia.
Author Text Encyclopedias summarize existing
knowledge. They collect notable
information. Readers go to
encyclopedias to gain a broad
understanding of a topic.

18. Rhetorical Situation
Audience: English speakers around
Audience the world. Seeking reliable
information.
Text: Medium, Online.
Collaborative, Multimedia,
Hyperlinking. Genre:
Encyclopedia.
Author Text Ok, that's a good start on the
medium. Think about how you the
medium may change your writing
style. On to author...

19. Rhetorical Situation
Audience: English speakers around
Audience the world. Seeking reliable
information.
Who is the author of
Wikipedia?
You are!
Text: Medium, Online.
Collaborative, Multimedia,
Hyperlinking. Genre:
Encyclopedia.
Author Text

20. Rhetorical Situation
Audience: English speakers around
Audience the world. Seeking reliable
information.
Who is the author of
Wikipedia?
You are!
No... not really.
Text: Medium, Online.
Collaborative, Multimedia,
Hyperlinking. Genre:
Encyclopedia.
Author Text

21. Rhetorical Situation
Audience: English speakers around
Audience the world. Seeking reliable
information.
Who is the author of
Wikipedia?
The word author means the
originator or creator. You
are not creating anything
new. Instead, you are
Text: Medium, Online.
summarizing and
Collaborative, Multimedia,
paraphrasing existing
Hyperlinking. Genre:
knowledge.
Encyclopedia.
Author Text

22. Rhetorical Situation
Audience: English speakers around
Audience the world. Seeking reliable
information.
Who is the author of
Wikipedia?
Also, your work is not the
final version of the
Wikipedia article. Other
editors will revise, remove,
Text: Medium, Online.
and expand your
Collaborative, Multimedia,
contributions.
Hyperlinking. Genre:
Encyclopedia.
Author Text

23. Rhetorical Situation
Audience: English speakers around
Audience the world. Seeking reliable
information.
Who is the author of
Wikipedia?
You are not the author of
Wikipedia; you are an
editor of Wikipedia. Who,
then, is the author of this
Text: Medium, Online.
rhetorical situation?
Collaborative, Multimedia,
Hyperlinking. Genre:
Encyclopedia.
Author Text

24. Rhetorical Situation
Audience: English speakers around
Audience the world. Seeking reliable
information.
Author: Generic Wikipedia
Editor.
You need to adopt the
persona of a generic editor
of Wikipedia.
Text: Medium, Online.
Collaborative, Multimedia,
Hyperlinking. Genre:
Encyclopedia.
Author Text

25. Rhetorical Situation
Audience: English speakers around
Audience the world. Seeking reliable
information.
Author: Generic Wikipedia
Editor.
You need to learn about
Wikipedia conventions so
that your contributions are
cohesive with every other
Text: Medium, Online.
Wikipedia editor's
Collaborative, Multimedia,
contributions.
Hyperlinking. Genre:
Encyclopedia.
Author Text

26. Rhetorical Situation
Audience: English speakers around
Author: Generic Wikipedia
Editor.
Audience the world. Seeking reliable
information.
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 Text: Medium, Online.
cohesion across Wikipedia. Collaborative, Multimedia,
Hyperlinking. Genre:
Encyclopedia.
Author Text