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Chapter Four

Classification and Division

The classification and division of stories on the front cover of a magazine or newspaper tell a great deal about the publication’s purpose, its target audience, and perhaps even its predisposition for a certain political slant or ideology. The editors and Web designers of the first two sites that follow have to make careful decisions about how the multitude of news stories and issues will be classified into smaller, more manageable categories. In the third link below you’ll see how classification and division works in the body of a speech to enable listeners and readers to make sense of complex current events. In both cases, the system for classifying serves certain rhetorical purposes; it may attract your attention or subtly sway you toward a certain way of thinking. Using the first few links below, examine the ways in which classification and division can work to direct your attention even before you begin reading an article. Then, use the link that follows to look at how systems of classification function as the means for comparisons within an argument. See if you can identify the argument or the statement the writers and editors are making. How does the classification system support the argument or statement?

Look at the homepage of a magazine like The Atlantic:
4http://www.theatlantic.com/index.htm

Compare this to another online magazine, like Salon.com:
4http://www.salon.com/

1. How do these magazines classify and divide the news stories? How might these classifications attract or deter different kinds of readers? Imagine yourself an editor of an online magazine. Choose five of the top news stories of the day, then divide and classify them in a way that sends a message to the readers of your magazine.

The online version of the print magazine The Weekly Standard published this excerpt from President Bush’s outline for a national security strategy. Read the excerpt, paying close attention to how Bush (or, more accurately, Bush’s speechwriters) divided the numerous issues involved in national security, and classified them into specific sections. How does this system of classifying help to support and/or clarify his argument?

4http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/001/679ckakv.asp

2. Truly understanding a complex issue like national security requires knowledge of history, politics, sophisticated weaponry, war strategies, and both global and national economics, to name a few. In a speech such as this, the President must boil these complex matters down to terms every listener can understand. How does classification and division help to serve this purpose? Why is it particularly useful in a delivered speech? Research the text of other presidential or other speeches. How is classification and division generally used by speechwriters?

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