Chapter 2: What is Rhetoric?

Which of the following should you NOT use when writing in formal English?

Which of the following is acceptable to use when writing in informal English?

Which of the following best describes technical writing?

Which level of English would you use if you were writing a short story?

Which level of English would you use if you were describing how to download iTunes?

Which level of English would you use if you were applying for a job?

Who is the audience of the following passage?: "I've had it with you lazy clowns! This month's profits fell 20% below last year's at this same time. Now, any fool can tell that the problem is your sloppy service to the customers, your excessive breaking of china and glassware, and your horsing around instead of paying attention to such details as keeping the food warm, setting the tables properly, and getting the customer's order straight. So, I'm warning you: either start doing your job right, or you'll find yourselves fired."

What is the purpose of the following passage?: "I've had it with you lazy clowns! This month's profits fell 20% below last year's at this same time. Now, any fool can tell that the problem is your sloppy service to the customers, your excessive breaking of china and glassware, and your horsing around instead of paying attention to such details as keeping the food warm, setting the tables properly, and getting the customer's order straight. So, I'm warning you: either start doing your job right, or you'll find yourselves fired."

Who is the audience of the following passage?: "The bony remains of Peking Man all came from a single limestone cave at Chou-k'ou-tien. The bones consist of fifteen crania, six facial bones, twelve mandibles, a miscellaneous collection of postcranial bones, and 147 teeth. Studies of the physical characters of these bones by Davidson Black and Franz Weidenreich disclose that Peking Man was still in an early stage of human development, comparable to the Homo erectus of Java."

What is the purpose of the following passage?: "The bony remains of Peking Man all came from a single limestone cave at Chou-k'ou-tien. The bones consist of fifteen crania, six facial bones, twelve mandibles, a miscellaneous collection of postcranial bones, and 147 teeth. Studies of the physical characters of these bones by Davidson Black and Franz Weidenreich disclose that Peking Man was still in an early stage of human development, comparable to the Homo erectus of Java."