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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