Blog 1

Douglas Eyman’s Digital Rhetoric: Theory, Method, Practice gives a deeper insight on not only digital rhetoric but terms within it as well.

As stated in Eyman’s book, digital rhetoric is “most simply defined as the application of rhetorical theory (as analytic method or heuristic for production) to digital texts and performances.” To make more sense of this, Eyman also elaborates and states

“It allows for the use of and alliance with other fields not typically associated with printed text or speech; it prompts a critical view of current rhetorical theories and methods and opens up the question of whether new theories and new methods can or should be developed; and it provides the boundary condition necessary for the emergence of a new field of study.”

First term: Text 

Text is basically everywhere, whether you see it on a road sign or a television ad. Eyman breaks down the relationship with text and digital rhetoric and when it is used. He says, “‘Text’ is a material entity, drawing on the resources” of its mode of expression “to realize the significant features of the social environment in which texts were made, shaped, and organized.” To be more specific, Eyman states “By “texts” I mean objects of interpretive attention, whether speech, writing, nonlinguistic practices, or human artifacts of any kind.” Texts in digital rhetoric change with societies persuasion.

Second term: Interactivity

Interactivity in Digital Rhetoric is basically interacting with someone or something (example, a robot) through digital text. Warnick in Digital Rhetoric: Theory, Method, Practice describes it as “communication that includes some form of reciprocal message exchange involving mediation and occurring between [an organization] and users, between users and the site text, or between users and other users,” emphasizing “the contingent transmission of messages back and forth as well as text-based interactivity.” If one breaks down the word interactivity, it would simply mean inside action, and in this context it would be inside the conversation digitally.

Second term: Procedurality

Procedurality in Digital Rhetoric: Theory, Method, Practice states, “Procedurality refers to a way of creating, explaining, or understanding processes. And processes define the way things work: the methods, techniques, and logics that drive the operation of systems, from mechanical systems like engines to organizational systems like high schools to conceptual systems like religious faith.” In simple terms, this is the way digital rhetoric is composed and the process it goes through. There are ideas and methods all within digital rhetoric.