RHETORIC & WRITING

Web Rhetorics for a Digital Age: The Medium AND the Message

By Jason Snart, College of Dupage

The medium is the message | "Rhetorical" and "writing" situations | What does it mean to be a "good writer"? | The Web | Common Genres on the Web | Exercises

Exercises

The following exercises are designed to get you thinking about the many different "writing situations" on the Web. You will also have the opportunity to write in these situations yourself.

• Situations   • Facebook Rhetorics   • Wiki, Twitter, Blog Rhetorics   • Choice   • Autobiography And Medium   • Interactivity   • Rhetoric Of "Community"   • Customizing   • Dynamic Content

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The passive consumer—the active Web. An important aspect of the Web these days is the degree to which it allows for user interaction. Often, visitors to a Web site can interact with material that the site provides. Similarly, many Web sites allow users to interact with each other and even to form communities based on shared interests.

In what ways do the following Web sites allow users to “interact” with site content and/or with other users?
1.
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http://www.npr.org/
2.
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http://www.amazon.com/
3.
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http://www.wired.com/
4.
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Do the sites actively solicit user involvement? If so, how?
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And finally, why might these sites, and others like them, provide opportunities for users to be active rather than passive consumers?

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